Colibri

Colibri is a low-cost automation system, primarily intended for building automation, home automation, energy supervision, agriculture supervision and similar systems. Main features beside costs are;

• Flexible I/O system, via Expansion Cards in M.2 Key E sockets. Many types already developed.
• Power supply of 9-36 Volt, either AC or DC (some expansion cards won't work with DC supply)
• Each I/O slot can be powered-up/down individually from the MCU.
• Each I/O slot is addressable individually.
• Each expansion module has an EEPROM with program and calibration parameters for the MCU module to use.
• Some expansion modules have on-board secondary processors for time-critical or other reasons, for instance pulse counting and PID regulator.

Carrier Boards

• Colibri-3 using LoraWAN for communications and 2 I/O expansion slots.
• Planned; Colibri-8 is like the Colibri-3, but with 7 I/O expansion slots.
• Planned; Colibri-7pi is a full-fledged Raspberry Pi, built with Compute Module 4 (CM4) and 7 I/O expansion slots.

MCU Modules

There is a choice, and more will follow;

• Colibri MCU1 - RAK3172 which has a STM32WLE5, 256kB Flash, 64kB RAM, on-chip LoRa and LoraWAN protocol available from GitHUb.
• Colibri MCU2 - ESP32-S3-Mini-1-N4R2 which is intended for ESPhome applications. On-board PCB WiFi antenna.
• Colibri MCU3 - ESP32-S3-Mini-1-N8 which is intended for ESPhome applications. IPEX/U.FL antenna connector.

Expansion Modules

The Colibri system is based around the M.2 connector and a non-standard bus for I2C and SPI communications. Each expansion board has a EEPROM memory available to identify which module is present in each expansion slot. Furthermore, there is a Colibri Forth program located in the eeprom that contains the functionality of the module, executed in the MCU module. This allows for future expansion modules without requiring the upgrade of the MCU module.

NOTE; Colibri Forth is only available/supported for the Colibri MCU1 at the moment. Porting to other MCUs might or might not happen in the future.

Form Factor

Colibri expansion boards are 22x42mm and has an edge connector called M.2 Key E. Many of the pins are following the Key E standard, but Colibri boards have additional requirements, which is not available in the official standard.

WARNING!!! Do NOT plug Colibri expansion boards into other equipment. Do NOT plug any M.2 card into a Colibri system, unless that card/board is specifically made for Colibri.

Boards

Name	Type	Description	Status
Colibri-3	Colibri Carrier	Minimal Colibri Host with 2 expansion cards. MCU slot is to be populated with any of the MCU variants available.	Prototype available
M2 E Breakout	M2 breakout board	Generic breakout board for M.2 E key boards.	Available for pre-orders
Colibri Dev	I/O Expansion	Development, maker, experimentation and breakout board for the Colibri I/O system. Power rails, 24LCxx dedicated footprint, plus i2c and spi on large pads.	Available for pre-orders
Colibri AIC	I/O Expansion	Two analog 0-20mA inputs	Prototype available
Colibri AIV	I/O Expansion	Two analog 0-10V inputs	Prototype available
Colibri AQV	I/O Expansion	Two analog 0-10V outputs	Prototype available
Colibri DIU	I/O Expansion	Four digital inputs, for state, counter, pulsewidth measurement. On-board STM32F030 for ability to count very fast pulses and high accuracy PWM measurements.	Prototype available
Colibri DII	I/O Expansion	Two ISOLATED digital inputs, for state, counter, pulsewidth measurement. On-board STM32F030 for ability to count very fast pulses and high accuracy PWM measurements.	Prototype available
Colibri RS485U	I/O Expansion	Two non-isolated RS-485 ports. On-board STM32F030 implementing Modbus protocol, either as master or slave device.	Prototype available
Colibri PID1	I/O Expansion	PID regulator, with a PT1000 input and a 0-10V analog output. On-board STM32F030 for host-independent operation.	Prototype available
Colibri Pt1000	I/O Expansion	Two PT1000 temperature sensor inputs.	Prototype available
Colibri SSR	I/O Expansion	Two Solid State Relays, ON/OFF.	Prototype available
Colibri TRIAC1	I/O Expansion	Four Triac outputs, driving 24V AC.	Prototype available
Colibri MCU1	Host MCU	MCU module for the Colibri-3 and similar carrier boards with LoraWAN. Contains RAK3172 with 256kB Flash and 64kB RAM.	Prototype available.
Colibri MCU2	Host MCU	MCU module for the Colibri-3 and similar carrier boards with LoraWAN. Contains ESP32-S3-Mini1-N4R2.	Prototype available.
Colibri MCU3	Host MCU	MCU module for the Colibri-3 and similar carrier boards with WiFi. Contains ESP32-S3-Mini1U-N8.	Prototype available.

Planned Boards

	Name	Type	Description	Status
	Colibri-7pi	Colibri Carrier	Colibri carrier board with 7 expansion cards, two Ethernet ports, 4 USB ports and SDcard connector. Powered by Raspberry Pi CM5 module.	Ready for prototype
	Colibri-8	Colibri Carrier	Colibri carrier board with 7 expansion cards, similar to Colibri-3 but with a different size and enclosure.	Planned

License

All Schematics and PCB layout are licensed with the GPLv3, meaning that you are free to make your own designs or manufacture devices using these. We expect that if you derive new design, that you publish these, preferably on this website.

The software will also be published with GPLv3, when something is workable.

Resources

RAK3172 Product Page

RAKwireless documentation site