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Challenger RP2040 NFC + NFC Antenna

Please note that this is a kit consisting of both the Challenger RP2040 NFC board and a 13.56MHz NFC Antenna.

The Challenger RP2040 NFC is a small embedded computer, equipped with an advanced on-board NFC controller (NXP PN7150), in the popular Adafruit Feather form factor. It is based on an RP2040 micro controller chip from the Raspberry Pi foundation which is a dual core Cortex M0 that can run on a clock up to 133MHz.

Click here for a detailed datasheet of the board.

RP2040

RP2040 is the debut micro controller from Raspberry Pi. It brings their signature values of high performance, low cost, and ease of use to the micro controller space. With a large on-chip memory, symmetric dual-core processor complex, deterministic bus fabric, and rich peripheral set augmented with our unique Programmable I/O (PIO) subsystem, RP2040 provides professional users with unrivaled power and flexibility. With detailed documentation, a polished Circuitpython port, and a UF2 boot loader in ROM, it has the lowest possible barrier to entry for beginner and hobbyist users

NFC

The PN7150 is a full featured NFC controller solution with integrated firmware and NCI interface designed for contactless communication at 13.56 MHz. It is fully compatible with NFC forum requirements and is greatly designed based on learnings from previous NXP NFC device generation. It is the ideal solution for rapidly integrating NFC technology in any application, especially small embedded systems reducing Bill of Material (BOM).

The integrated design with full NFC forum compliancy gives the user all the following features:

  • Embedded NFC firmware providing all NFC protocols as pre-integrated feature.
  • Direct connection to the main host or microcontroller, by I2C-bus physical and NCI protocol.
  • Ultra-low power consumption in polling loop mode.
  • Highly efficient integrated power management unit (PMU) allowing direct supply from a battery.

Other cool stuff on the board

It comes with a sturdy USB-C connector, a battery connector that allows you to plug in standard 1 cell LiPo batteries. It also has an on board charger chip that charges the battery whenever a USB cable is connected or 5V is applied to the USB power header pin.

Pinout

Challenger RP2040 NFC pin map

NFC Antenna(Coil)

To support the board, we have designed an NFC antenna that is easily connected to the rear FPC connector.

You can read more about this antenna over here.

Weight 0.009 kg
Dimensions 5.07 × 2.28 × 0.72 cm

Using the Arduino environment

We’ve teamed up with Earle F. Philhower over at his Github page to provide Arduino support for our RP2040 based boards. You can follow the instructions on Earle’s github page or you can check out our instructions here on how to install the package.

Circuitpython/Micropython

Currently there is no explicit support for either python package. For those daring there is always the possibility to use the generic Raspberry Pi Pico package and use the GPIO pin names directly when accessing pins and/or interfaces.

We are working on including a specific Circuitpython package but as of today it has not been finished yet.

Short initialization example

Using the NFC controller in the Arduino environment is very simple and here’s a short introduction on how to go about it.

First you need to install the driver library required for the NFC chip. This driver library is called “Electronic Cats PN7150” and you can search for it in the Arduino IDE library manager by simply typing “PN7150” in the search field. It will be the only library that comes up.

After you have installed this library you can take a look at the examples below to get started.

First we need to create an instance of the driver that your program can use to talk to the NFC controller.

#include "Electroniccats_PN7150.h"

// creates a global NFC device interface object
Electroniccats_PN7150 nfc(PIN_PN7150_IRQ_B, PIN_PN7150_RST_B, PN7150_I2C_ADDR, &Wire1);

Then, in the setup function we need to perform a series of different setup steps:

  Serial.println("Detect NFC tags with PN7150");

Serial.println("Initializing...");
if (nfc.connectNCI()) { //Wake up the board
Serial.println("Error while setting up the mode, check connections!");
while (1);
}

if (nfc.ConfigureSettings()) {
Serial.println("The Configure Settings is failed!");
while (1);
}

if(nfc.ConfigMode(mode)){ //Set up the configuration mode
Serial.println("The Configure Mode is failed!!");
while (1);
}

Serial.println("Initialization succeeded !");
if (nfc.StartDiscovery(mode) == SUCCESS) {
Serial.println("Successfully started discovery mode !");
} else {
Serial.println("Failed to start discovery mode !");
while(1);
}

After these steps we are ready to start looking for NFC tags coming in close:

  if(!nfc.WaitForDiscoveryNotification(&RfInterface)) {
switch(RfInterface.Protocol) {
case PROT_T1T:
case PROT_T2T:
case PROT_T3T:
case PROT_ISODEP:
nfc.ProcessReaderMode(RfInterface, READ_NDEF);
break;

case PROT_ISO15693:
break;

case PROT_MIFARE:
nfc.ProcessReaderMode(RfInterface, READ_NDEF);
break;

default:
break;
}

//* It can detect multiple cards at the same time if they use the same protocol
if(RfInterface.MoreTags) {
nfc.ReaderActivateNext(&RfInterface);
}

//* Wait for card removal
nfc.ProcessReaderMode(RfInterface, PRESENCE_CHECK);

nfc.StopDiscovery();
nfc.StartDiscovery(mode);
}
nfc.ConfigMode(mode);
nfc.StartDiscovery(mode);

Also make sure to check out the complete example in the examples section of this website.

Documentation for the Challenger RP2040 WiFi board.

You can always get our products from your local reseller if you like. Here is a list of current resellers.

  • The Pi Hut Raspberry Pi Superstore
  • The largest maker shop in Switzerland

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