ANT Forum

I would like to enable an ANT/BLE capable radio on a Single Board Computer (SBC) running Android. The SBC is to be packaged in a box with one 2.4GHz antenna and should be capable of running APKs that target ANT+ or BLE comms. The final setup would be similar to having an Android phone such as the Samsung S20 where you would be able to run an APK such as the ANT+ Demo (after loading the ANT+ Plugins, ANT Radio & ANT USB services) and gather data from an ANT sensor or communicating with a watch via Bluetooth.

Based on my initial investigation, the Nordic nRF52840 SoC in combination with the SoftDevice S340 could provide the required ANT / BLE radio capabilities to the SBC via a USB 2.0 port.

We put together a setup with the Android SBC using the Garmin ANTUSB-m dongle and were able to get data from a couple of ANT sensors such as the Garmin Tempe. Then, we attempted to replace the ANTUSB-m dongle with the nRF52840 USB dongle but were unable to get ANT to work. We tried programming different examples available from Nordic but only getting the Bluetooth ones to work.

In essence we are trying to make the equivalent of the Garmin ANTUSB-m dongle with Bluetooth capabilities. Eventually, our design would have the nRF52840 placed in a M.2 Key-E card with a U.FL connector.

My questions are the following:

1) Is there a document that would help guide us through the necessary steps to program the nRF52840 using the SoftDevice S340, enabling both ANT and Bluetooth?

2) Is there an example available that we could use or adapt to enable both ANT and Bluetooth in the nRF52840?

We are new to ANT, to the Segger Embedded Studio (SES) programming environment and the Nordic tool sets. The advice we got from Nordic’s DevZone was to reach out to thisisant.com. The only medium I was able to find to request help in thisisant.com is this forum. I would appreciate any input that could get us moving forward. Also, any offers on consulting (sent via a private message) to help us getting this done would be considered.
     

Hello, I think I can answer the second question. Here are examples for ANT and Bluetooth on nRF52840:
Nordic Semiconductor offers a wide range of example projects and code samples that you can use as a starting point for enabling ANT and Bluetooth on the nRF52840. These examples showcase various features and functionalities of the nRF52840 SoC and can be adapted to suit your specific requirements. You can find these examples in the Nordic Semiconductor Software Development Kit (SDK) for the nRF52840.

- nRF5 SDK: The nRF5 SDK is a comprehensive development kit provided by Nordic Semiconductor. It includes example projects, libraries, and API documentation for developing applications on the nRF52 series SoCs, including the nRF52840. You can download the latest version of the nRF5 SDK from Nordic Semiconductor's website. The SDK contains example projects for both ANT and Bluetooth, which can serve as a reference for your implementation.

- Nordic DevZone: Nordic Semiconductor maintains a community forum called the Nordic DevZone, where developers can seek assistance, ask questions, and share knowledge related to Nordic Semiconductor products. It's a valuable resource to find specific answers and guidance from the Nordic Semiconductor development community. You can search the forum for existing threads or create a new one to get help with your specific implementation.      

camachoh - 30 October 2023 04:28 PM

I would like to enable an ANT/BLE capable radio on a Single Board Computer (SBC) running Android. The SBC is to be packaged in a box with one 2.4GHz antenna and should be capable of running APKs that target ANT+ or BLE comms. The final setup would be similar to having an Android phone such as the Samsung S20 where you would be able to run an APK such as the ANT+ Demo (after loading the ANT+ Plugins, ANT Radio & ANT USB services) and gather data from an ANT sensor or communicating with a watch via Bluetooth.

Based on my initial investigation, the Nordic nRF52840 SoC in combination with the SoftDevice S340 could provide the required ANT / BLE radio capabilities to the SBC via a USB 2.0 port.

We put together a setup with the Android SBC using the Garmin ANTUSB-m dongle and were able to get data from a couple of ANT sensors such as the Garmin Tempe. Then, we attempted to replace the ANTUSB-m dongle with the nRF52840 USB dongle but were unable to get ANT to work. We tried programming different examples available from Nordic but only getting the Bluetooth ones to work.

In essence we are trying to make the equivalent of the Garmin ANTUSB-m dongle with Bluetooth capabilities. Eventually, our design would have the nRF52840 placed in a M.2 Key-E card with a U.FL connector.

My questions are the following:

1) Is there a document that would help guide us through the necessary steps to program the nRF52840 using the SoftDevice S340, enabling both ANT and Bluetooth?

2) Is there an example available that we could use or adapt to enable both ANT and Bluetooth in the nRF52840?
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We are new to ANT, to the Segger Embedded Studio (SES) programming environment and the Nordic tool sets. The advice we got from Nordic’s DevZone was to reach out to thisisant.com. The only medium I was able to find to request help in thisisant.com is this forum. I would appreciate any input that could get us moving forward. Also, any offers on consulting (sent via a private message) to help us getting this done would be considered.

Nordic Semiconductor's website offers the most recent version of the nRF5 SDK for download. You can use the ANT and Bluetooth example projects included in the SDK as a guide for your own implementation.