HardLabs

Bluetooth tracker

adwjli·bluetooth-tracker

Bluetooth tracker PCB layout, top view — open source Nordic nRF board by adwjli

About the Bluetooth tracker PCB

Bluetooth tracker is an open source Nordic nRF PCB design by adwjli, published on GitHub under the GPL-3.0 license. It is a 4-layer board measuring 35 × 35 mm, with 25 components from 19 distinct parts.

Its main chip is the NRF51822-QFAA-T, from the Nordic nRF family. By type, the board carries 12 capacitors, 3 resistors, 1 IC, 1 transistor, 1 connector and 1 antenna.

It belongs with the rf & radio and iot & wireless designs in this gallery.

From the project

Bluetooth Tracker inspired by the Tile Mate Bluetooth Tracker, built around the Nordic nRF51822 Bluetooth transceiver.

The design of the trace antenna was provided by Texas Instrument in Application Note AN043. It is an Inverted F Antenna (IFA) with a matched 50 Ohm characteristic impedance at 2.4GHz. The device is capable of up to 4dBm of transmit power.

Bluetooth tracker, from the project README
From the project README

Main components on the Bluetooth tracker

NRF51822-QFAA-T

Bluetooth tracker bill of materials (BOM)

25 components, 19 distinct parts — part numbers from the project's BOM.

QtyPartRefs
1
NRF51822-QFAA-T
NRF51822-QFAA-T_G
Nordic Semiconductor ASA
U1
1
FDV301N
FDV301N_G
ON Semiconductor
Q1
1
CONN4PROG
J1
1
ANTENNA-IFA-2.4GHZ
AE1
1
BK-912
CR2032_CLIP2
MPD (Memory Protection Devices)
BAT1
1
PKMCS0909E4000-R1
Murata
BZ1
1
BAL-NRF01D3
STMicroelectronics
GN1
1
ECS-.327-12.5-34B
ECS-_327-12_5-34B-TR
ECS Inc.
XTAL1
1
NX2520SA-16MHZ-STD-CSW-5
NDK America, Inc.
XTAL2
1
LQP15MN3N3W02D
3.3nH
Murata
L3
2
GCM1555C1H220FA16D
22pF
Murata
C1, C3
2
GJM1555C1H150FB01D
15pF
Murata
C2, C4
2
GCM155R71H102KA37D
1nF
Murata
C5, C6
3
GRM155R71E104KE14J
100nF
Murata
C7, C8, C15
1
GRM155R71H473KE14D
47nF
Murata
C10
1
GCM1555C1H1R0CA16J
1.0pF
Murata
C13
1
GCM1555C1H1R5JA16D
1.5pF
Murata
C14
2
RC0402FR-071KP
1k
Yageo
R1, R3
1
RC0402FR-07100KL
100k
Yageo
R2

Bluetooth tracker design files

The KiCad project lives in the adwjli/bluetooth-tracker repository on GitHub; these links point at the commit this page was built from.

Bluetooth tracker: common questions

What microcontroller does the Bluetooth tracker use?

The Bluetooth tracker is built around the NRF51822-QFAA-T, from the Nordic nRF family.

How big is the Bluetooth tracker PCB?

The Bluetooth tracker measures 35 × 35 mm, has 4 copper layers and is 0.8 mm thick.

How many components are on the Bluetooth tracker?

25 components, from 19 distinct parts, with part numbers taken from the project's own BOM. The full bill of materials is listed on this page.

Where can I download the Bluetooth tracker design files?

From the adwjli/bluetooth-tracker repository on GitHub, which has the KiCad layout and the BOM; the links under Design files point to each one.

Can I use the Bluetooth tracker design in my own project?

Yes, under the terms of its GPL-3.0 license, which adwjli chose for the repository.

Can I test firmware for the Bluetooth tracker without the hardware?

Yes. HardLabs builds a simulation of the board from its netlist and BOM, so you can run and debug Nordic nRF firmware against it before you order a PCB.

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