SensWear is an open-source hardware development platform for wearables based on Nordic nRF54L15 Bluetooth LE SoC and a range of sensors designed for researchers, developers, and companies building smart rings, wristbands, patches, and other custom devices.
The solution is mainly comprised of flexible boards, including the SensWear core board with an nRF54L15 MCU and a 6-axis IMU sensor, and daughter boards with either PPG and optical sensing, temperature sensing, capacitive touch sensing, or haptic feedback.
SensWear key features and specifications:
- Core mainboard
- SoC – Nordic Semi nRF54L15
- CPU
- Arm Cortex-M33 @ up to 128 MHz
- RISC-V coprocessor for “software-defined peripheral”
- Memory – 256 KB SRAM
- Storage – 1.5MB Non-volatile Memory (NVM)
- Wireless
- Bluetooth LE 6.0
- Thread, Zigbee (IEEE 802.15.4-2020)
- Matter
- Amazon Sidewalk
- Proprietary 2.4 GHz protocols with a new 4 Mbps mode
- NFC support
- CPU
- Sensors
- Bosch BHI360 six-axis smart IMU and sensor hub
- Standardized interface for interchangeable daughter boards
- I2C and interrupt-capable GPIOs
- Support for daisy-chaining multiple daughter boards
- Power Supply – Battery charging, power management, and fuel monitoring
- Dimensions – TBD (Flexible PCB)
- SoC – Nordic Semi nRF54L15
- Daughter boards
- MAX30101 PPG (Photoplethysmography) and optical sensing for real-time heart rate and SpO₂ monitoring
- MAX30208 temperature sensing (skin or ambient temperature)
- MTCH6102 15-channel capacitive touch sensing
- DRV2605 haptic feedback
- Supply Voltage – Programmable between 1.2 V and 5.5 V
- Debug board with standard JTAG/SWD interfaces, support for J-Link tools.
SensWear provides access to the complete stack, including hardware design files, Zephyr-based firmware, raw sensor data, Android and iOS mobile applications, and developer SDKs in Python and TypeScript for streaming raw sensor data and developing custom signal-processing or machine-learning applications. Since the solution is modular, developers can also design their own compatible sensor boards without redesigning the main wearable system. Everything has been released under an MIT license on GitHub.
What’s missing right now is a demo of the latest version of the SensWear platform with flexible PCBs. However, we can still take a quick look at software support with a video demo using previous-generation rigid PCBs.
SensWear sells as a complete developer bundle for 849,99 Euros (about $970) with the core board, four daughter boards, a debug board, and, I assume, any required cables, but that’s not explicitly stated. The core board can be purchased separately for 699.99 Euros, and daughter boards for 99.99 Euros. The price is quite high, probably because it’s a niche developer platform.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
Support CNX Software! Donate via cryptocurrencies, become a Patron on Patreon, or purchase goods on Amazon or Aliexpress. We also use affiliate links in articles to earn commissions if you make a purchase after clicking on those links.
