Skip to content

ExpLoRer

screenshot

Overview

This is the ExpLoRer board that we designed for Microchip.

Intended use The ExpLoRer is a development/evaluation tool intended for the evaluation of Microchip wireless modules in a Research and Development laboratory environment. It is not a Finished Appliance. Manufacturers who integrate ExpLoRer in a Finished Appliance product must take responsibility to follow regulatory guidelines, for example for CE marking.
Warning Do not short circuit the Li-Ion coin cell or any of the pins of the ExpLoRer because of risk of heat, smoke, and fire.
Warning Take appropriate precautions while handling the PCB assembly because of exposed components.
Warning Do not ship the Li-Ion coin cell outside the battery holder.
Warning Do not alter the device into regulatory non-compliant modes.

Getting Started

Follow the getting started guide to verify you use the correct URL and update your boardfiles to the latest version.

Features

Microcontroller ATSAMD21J18, 32-Bit ARM Cortex M0+
Compatibility Arduino M0 Compatible
Size 93 x 55 mm
Operating Voltage 3.3V
I/O Pins 20
Analog Output Pin 10-bit DAC
External Interrupts Available on all pins
DC Current per I/O pin 7 mA
Flash Memory 256 KB and 4MB (external flash)
SRAM 32KB
EEPROM Up to 16KB by emulation
Clock Speed 48 MHz
Power 5V USB power and/or 3.7 LiPo battery
Charging Solar charge controller, up to 500mA charge current
LED RGB LED, Blue LED
LoRa Microchip RN2483 Module
Bluetooth Microchip RN4871 Module
Cyptochip ATECC508A
Temperature sensor MCP9700AT
USB MicroUSB Port
Coin cell holder LIR2450. 3.6V

Pinout


The 5V pin will pass-through the incoming voltage from the USB.
This means that on a battery powered solution the 5V will not be available.

Tag connect headers


Blue : Bluetooth
Red  : LoRa
Pink : MCU 

Pin definitions

Now that you’re using the SODAQ ExpLoRer board files, you’ll be able to use our handy pin definitions. Our pin definitions allow you to address by name instead of pin number.

Here are all the pin definitions for the SODAQ ExpLoRer:

Pin description Pin number Definition
RGB Red LED D16 LED_RED
RGB Green LED D17 LED_GREEN
RGB Blue LED D18 LED_BLUE
Blue LED D13 LED_BUILTIN
Bluetooth Wake D19 BLUETOOTH_WAKE
Bluetooth Reset* BT_RESET
Push Button* BUTTON
LoRa Reset* LORA_RESET
Temperature Sensor A6 TEMP_SENSOR
MISO (SPI) D12 MISO
SS (SPI) D10 SS
MOSI (SPI) D11 MOSI
SCK (SPI) D13 SCK

*Rev5 and higher

PWM Pins

PWM can be used on D8, D10, D11, D12, D13, D14(A7), D15(A8), D16(LED_RED), D17(LED_GREEN) and D18(LED_BLUE).

Grove

The Grove connector on the outside of the board can be used for I2C.
The Grove connector on the inside of the board can be used as A7/A8 or D14/D15.

Hardware Serials

The SODAQ ExpLoRer has 4 hardware serials:
SerialUSB – This is for when you are debugging over the USB Cable.
Serial – Serial is attached to pin D1/TX and D0/RX.
Serial1 – Is connected to the Bluetooth Module.
Serial2 – Is connected to the RN2XX3 LoRaWAN Module.

void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once:
  SerialUSB.begin(57600);
  Serial.begin(57600);
  Serial1.begin(57600);
  Serial2.begin(57600);
}

void loop() {
  // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:

}

Schematics