Bluetooth LE module with PIR sensor enables wireless room occupancy detection

I-SYST’s BLUEPYRO-M3225 module employs Nordic nRF52832 SoC to deliver processing power for motion/proximity detection applications

Brossard, Canada-based I-SYST, has selected Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF52832 Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE) multiprotocol System-on-Chip (SoC) to power its ‘BLUEPYRO-M3225’ module. The solution provides plug-and-play motion/proximity detection capability, enabling inexperienced PIR (passive infrared) users to quickly set up a system for wireless room occupancy detection in a range of home automation scenarios such as lighting control, security systems and smart thermostats or, for example, wildlife motion detection photography applications.

BLUEPYRO-M3225 is supplied in a compact 22 by 15mm form factor for applications where space is at a premium and features the Excelitas Technologies DigiPyro PYD2592 (a dual-element PIR sensor with built-in signal processing, digital output, and wake-up/sleep mode functionality), on-board ceramic antenna, DC/DC power mode configuration, as well as up to 27 programmable general-purpose input/outputs (GPIOs). The integration of the PIR sensor in the module enables a wireless solution with low electromagnetic interference (EMI) characteristics. The PIR sensor’s wake-up feature is important for battery-operated applications because its use means only the pyroelectric detector consumes power until a motion event is detected.

The BLUEPYRO-M3225 module is powered by Nordic’s nRF52832 SoC, which integrates a powerful 64MHz, 32-bit Arm® Cortex® M4 processor with floating point unit (FPU), and a 2.4GHz multiprotocol radio (supporting Bluetooth 5, ANT™, and proprietary 2.4GHz RF software) featuring -96dBm RX sensitivity, with 512kB Flash memory and 64kB RAM.

In addition to the module, I-SYST offers a full suite development kit which includes full open source library drivers and software abstractions optimized for low power and performance—allowing users to write wireless application firmware in just a few lines of code—as well as firmware and hardware design services to help customers quickly bring their product to market.

“The key features of Nordic’s nRF52832 for our BLUEPYRO-M3225 module are its tiny size, extreme low power capabilities, powerful Arm MCU, and generous memory allocation for user applications,” said Nguyen Hoan Hoang, President, I-SYST. “From a software perspective, Nordic’s SDK is highly flexible and adaptable to any development environment.”