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BLE Nano

BLE Nano

The BLE Nano is the smallest Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy development board available, measuring just 18.5 × 21.0 mm. Built around the Nordic nRF51822 SoC (ARM Cortex-M0 + BLE), it runs at 16 MHz with ultra-low power consumption and supports both BLE Central and Peripheral roles.

The included MK20 USB Board (Freescale MK20DX128VFM5) acts as a programming dongle — it appears on your computer as both a serial port and a removable mass storage disk for easy firmware deployment. Development is supported via the Nordic nRF51822 SDK, mbed platform, GCC, Keil, or Arduino.

Key Features

  • Tiny Form Factor – Only 18.5 × 21.0 mm
  • Nordic nRF51822 SoC – ARM Cortex-M0 with Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy
  • BLE Central & Peripheral – Supports both roles for flexible connectivity
  • Ultra-Low Power – Ideal for battery-powered IoT projects
  • Flexible Voltage – Operates from 1.8 V to 3.3 V (VDD) or 3.3–13 V (VIN)
  • Multiple Dev Environments – Nordic SDK, mbed, GCC, Keil, or Arduino
  • MK20 USB Board – Drag-and-drop firmware deployment via mass storage
  • 11 I/O Pins – With configurable UART, I2C, and SPI

Specifications

  • Microcontroller – Nordic nRF51822
  • CMSIS-DAP Chip – Freescale MK20
  • Operating Voltage – 1.8–3.3 V
  • Input Voltage – 1.8–3.3 V (VDD) / 3.3–13 V (VIN)
  • Clock Speed – 16 MHz
  • Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 LE, Serial (TX/RX), I2C, SPI
  • Flash Memory – 256 KB
  • SRAM – 16 KB
  • I/O Pins – 11
  • Dimensions – 18.5 × 21.0 mm

Power Supply

  • VIN (3.3–13 V) – Regulated to 3.3 V via onboard LDO; connect a battery directly
  • VDD (1.8–3.3 V) – Direct power input for low-voltage operation
Warning: Do NOT supply power from both VIN and VDD simultaneously. Do NOT exceed 3.3 V on VDD or 13 V on VIN — exceeding these limits will damage the board.

Pinout Notes

  • On-board LED is connected to Pin 19 (P0_19)
  • Pin 30 (P0_30) is a signal pin — configure via switches S5/S10 for GND or VDD
  • UART pins (RTS, RXD, TXD, CTS) default to P8–P11 via switches S1–S4 and S6–S9
  • UART can be rerouted to P0–P3 to free up analog pins

MK20 USB Board

The MK20 USB Board powers the BLE Nano from USB (5 V regulated to 3.3 V) and provides drag-and-drop firmware deployment. Short switch S on the MK20 board to output 1.8 V instead, enabling low-voltage component operation.

Package Contents

  • 1× BLE Nano Board
  • 1× MK20 USB Board

Resources

The BLE Nano appears in the following collections:

SKU RB-BLENANO
by Little Bird