Π Node
A solar box that watches a gate or a field.
- Solar, 20 Wh LiFePO4
- 1080p day and night camera
- LoRa, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth LE
- 4 cartridge slots
What it is
The Π Node is a sealed outdoor box, about 20 x 15 x 8 cm, with a solar lid and its own battery.
It wakes when something moves, takes a picture by day or by night, and sleeps the rest of the time. It is built to run outside for years.
Slide-in cartridges add what a place needs. Screw terminals give it switched 12 V power and two inputs.
At a glance
- Wakes on motion and takes a picture by day or by night, with infrared light after dark.
- Runs on its own solar lid and battery.
- Reaches over Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth LE, or LoRa where Wi-Fi does not reach.
- Measures temperature, humidity and air pressure.
- Takes add-ons: four slide-in cartridges and four screw terminals.
The real design, in 3D
The two boards of Node v1, exported from KiCad.
Node v1 main board, 120 x 95 mm, 6 layers. The four slots take the cartridges. Drag to turn. Click, then scroll to zoom; pinch on a phone.
The camera eye board, 60 x 40 mm: four infrared lights around the camera, and the motion sensor. Drag to turn. Click, then scroll to zoom; pinch on a phone.
Schematic and board
Node v1 boards are laid out straight from code. The full Node core board also has a schematic, drawn from the same kind of code.
Node v1 main board layout. Click a part or a net to see its name.
The camera eye board.
The core board of the full Node (see Versions below). Each pin has a label with its net name; the same name means the same net on every sheet.
How the parts work
Brain
An ESP32-P4 chip, with an ESP32-C6 beside it for Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth LE.
Camera eye
A 1080p camera with a filter that switches for night, and four 850 nm infrared lights. It sits on its own small board behind the door window.
Motion sensor
A passive infrared (PIR) sensor that wakes the box when something moves.
Weather sensor
Temperature, humidity and air pressure.
Long-range radio
LoRa, for places Wi-Fi does not reach.
Power
A 5 W solar lid, a 20 Wh LiFePO4 battery pack and a solar charger. Guards stop a wrong plug from doing damage.
Cartridge slots
4 card-edge slots for add-ons. Each slot stays off until the box reads the cartridge's ID and switches it on.
Screw terminals
4 terminals: switched 12 V, ground and two inputs (one analog, one that can wake the box).
Two boards
A main board (120 x 95 mm, 6 layers) on the back wall, and the camera eye board (60 x 40 mm) behind the window, joined by one cable.
Specs
- Size
- About 20 x 15 x 8 cm
- Power
- 5 W solar lid, 20 Wh LiFePO4 pack
- Camera
- 1080p, day and night (850 nm infrared)
- Sensors
- Motion (PIR), temperature, humidity, pressure
- Radio
- LoRa, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth LE
- Add-ons
- 4 cartridge slots, 4 screw terminals
Versions
Node v1 (lean)
The design on this page: 4 cartridge slots, 4 terminals, the camera eye built in.
Full Node
The bigger version: 8 slide-in cartridges, each holding one mikroBUS add-on board, a plug-in sensor bay, a USB hub and a separate camera pod, with an ESP32-S3 and a larger battery pack (about 40 Wh).
Parts list
Every part on the board: value, package and how many. Parts that plug in after assembly are listed above under How the parts work.
Node v1 main board106 lines, 364 parts
| Value | Package | Qty |
|---|---|---|
| 10uF | 0603 | 24 |
| 100nF | 0402 | 54 |
| 4.7uF | 0603 | 2 |
| 10nF | 0402 | 5 |
| 1uF/16V | 0402 | 4 |
| 22pF | 0402 | 3 |
| 22uF | 0805 | 6 |
| 1uF | 0402 | 7 |
| 47nF/25V | 0402 | 2 |
| 4.7uF/10V | 0603 | 2 |
| 10uF/50V | 1206 | 5 |
| 100nF/50V | 0402 | 4 |
| 1nF | 0402 | 2 |
| 1uF/25V | 0603 | 3 |
| 1uF/50V | 0603 | 1 |
| 100nF/100V | 0603 | 1 |
| 100pF | 0402 | 1 |
| 22uF/25V | 1206 | 7 |
| 100nF/25V | 0402 | 1 |
| 10pF | 0402 | 1 |
| 22nF/50V | 0603 | 1 |
| SMAJ9.0A | D SMA | 1 |
| SMAJ24A | D SMA | 1 |
| SMAJ40CA | D SMA | 1 |
| SMAJ15A | D SMA | 1 |
| 7A slow SMD | 2512 | 1 |
| PTC 0.35A hold 16V | 1206 | 4 |
| TYPE-C-31-M-12 | USB-C SMD-TYPE-C-31-M-12 1 | 1 |
| SOLAR_DC_IN | Molex Micro-Fit 3.0 43650-0200 1x02 P3.00mm Horizontal | 1 |
| BATT | Molex Micro-Fit 3.0 43650-0300 1x03 P3.00mm Horizontal | 1 |
| C6_PROG | PinHeader 2x03 P1.27mm Vertical SMD | 1 |
| TERMINALS | TerminalBlock Phoenix PTSM-0,5-4-2.5-H-THR 1x04 P2.50mm Horizontal | 1 |
| CAM_SC2336 | FFC-SMD 24P-P0.50 FH34SRJ-24S-0.5SH | 1 |
| EYE | JST GH SM12B-GHS-TB 1x12-1MP P1.25mm Horizontal | 1 |
| SLOT1 | PCIE-TH PCIE-036-02-F-D-TH | 1 |
| SLOT2 | PCIE-TH PCIE-036-02-F-D-TH | 1 |
| SLOT3 | PCIE-TH PCIE-036-02-F-D-TH | 1 |
| SLOT4 | PCIE-TH PCIE-036-02-F-D-TH | 1 |
| 2.2uH WPN252010U2R2MT | 1008 | 1 |
| MWSA0503S-2R2MT | L Sunlord MWSA0503S | 1 |
| 0.47uH Isat>=6A MWSA0402S-R47MT | L Sunlord MWSA0402S | 1 |
| 1uH Isat>=12A MWSA0603S-1R0MT | L Sunlord MWSA0603S | 1 |
| 3.3uH MWSA0804S-3R3MT | L Sunlord MWSA0804S | 1 |
| 2N7002 | SOT-23 | 2 |
| AO3400A | SOT-23 | 5 |
| BSS138 | SOT-23 | 2 |
| CSD25402Q3A | VSON-8 3.3x3.3mm P0.65mm NexFET | 1 |
| 4.02K | 0402 | 2 |
| 499K | 0402 | 2 |
| 10K | 0402 | 30 |
| 1K | 0402 | 17 |
| 4.7K | 0402 | 5 |
| 2.2K | 0402 | 8 |
| 51K | 0402 | 6 |
| 100R | 0402 | 3 |
| 91K | 0402 | 1 |
| 100K | 0402 | 32 |
| 5.23K | 0402 | 1 |
| 30.1K | 0402 | 1 |
| 1M | 0402 | 2 |
| 121K | 0402 | 1 |
| 280K | 0402 | 1 |
| 205K | 0402 | 1 |
| 6.04K | 0402 | 1 |
| 560K | 0402 | 1 |
| 732K | 0402 | 2 |
| 5.1K | 0402 | 2 |
| 33R | 0402 | 2 |
| 348K | 0402 | 1 |
| 80.6K | 0402 | 2 |
| 16.2K | 0402 | 1 |
| 47K | 0402 | 2 |
| 15K | 0402 | 2 |
| 10K x4 | R Array Convex 4x0402 | 4 |
| BOOT | SW SPST TS-1088-xR020 | 1 |
| RESET | SW SPST TS-1088-xR020 | 1 |
| ESP32-P4NRW32X | QFN-104 L10.0-W10.0-P0.35-TL-EP7.5 | 1 |
| TLV62569DBV | SOT-23-5 | 1 |
| GD25Q128ESIG | SOIC-8 5.3x5.3mm P1.27mm | 1 |
| TPS3839K33DBZR | SOT-23 | 1 |
| ESP32-C6-MINI-1U-N4 | ESP32-C6-MINI-1U | 1 |
| BQ25798 | Texas RQM0029A VQFN-29 4x4mm P0.4mm | 1 |
| TPS3700DDCR | SOT-23-6 | 1 |
| TPS26600PWPR | HTSSOP-16-1EP 4.4x5mm P0.65mm EP3.4x5mm Mask2.66x2.46mm | 1 |
| TPS63802DLAR | VSON-10 L3.0-W2.0-P0.50-TL | 1 |
| TPS61022 | Texas RWU0007A VQFN-7 2x2mm P0.5mm | 1 |
| TCA9535PWR | TSSOP-24 4.4x7.8mm P0.65mm | 2 |
| TCA9548APWR | TSSOP-24 4.4x7.8mm P0.65mm | 1 |
| TPS22919DCK | SOT-363 SC-70-6 | 1 |
| ME6211C18M5 | SOT-23-5 | 1 |
| ME6211C28M5 | SOT-23-5 | 1 |
| USBLC6-2SC6 | SOT-23-6 | 1 |
| TPD2E2U06DCK | SOT-323 SC-70 | 2 |
| TPS2051BDBVR | SOT-23-5 | 4 |
| TPS2051CDBVR | SOT-23-5 | 4 |
| AP1511B | SOT-26 L3.0-W1.6-P0.95-LS2.8-BL | 1 |
| Wio-SX1262 | Wio-SX1262 | 1 |
| BME280 | Bosch LGA-8 2.5x2.5mm P0.65mm ClockwisePinNumbering | 1 |
| TPS61178RNWR | VQFN-HR-13 L3.0-W3.5-P0.50-BL | 1 |
| TPS22810DRV | WSON-6-1EP 2x2mm P0.65mm EP1x1.6mm | 1 |
| 74LVC1G32 | SOT-23-5 | 4 |
| SN74LVC2G125DCUR | VSSOP-8 2.3x2mm P0.5mm | 4 |
| SN74LVC1G125DCKR | SOT-353 SC-70-5 | 4 |
| TPD4E05U06DQAR | USON-10 2.5x1.0mm P0.5mm | 12 |
| 24MHz 1.8V | Oscillator SMD ECS 2520MV-xxx-xx-4Pin 2.5x2.0mm | 1 |
| 40MHz 10ppm 15pF | Crystal SMD 3225-4Pin 3.2x2.5mm | 1 |
Node v1 camera eye11 lines, 18 parts
| Value | Package | Qty |
|---|---|---|
| 10uF | 0805 | 1 |
| 100nF | 0402 | 1 |
| 1uF | 0402 | 2 |
| 850nm XYC-HIRC19C60-35 | LED-SMD 3P-L3.5-W3.5-FD-2 | 4 |
| EYE | JST GH SM12B-GHS-TB 1x12-1MP P1.25mm Horizontal | 1 |
| IRCUT | Molex PicoBlade 53261-0271 1x02-1MP P1.25mm Horizontal | 1 |
| SHUTTER | Molex PicoBlade 53261-0271 1x02-1MP P1.25mm Horizontal | 1 |
| 6.8R 1W | 2512 | 4 |
| 100K | 0402 | 1 |
| AS312 + S9001 lens | SENSORM-TH 3P AS312 | 1 |
| AP1511B | SOT-26 L3.0-W1.6-P0.95-LS2.8-BL | 1 |
Pictures
Renders and drawings from the design files.
Design files
The Π Node is an open design. Build it, sell it, improve it.
- Node v1 boardsKiCad 10 files for the main board and the camera eye
- Factory filesGerbers, drill files, parts lists and placement files
- Full NodeCore board, backplane and cartridge, with schematics
Make one
Every ΠAN Gear design is open. Build the Π Node, sell it, improve it. Tell us at makers@thepanproject.com and we test it with ΠAN, help you get it right, and feature it here.