Solutions & Use Cases
Pre-configured FirmwareMaestro project recipes (MCU + use case combinations) and the open-ended use case templates they are built from.
Solutions are opinionated starter recipes — each one pairs a specific MCU with a specific use case and explains why that combination works. Use Cases are the generic templates behind those recipes; pick one if you know what you want to build but not which chip to target.
Solution Recipes
Each recipe targets a single MCU and a single project type, with rationale, key protocols, and the 12 documents FirmwareMaestro generates for it.
nRF52840 BLE Sensor
Build a Bluetooth Low Energy environmental sensor with the nRF52840 — measuring temperature, humidity, and air quality with multi-day battery life and mobile app connectivity.
nRF9160 Asset Tracker
Build a cellular GPS asset tracker with the nRF9160 — real-time location reporting over LTE-M/NB-IoT with geofencing, motion detection, and months-long battery life.
nRF52840 Smart Lock
Build a secure BLE smart door lock with the nRF52840 — featuring encrypted pairing, NFC tap-to-unlock, guest access management, and tamper detection.
nRF5340 BLE Audio Device
Build a Bluetooth LE Audio device with the nRF5340 — supporting LC3 codec, Auracast broadcast audio, and multi-stream capabilities for next-gen wireless audio.
nRF9160 Smart Agriculture Sensor
Build a solar-powered agricultural monitoring station with the nRF9160 — reporting soil moisture, weather data, and crop conditions over cellular to cloud dashboards.
nRF52840 Mesh Lighting
Build a smart lighting mesh network with the nRF52840 — using BLE Mesh or Thread for reliable multi-node lighting control with dimming, scenes, and schedules.
nRF52840 Medical Wearable
Build a clinical-grade health monitoring wearable with the nRF52840 — continuous ECG, SpO2, and temperature monitoring with secure BLE data transmission.
nRF52832 BLE Beacon
Build an ultra-low-power BLE beacon with the nRF52832 — iBeacon/Eddystone compatible with years of coin cell battery life for indoor positioning and proximity detection.
nRF52833 BLE Fitness Tracker
Build a Bluetooth LE fitness tracker with extended-range BLE using the nRF52833 — tracking activity, heart rate, and sleep with reliable connectivity at the edge of standard BLE range.
nRF52810 BLE Beacon
Build a cost-optimized BLE beacon with the nRF52810 — iBeacon and Eddystone compatible with years of coin-cell battery life at the lowest BOM cost in the nRF52 series.
nRF52805 Wireless Remote
Build the smallest possible BLE remote control with the nRF52805 — HID-over-GATT button and joystick input with ultra-compact PCB footprint and coin-cell power.
nRF52820 Smart Lock with USB
Build a BLE and USB-enabled smart door lock with the nRF52820 — combining secure BLE access control with USB connectivity for configuration, audit log download, and firmware updates.
nRF52811 Thread Lighting Controller
Build a Thread-enabled smart lighting controller with the nRF52811 — mesh-networked LED dimming and color control with Matter compatibility at a cost-optimized price point.
nRF54H20 BLE Audio Device
Build a next-generation BLE Audio device with the nRF54H20 — leveraging its multi-core architecture for LC3 codec processing, Auracast broadcast, and hearing aid features simultaneously.
nRF54L05 Ultra-Low-Power Beacon
Build a next-generation ultra-low-power BLE beacon with the nRF54L05 — combining the latest CRACEN security hardware with the nRF54L series' record-breaking sleep current for 5+ year coin-cell life.
nRF54L10 Medical Wearable
Build a clinical-grade health monitoring wearable with the nRF54L10 — continuous biosignal acquisition with CRACEN hardware security for HIPAA-compliant BLE data transmission at ultra-low power.
nRF54LM20 BLE Fitness Tracker
Build a high-end BLE fitness tracker with the nRF54LM20 — the most capable nRF54L chip offering 2MB Flash for rich GATT services, sensor fusion, and OTA DFU with ultra-low standby current.
nRF9151 Cellular Asset Tracker
Build an industrial-grade cellular GPS asset tracker with the nRF9151 — real-time LTE-M/NB-IoT location reporting with DECT NR+ support and extended temperature range for harsh environments.
nRF9131 Smart Agriculture Sensor
Build a compact solar-powered agricultural monitoring sensor with the nRF9131 — the smallest nRF91 SiP enables space-constrained soil and weather sensor nodes with long-range cellular reporting.
nRF9280 DECT NR+ Industrial Sensor
Build a high-speed industrial predictive maintenance sensor with the nRF9280 — leveraging DECT NR+ for low-latency, high-throughput local-area wireless in factory environments without cellular infrastructure.
nRF7001 Smart Home Hub
Add single-band Wi-Fi 6 connectivity to a Nordic BLE/Thread smart home hub using the nRF7001 companion IC — bridging Thread mesh, BLE devices, and cloud services over Wi-Fi at lower cost than dual-band.
nRF9161 Cellular Asset Tracker
Build a next-generation cellular GPS asset tracker with the nRF9161 — combining LTE-M/NB-IoT, GNSS, and DECT NR+ in a single SiP with improved power efficiency over the nRF9160.
nRF9161 Smart Agriculture Monitor
Build a DECT NR+ and cellular agricultural monitoring station with the nRF9161 — combining long-range cellular reporting with local DECT mesh for multi-sensor field networks.
nRF54L15 BLE Fitness Tracker
Build an ultra-low-power BLE fitness tracker with the nRF54L15 — leveraging CRACEN hardware security, RISC-V co-processor for always-on sensing, and BLE 5.4 for multi-day battery life.
nRF54L15 Secure Smart Lock
Build a next-generation secure smart lock with the nRF54L15 — CRACEN hardware crypto for secure BLE key management, tamper detection peripherals, and years of battery life on 2xAA cells.
Use Cases by Category
Use cases describe a project type independent of hardware. Each one lists recommended MCUs you can build it on.
Wearables
Asset Tracking
Industrial IoT
Environmental Monitor
Multi-sensor environmental monitoring station that measures temperature, humidity, air quality, and pressure, reporting data wirelessly to a central system.
Motor Controller
Precision motor control system for BLDC, stepper, or servo motors with closed-loop feedback, used in robotics, CNC machines, and industrial automation.
Predictive Maintenance Sensor
Vibration and temperature sensor for industrial equipment monitoring, detecting anomalies early to prevent costly downtime and failures.
Smart Home
Smart Home Hub
Central smart home controller that bridges multiple wireless protocols (BLE, Thread, Zigbee, WiFi) and enables unified device management and automation.
Smart Lock
Bluetooth-enabled smart door lock with secure access control, supporting mobile app unlocking, guest access codes, and activity logging.
Smart Lighting Controller
Networked lighting control system supporting dimming, color temperature, scenes, and schedules over BLE Mesh, Thread, or Zigbee for residential and commercial use.
Proximity & Location
Audio Devices
Smart Agriculture
Medical Devices
Robotics & Drones
Commercial Devices
Consumer Electronics
nRF9280
DECT NR+ and LTE-M/NB-IoT SiP designed for the unlicensed 1.9 GHz DECT band. Enables high-speed, low-latency local-area wireless for industrial automation and smart factory applications.
Use Cases
Open-ended FirmwareMaestro project templates grouped by industry category — pick one if you know what you want to build, then choose a recommended MCU.