Sensor Extension Board

This guide describes how to use the NE301 sensor extension board to quickly set up sensor demos for various application scenarios.

1. Overview

The NE301 platform provides standardized sensor expansion capabilities. The sensor extension board connects via a unified I2C bus, managed by an open-source driver layer. It supports plug-and-play operation and custom sensor integration, providing a flexible hardware foundation for application-specific requirements.

Open Architecture

NE301 sensor expansion is built on standard hardware interfaces and open-source drivers, allowing developers to freely adapt and extend:

Standard I2C interface: I2C bus 1 with 7-bit addressing (0x03–0x77), compatible with mainstream I2C sensors
Standard SPI display: SPI6 interface driving ST7789VW TFT display (240×240 RGB565) for real-time sensor data visualization
Open-source driver layer: Complete C driver code available on GitHub at Custom/Hal/SensorExt/, including I2C bus abstraction, sensor drivers, CLI debug commands, and TFT display output
Unified CLI command: The sexp command starts all sensor data acquisition and display with a single line

Expansion Capabilities

Method	Description
Plug and play	Sensor extension board pre-integrates 6 sensors, ready to use upon connection
Custom sensors	Connect any compatible sensor via I2C bus, write adapters referencing open-source drivers
Display output	Built-in TFT driver supports real-time sensor data text overlay and thermal imaging pseudo-color rendering
API integration	Open-source C APIs (`sht3x_init()`, `vl53l1x_get_result()`, etc.) can be integrated into user applications

Supported Sensors

Sensor	Model	Specifications	Typical Applications
Temperature/Humidity	SHT3x	Temperature ±0.3°C, Humidity ±2%RH	Environmental monitoring, warehouse management, overheating protection
Ambient Light	LTR-31x	Visible + IR 16-bit detection	Lighting control, day/night switching, intrusion detection
6-axis IMU	LSM6DSR	Accelerometer + Gyroscope + Temperature	Orientation detection, vibration monitoring, fall detection
Short-range ToF	VL53L1X	Laser ranging 1.3m (short) / 4m (long)	Proximity detection, gesture recognition, collision warning
Long-range Laser	DTS6012M	Long-distance ToF laser ranging	Remote target detection, distance monitoring, perimeter security
IR Thermal Imaging	MLX90642	32×24 pixel temperature matrix, ±1°C	Non-contact temperature measurement, thermal distribution detection, human presence detection

2. Hardware Preparation and Assembly

Required Hardware

Component	Description
NE301 development board	Pre-installed system firmware
Sensor extension board	Pre-integrated 6 I2C sensors
TFT display	ST7789VW 240×240 (bundled with extension board)
USB-C cable	For serial debugging and power supply
Debug tool	Serial terminal (e.g., minicom, PuTTY)

Assembly Steps

Step 1: Align the sensor extension board with the NE301 expansion connector and press to seat

Step 2: Connect the TFT display to the SPI6 interface on the extension board

Step 3: Connect NE301 via USB-C and open the serial terminal

Note: The TFT display and NAU881x audio codec share the SPI6 interface. They are mutually exclusive via resistor soldering configuration. To use audio functionality, switch to an audio-configured extension board.

After assembly, the NE301 should appear as follows:

3. Quick Start

3.1 Scan I2C Bus

After connecting the serial terminal, run the I2C scan command to verify all sensors are online:

AICAM> i2c_tool detect

Scanning I2C bus 1, address range 0x03-0x77
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0a 0b 0c 0d 0e 0f
         -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 1a -- -- -- -- --
-- -- 22 -- -- -- -- -- -- 29 -- -- -- -- -- --
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
-- -- -- -- 44 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
-- -- -- -- -- -- 66 -- -- -- 6a -- -- -- -- --
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Complete sensor list:

Address	Sensor	Address	Sensor
0x1a	NAU881x audio codec	0x44	SHT3x temperature/humidity
0x22	LTR-31x ambient light	0x51	DTS6012M laser ranging
0x29	VL53L1X ToF ranging	0x66	MLX90642 IR thermal imaging
		0x6a	LSM6DSR 6-axis IMU

All sensors share I2C bus 1. A missing sensor does not affect the operation of other sensors.

3.2 Start Sensor Data Acquisition

Run the following command to start sensor data acquisition and TFT display:

AICAM> sexp start

This command will:

Initialize all sensors (I2C bus 1)
Start a 200ms periodic sensor reading thread
Display sensor data in real time on the TFT screen
The ir parameter enables infrared thermal imaging mode (no camera required)

Once started, the TFT display will show all sensor data in real time:

3.3 View Sensor Data

The upper text area of the TFT screen displays real-time readings from each sensor:

SHT3x: 33.4 C 45.0%       ← Temperature/Humidity
ALS: 2255 IR: 63           ← Ambient light (visible + IR)
VL53:159 mm                ← Short-range ToF ranging
DTS:N/A mm                ← Long-range laser ranging
A: 16 -14 -991 mg           ← Accelerometer (3-axis)
G: 140 -1050 140 mdps      ← Gyroscope (3-axis)

3.4 IR Thermal Imaging

Run the following command to start IR thermal imaging mode:

AICAM> sexp start ir

This command will:

Initialize all sensors (I2C bus 1)
Start the MLX90642 IR thermal imaging array (32×24 pixels)
Display thermal imaging on the lower half of the TFT screen (pseudo-color rendering, blue→green→yellow→red spectrum)
Display all sensor text data on the upper half simultaneously

The top of the TFT screen shows thermal imaging statistics:

MLX: min 16.4 C max 28.8 C avg 21.6 C

Move your hand near the sensor area to observe real-time temperature changes in the thermal imaging display.

Tip: You can also use sexp start (without the ir parameter) to overlay sensor data text on the camera preview. This requires camera pipe2 to be running first.

3.5 Stop Data Acquisition

AICAM> sexp stop

4. Supported Sensors

The sensor extension board integrates 6 sensor types covering temperature/humidity, light, motion, distance, and thermal imaging detection. Driver source code and CLI debug commands are fully open-source. Developers can access the complete source code and API documentation at Custom/Hal/SensorExt/ in the GitHub repository.

Sensor	I2C Address	Accuracy / Range	CLI Debug Commands
SHT3x temperature/humidity	0x44	Temperature ±0.3°C, Humidity ±2%RH	`sexp start ir` to view data
LTR-31x ambient light	0x22	16-bit ALS + IR counts	`als init` → `als read` → `als deinit`
LSM6DSR 6-axis IMU	0x6a	±2g~±16g / ±125~±2000dps	View via `sexp start ir`
VL53L1X ToF	0x29	Short-range 1.3m / Long-range 4m	`vl53l1x init` → `vl53l1x start` → `vl53l1x status`
DTS6012M laser ranging	0x51	Long-range ToF laser ranging	`dts6012m init` → `dts6012m read` → `dts6012m deinit`
MLX90642 IR thermal imaging	0x66	32×24 pixels, 0.02°C/LSB	`mlx90642 init` → `mlx90642 measure` → `mlx90642 dump`

Developer Resources

Source code path: Custom/Hal/SensorExt/

SensorExt/
├── i2c_driver/           # I2C bus abstraction layer
├── sht3x/                # SHT3x temperature/humidity driver
├── ltr_31x/              # LTR-31x ambient light driver
├── lsm6dsr/              # LSM6DSR 6-axis IMU driver
├── vl53l1x/              # VL53L1X ToF driver
├── dts6012m/             # DTS6012M laser ranging driver
├── mlx90642/             # MLX90642 IR thermal imaging driver
├── tft_st7789v/          # TFT display driver
└── sensor_exemple/       # Integration example (sexp command)

5. Customization Support

The sensor extension board demonstrates NE301's environmental sensing capabilities. The current sensor board supports flexible selection of sensors based on application requirements, with customizable top covers to accommodate different heights and display configurations. All driver source code is fully open-source — developers can implement their own application logic or contact CamThink for custom development. For more information, please contact our Sales team.

图片	名称	数量	说明
	Sensor Extension Board	1	Pre-integrated with 6 sensors: SHT3x, LTR-31x, LSM6DSR, VL53L1X, DTS6012M, MLX90642 Communicates with NE301 via I2C bus 1
	TFT Display	1	ST7789VW 240×240 RGB565 Connected via SPI6 interface, mutually exclusive with audio codec

Last updated: 2026-03-31

1. Overview​

Open Architecture​

Expansion Capabilities​

Supported Sensors​

2. Hardware Preparation and Assembly​

Required Hardware​

Assembly Steps​

3. Quick Start​

3.1 Scan I2C Bus​

3.2 Start Sensor Data Acquisition​

3.3 View Sensor Data​

3.4 IR Thermal Imaging​

3.5 Stop Data Acquisition​

4. Supported Sensors​

5. Customization Support​