nPZero Development Kit
Offers up to 90% reduction of power consumption
Reduce the
power consumption
of any device
Reduce cost and
PCB size
DevKit waiting list
Join the waiting list and be notified when a DevKit is available.
A powerful solution for testing nPZero IC power reduction capabilities of any wireless chip or peripheral
The DevKit is designed to help developers assess the performance of the nPZero power-saving IC in a range of IoT applications.
An affordable and flexible way to try out new concepts and build prototypes.
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Test with any host, MCU, or wireless chip
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Reduce the power consumption of any sensor or pheripheral
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Monitor harvested energy
What is included in the Development Kit?
Development Board
Nanopower | nPZero power-saving IC
The Development Board (or DevBoard) is the main board of the Development Kit and can be used with the other modules of the kit or other evaluation boards of your choosing (hosts or sensors).
A host module can be placed on top of the Arduino shield in the center of the development board.
Along the sides, sensors can be connected via standard PMOD connectors. The board can connect up to two SPI and two I2C sensors simultaneously.
The board can be powered through different power sources, either from banana connectors, a USB-C cable, or a CR2032 coin cell battery. The power source can easily be changed using a toggle switch.
The nPZero power-saving IC is located towards the bottom of the board, in the center.
MCU, host module
ST Microelectronics | STM32L053C8U6
The nPZero Development Kit includes the STM32L053C8U6 MCU from ST Microelectronics which can be easily connected to the development board via Arduino connectors. An onboard 10-pin debug connector is used for programming the MCU.
3-axis accelerometer
ST Microelectronics | LIS2DW12
The LIS2DW12 from ST Microelectronics is an SPI based accelerometer with very good low power performance.
The sensor is easily connected to the development board through the J1 or J3 PMOD connector.
Temperature sensor
ams| AS6212
The AS6212 from ams is an I2C based temperature sensor with very good low power performance.
The sensor is easily connected to the development board through the J2 or J4 PMOD connector.
Description
The nPZero Development Kit includes hardware and firmware source code. This power-saving kit combines ultra-low power consumption with autonomous operation, making it perfect for devices where sleep mode power consumption is critical.
The kit can autonomously power up sensor peripherals, read data, and wake up the system as needed. It manages the system without an active MCU host by taking over the controller role, powering down the host, and autonomously handling power-up, configuration, and reading of peripheral data from up to 4 sensors. When required, it will power up the host and return control based on user-defined rules.
This allows the host to remain off for longer periods while the system continues to detect and respond to events, conserving energy. It significantly reduces power consumption compared to other options, both in active and sleep modes when managing peripherals.
Features
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- Compatible with one I2C MCU host
- Supports up to four peripheral sensors
- I2C and SPI supported for peripheral communication
- Flexible I/O pins can be used as interrupt inputs or trigger outputs
- Autonomous sensor polling with threshold-based triggers
- Ultra-low power operation
- Crystal oscillator with programmable clock output
- ADC with two channels: one internally connected to VBAT, and one external input on pin
ADC_IN - 128-byte internal SRAM for initialization commands for the peripherals
- Operates in a range from 1.5 V to 3.6 V
- Operating conditions range from -20˚C to +85˚C
- Integrated power switches allow power gating of the host and peripherals
Sensor modules
A wide range of I2C or SPI based sensors and peripherals are supported through the PMOD connectors.
Two sensors are provided in the kit, namely the LIS2DW12 SPI based accelerometer from ST, and the AS6212 I2C based temperature sensor from ams.
Up to four different sensors can be connected simultaneously: Two SPI sensors and two I2C sensors.
MCU module
The nPZero Development Kit includes the STM32L053C8U6 MCU, which can be easily connected to the development board via Arduino connectors. This low-power MCU from STMicroelectronics can be used to test the benefits of the nPZero power-saving IC. An onboard 10-pin debug connector is used for programming the MCU.
Other MCU's can be added either through the Arduino connectors, or through the PMOD MCU connector (J17).