Deep dive with Dario: A closer look at the new Arduino Nano 33 IoT
The Nano form factor has been a crowd-pleaser amongst makers for years due to its small footprint and ease of integration into any project. As announced at Maker Faire Bay Area, the Nano 33 IoT is part of the new 3.3V variant of the family with an Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller and a pre-certified ESP32-based WiFi and Bluetooth® module from u-blox that brings sophisticated connectivity to its tiny package. The inclusion of an ECC608A crypto chip means it also offers IoT security features not usually available at such a low price point.
Today, we sat down with Dario Pennisi, Arduino hardware and firmware development manager, to learn more about the Nano 33 IoT.
What are three key features of this board? How will they impact the experience of our users?
1. Secure WiFi and Bluetooth® connectivity with a 6-axis IMU.
2. Pre-certified module with external processor ensures maintaining RF compliance when writing application code versus ESP32 modules where modifying code impacts certification.
3. On-board DC-DC power supply enables the board to be powered up to 21V maintaining high efficiency and offering a lot of current to external devices without overheating. This is a big improvement over other products on the market that have LDO and heat up quite a bit when powered at high voltages.
What are a few applications and why is this board a great option for them?
1. Add WiFi and Bluetooth® connectivity with strong security to all the existing Arduino Nano applications.
2. On-board IMU can be used to wirelessly monitor vibration, orientation, and rotational speed of small objects thanks to its lightweight and compact form factor.
3. Run directly from high voltages from lead or multi-cell Lithium-ion batteries providing 3.3V power supply to peripherals at significant output current.
Which Arduino board is the most similar to the Nano 33?
The Nano 33 IoT is essentially a MKR WiFi 1010, but sacrifices a battery charger and shield compatibility in favor of a miniaturized footprint (48×18 mm) and lower cost. The Nano 33 IoT is built around the ESP32, which is primarily aimed at WiFi but supports Bluetooth® as well, although with higher power consumption than the Nano 33 BLE.
The Arduino Nano 33 IoT is available in pre-order in the Arduino online store with headers (estimate shipping date: end of July 2019) or without headers mounted (estimated shipping date: mid-June 2019).
May 24th, 2019 at 19:35:24
And…. is this the one that can be directly soldered onto a PCB ?
May 25th, 2019 at 11:27:13
Yes, castellated pins allow to use the board as a module!
May 28th, 2019 at 00:28:56
I can hardly wait 🙂
May 28th, 2019 at 00:30:55
What are the dimensions header to header? Same as MKR 1010 or not? Currently working on an interface project.
May 29th, 2019 at 00:11:24
How can I buy the Arduino Nano 33 IoT ?
I couldn’t find it at the “Store” … !
May 30th, 2019 at 04:35:43
I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to the ins and out of crypto, but does the inclusion of the ECC608A crypto chip mean this board will be able to connect to web-based APIs, etc via https? (Which basic boards such as the UNO can’t do).
May 30th, 2019 at 20:16:43
Any plans to put a uFL connector on the board so you can use an external antenna with this?
June 6th, 2019 at 19:53:18
@chrisspurgeon yes you can connect Arduino Nano 33 IoT directly to web-based APIs! The 32-bit MCU and a bunch of http/json/OAuth libraries make it pretty easy. The same libraries work today for Arduino MKR 1010 which has similar function in different (slightly bigger) form factor.
June 22nd, 2019 at 07:43:03
When did this comes to India and what will be it’s price?
July 2nd, 2019 at 20:31:18
Is there any Eagle files for the news Arduino boards ?
It could be great to add them in new projects 🙂
July 15th, 2019 at 11:37:57
Do you have any datasheet available and detailed dimensioning (to be able to include it in other projects)? Schematics would also be great.
August 7th, 2019 at 20:59:40
Can I use this board as a Gateway or Master device? I need to read a BLE peripheral and upload the readings via Wifi
August 8th, 2019 at 12:08:35
Can this device be powered by a 9V battery .Or what would be the recoomended external power (if i want to not use usb power)
September 25th, 2019 at 01:08:42
I’ve been waiting for something like this. Any specs on overall power consumption?
I want to power this up with a small 5V, 100 mA solar panel and possibly a solar charging module like the MCP73871.
November 7th, 2019 at 11:00:06
I got one. I tried to use the examples included that use “#include ” to connect to a Wifi Access Point, but it seems to be returning “WiFi.status() == WL_NO_SHIELD.”. I assume this means that particular library example is NOT appropriate for the Nano 33 IOT wifi interface. There isn’t a Wifi example listed under for the Nano 33IOT.
Is there an library and example specific to the Arduino 33 IOT, for interfacing with it’s Wifi module?
It mentions the wifi credentials are stored cryptographically on the Nano. And when I follow Getting Started website and after registering and installing the plugin, it asks that I upload my wifi credentials thru a webpage. Is this uploading my wifi credentials to Arduino?
November 7th, 2019 at 23:51:54
Can the memory on the esp32 be used? Is there any way to utilise spiffs on this?