Overview
Version 3 of the SODAQ ONE is here! See the differences between all versions here
This board is based on our succesful Autonomo, a proven 32 bits Arduino compatible platform. It has a solar charge controller and runs on a LiPo or permanent battery.
Next we added a GPS module. We chose the U-blox Eva 8M. It’s not only very small, but with it’s assisted GPS feature it can get a fix in just seconds.
We also included a low power Accelerometer/Magnetometer chip. This means we can keep the board in sleep until it moves or has a change in magnetic field. This is crucial for developing low power devices.
Say you want to develop a bicycle tracker. You would like know the position of the bike, but only when it has moved. So keep the device in deep sleep until you detect motion. If the motion continues for a while, the bicycle may have changed position so you only then switch on the GPS to get a new reading and send this new location over the LoRa network. This way you make most efficient use of you battery capacity by only using the GPS when really needed.
The Magnetometer extends the range of possibilities. You could now use the board to develop a parking sensor (fit the device in the street, if a car is parked this changes the magnetic field).
Or you can mount it to a fence and use the compass direction to determine if the gate is open or not.
The board is so small (45×25 mm) you can fit it inside almost anything. To ease the development we have fitted two rows of headers so you can use it on a breadboard. Why? Well it has 14 free I/O lines that you can use for your own purpose. Whether you want to build a weather station, control street lights or get a signal when you have received (snail) mail. It’s all possible with the SODAQ ONE.
| Intended use | The SODAQ ONE 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 SODAQ ONE in a Finished Appliance must take responsibility to follow regulatory guidelines, for example for CE marking. |
| Warning | Do not short circuit any of the pins of the SODAQ ONE because of risk of heat, smoke, and fire. |
| Warning | Take appropriate precautions while handling the PCB assembly because of exposed components. |
| Warning | Do not alter the device into regulatory non-compliant modes. |
Here’s an overview of the features:
| Microcontroller | ATSAMD21G18, 32-Bit ARM Cortex M0+ |
| Compatibility | Arduino M0 Compatible |
| Size | 40 x 25 mm (V1 and V2), 45 x 25 mm (V3) |
| Operating Voltage | 3.3V |
| I/O Pins | 14, All can be used for digital and analog with PWM, UART, SPI and TWI (I2C) |
| Analog Output Pin | 10-bit DAC |
| External Interrupts | Available on all pins |
| DC Current per I/O pin | 7 mA |
| Flash Memory | 256 KB |
| 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 |
| LoRa | Microchip RN2483 or RN2903 Module |
| GPS | uBlox EVA 7M (ONE V1) / uBlox EVA 8M (ONE V2 and V3) |
| Accelerometer/Magneto | LSM303D(ONE V1) / LIS3DE(ONE V2) / LSM303AGR (ONE V3) |
| USB | MicroUSB Port |
v1 vs v2 vs v3
One v2
The components we use to make the ONE v2 are more power efficient.
The GPS module we updates from the U-blox EVA 7M to the U-blox EVA 8M.
The accelerometer/magnetometer has been replaced by an accelerometer which can be used in a very low power mode and wake up the board by an interrupt.
The RF path is shorter, this results in better antenna performance. To make the RF path shorter we have removed the line for the 2nd frequency, we don’t support the 433Mhz anymore.
We added a LoRa reset line from the microcontroller to the RN module. If the RN module isn’t responding anymore, the microcontroller can do a hard reset to the RN module.
One v3 changelog
– Added CE logo
– Added pull-down on GPS_ENABLE pin
– Added solder jumper to connect/disconnect regulator output (default: connected)
– Added solder jumper to enable/disable regulator enable pin (default: enabled)
– Added solder jumper to enable/disable reset button (default: enabled)
– Changed accelerometer to LSM303AGR
– The user button is now changed to be a reset button
– Moved LoRa U.FL connector to bottom side of PCB
Summary
The SODAQ ONE, ONE v2 and ONE v3 are pin compatible!
We made Universal Tracker software is for the V1, V2 and V3.
| ONE | ONE v2 | One v3 |
| GPS EVA 7M | GPS EVA 8M | GPS EVA 8M |
| LoRa 868/433 or 915 | LoRa 868 or 915 | LoRa 868 or 915 |
| Accelerometer and Magnetometer (LSM303D) | Low power accelerometer with interrupt lines (LIS3DE) | Accelerometer and Magnetometer (LSM303AGR) |
| No lora reset line | LoRa reset line | LoRa reset line |
| User Button | User Button | Reset Button |
Getting started with the SODAQ ONE
To start you off, here are the external pin descriptions of the SODAQ ONE. Every header pin will be described here, so you know exactly how to address the pin in the Arduino IDE. (click to open in a new window)
External pin descriptions will get you started with the basics, but to fully utilize the board, take a look at the internal pin descriptions. These will allow you to use all the functions that are built into the SODAQ ONE. (click to open in a new window)
Setting up your Arduino IDE
In order to start programming for the SODAQ ONE, make sure you have the latest Arduino IDE. Click here to go to the Arduino downloads page.
When your Arduino IDE is installed, it might be necessary to restart your computer. In some cases, if you don’t restart your computer, the IDE will not launch.
When your IDE is all started, we should install the SODAQ ONE board files. Click on File > Preferences and at the bottom you should see ‘Additional Boards Manager URLs’. This is where you need to paste the following URL: http://downloads.sodaq.net/package_sodaq_samd_index.json
When you have pasted the URL, click ‘OK’ and you’re ready for the next step.
Click on Tools > Board > Boards Manager…
Scroll all the way to the bottom, you should see SODAQ SAMD Boards. Click on it, and install the latest version. It should now download some files and install the required board files for the SODAQ ONE.
We’re almost there! Now go to Tools > Board again and select the SODAQ ONE at the bottom. You’re now set up to start programming with the SODAQ ONE!
Handy pin definitions!
Now that you’re using the SODAQ ONE board files, you’ll be able to use our handy pin definitions. Let’s say you want to use the red LED, but you forgot that pesky pin number, you can just address the led with LED_RED inside your Arduino IDE. Our pin definitions allow you to address by name instead of pin number.
Here are all the pin definitions for the SODAQ ONE:
| Pin description | Pin number | Definition |
| Red LED | D14 | LED_RED |
| Green LED | D15 | LED_GREEN |
| Blue LED | D16 | LED_BLUE |
| Power Enable | D22 | ENABLE_PIN_IO |
| GPS Enable | D18 | GPS_ENABLE |
| External Switch Sense | D23 | SWITCH_SENS |
| Push Button | D19 | BUTTON |
| GPS Timepulse | D17 | GPS_TIMEPULSE |
| MISO (SPI) | D8* | MISO |
| SS (SPI) | D9* | SS |
| MOSI (SPI) | D10* | MOSI |
| SCK (SPI) | D11* | SCK |
SPI pinout for the Sodaq One Beta: D4: MISO, D5: SS, D6: MOSI, D7: SCK
Base Orientation and antenna connection
If you want to use the pins: 2/3, 6/7 and 8/9 you first have to set pin D11 high.
| RX / TX | Serial |
| Enable power on 2/3 6/7 8/9 | D11 |
| Power On / Off* | Left / Right |
*note: The on/off switch only works when there is no usb connected and the switched pin is not set high in software
#define enablePin 11 void setup() { // put your setup code here, to run once: pinMode(enablePin, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(enablePin, HIGH); } void loop() { // put your main code here, to run repeatedly: }
In the first batch all zero-ohm resistors were soldered on. The SODAQ ONE works fine, but we found that you can improve the antenna performance with only two zero-ohm resistors (by removing 1 and 3).
Schematic of the resistors:
Check the video about how to remove the resistors:
Bootloader mode
To safe power it is possible to disable the usb connection. In the tracker code the usb is disabled after the boot menu, this means you only have 30 seconds to upload a new sketch. If the reset button (base board) is pressed twice within a second the current sketch will not start and the SODAQ ONE will go into bootloader mode and is expecting a new sketch. On your computer you will see a different com port.