A few weeks ago, I designed a simple breakout board for the MinewSemi ME54B01 module.
Whilst I had one of the DevKits, I wanted to go through the exercise of designing my own PCB, with a battery compartment.
I used KiCad to do the schematic and PCB layout and after waiting a few weeks, Aisler.net delivered my boards! Not much going on, just a coin battery holder, two LEDs, a button and the module. Far from complex, but it tested my skills!
Assembly
As I was self-assembling, I started with some solder paste on the board, before positioning the ten components.
I then popped it on my little MHP50 hot plate for about 30 seconds.
Once the solder paste had all melted, I used my Pinecil soldering iron to clean up the module’s connections. There were a few solder bridges I needed to remove. This involved plenty of flux and running the tip up and down a few times until each pad had nice coverage.
Flashing
For my board, I created a simple application that blinked the two on-board LEDs in an alternating pattern. If this worked, I was confident my board was in good shape.
I started by hooking up the board to my JLink programmer. For this, I used my trusty pogo clip.
With my board connected, I powered it up using the JLinkExe. This applies 5V to the board.
I then tried to flash my dual temperature sensor code onto the board.
This failed initially due to write protection, which was a very good sign!
I then realised I was in the wrong project directory!
I compiled the right firmware
west build -b nrf54l15dk/nrf54l15/cpuapp
and then ran the suggested command
west flash --recover
After a second, the LEDs began to blink!
Success!
Summary
I’m feeling pretty good that this worked first time!
I plan on using this board to help me explore more Matter projects, like switches and displays. The board includes a header for all the available GPIOs, so I should have access to everything the module has to offer. It’s also smaller than the devkits and with the integrated battery holder, allows more flexible locations.
I have a one immediate thought for the next revision and that is a header to let me measure current, so I can assess power consumption. A small tweak, but one that would help me optimise battery life. But I guess that is what the real devkit is for 🙂
If you want to try this yourself, the PCB and sample firmware are on Github: https://github.com/tomasmcguinness/matter-nrf-base
If you have any questions, please use the comments or get in touch via social media!
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Thanks,
Tom!
@tomasmcguinness 
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