Firmware¶
All OpenCollar Edge devices run one firmware: OpenCollar Edge firmware, developed by Smart Parks and IRNAS on the Nordic nRF Connect SDK (Zephyr RTOS) for the nRF52840. The same code base is built for every supported board and hardware revision group, and a tracker type setting selects device-specific behaviour and the image shown in the apps.
| Latest release | v8.0.1 (2026-09-24) |
| Public repository | OpenCollar Edge firmware (MPL-2.0) |
| Development repository | OpenCollar Edge firmware (development) (private; releases are mirrored to the public repository) |
| SDK | nRF Connect SDK 2.2 (Zephyr 3.2), MCUboot |
| Radio | Semtech LR11xx (LoRaWAN, GNSS scanning, Wi-Fi scanning), Nordic BLE |
What the firmware does¶
- Positioning with a u-blox GNSS receiver (high accuracy, higher power) and the LR11xx GNSS scanner (lower power, needs a cloud solver), Wi-Fi and BLE scans as alternatives, motion-triggered fixes and configurable intervals.
- Communication over LoRaWAN (OTAA, all regions), Bluetooth (Nordic UART Service for configuration, logs and DFU), optional Iridium via RockBLOCK, and the experimental LP0 mode for LoRa without a LoRaWAN stack.
- Sensors LIS2DW12 accelerometer with motion detection, temperature, reed switch, external switch, electric fence probe, microphones and an optional air-quality board.
- Storage of every message in external flash, readable over LoRaWAN or Bluetooth.
- Settings defined once in
settings.jsonand generated into C, with 123 settings, 46 commands and 20 readable values in version 8.0.1.
Architecture in one picture¶
flowchart TB
subgraph nRF52840
MAIN[Main thread<br/>schedules GNSS, status, scans]
COM[Communication thread<br/>LoRaWAN, BLE, satellite queues]
SET[Settings module<br/>generated from settings.json]
FLASH[Flash log store]
MAIN --> COM
SET --> MAIN
COM --> FLASH
end
GNSS[u-blox GNSS] --> MAIN
ACC[LIS2DW12 accelerometer] --> MAIN
LR[LR11xx radio] <--> COM
BLE[Bluetooth NUS] <--> COM
SAT[RockBLOCK] <--> COMVersions¶
Releases follow semantic versioning with a Keep a Changelog CHANGELOG.md. Milestones:
| Version | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2.x | 2022 | First shared platform for RangerEdge, RhinoEdge and RhinoPuck |
| 4.0.0 | 2023-03 | Port to nRF Connect SDK 2.2 |
| 5.0.1 | 2024-03 | Non-functional migration image required between 4.x and 6.x |
| 6.x | 2024-02 to 2025-09 | CMDQ, external switch, LR messaging, CollarEdge and FreeEdge boards |
| 7.1.0 to 7.3.0 | 2026-02 to 2026-04 | RF scanner removed, LP0, SD card writer, public release workflow |
| 8.0.0 | 2026-09 | Settings family byte (new settings wire and storage format), BLE scan filters, persistent LoRa join session |
See Releases for downloads and Supported hardware for the board and revision table.
Documentation in the firmware repository¶
The repository README covers setup with east and west, building per board and revision, build types (production, debug, provisioning), flashing, RTT logging, release creation and manual provisioning. Module READMEs describe settings, LP0, GNSS, satellite, sensors, the fence port and the operation tests. Start at the README and the CHANGELOG.