Hello, I intend to buy an Arduino with bluetooth features. I found that there are two options. One is to buy the Arduino with built in Bluetooth, an the other is to get a USB Arduino like the Diecimila and then link it with a bluetooth module such as Bluesmirf from Sparkfun. My question is what is really the difference between these two options other than the price, where the Arduino BT costs 50 bucks more. What is really the advantage of the Arduino BT over the second option that warrants its price?
I want to be sure that I get the right thing before I shell out some cold hard cash.
I want to be sure that I get the right thing before I shell out some cold hard cash.
The 'right thing' will depend on you and how you plan to use the device, how compact you want it and if you plan to migrate the BT to another platform.
I plan to implement this in a robotics project. The robot will be issued real time orders from my laptop. I need to know the pros and cons associated with these two options. What are the obstacles and limitations that I will expect?
Why does the Arduino BT costs 50 bucks more, when the Diecimila + Bluesmirf option seems more robust?
The Bluesmirf module only handles SPP. If all you are sending is commands over serial, then SPP is all you need, so you can save some money.
That said, the ArduinoBT is a very nice board - with a flexible supply voltage range.
One advantage is that if you use a BlueSmirf module, you will probably have to use a software serial port to talk to it as the Arduino will be talking to the PC using USB and taking up the hardware serail port.
I am conflicted as the the best approach - if you are doing a one-off (or very few) I'd go for the ArduinoBT else I go for the external modem.
One advantage is that if you use a BlueSmirf module, you will probably have to use a software serial port to talk to it as the Arduino will be talking to the PC using USB and taking up the hardware serail port.
Are you saying that the Arduino would only be able to talk to the PC through USB and not bluesmirf? What good is the bluesmirf then?
I'm new here and bought an Arduiono BT version. I'm reading and reading. Esspecially the BT11 manuals and also the comments here on the forum. I get the feeling that if I had bought the Arduino and the BT11 separate I would be more flexible. Apart from the split power supplies. When seperate you can connect the devices direct to your pc, albeit with levelshifters. You can later connect the tx and rx pins of the Arduino and BT11 together and run your program. You can test the program separately. When you get a deadlock situation of the Arduino BT you need a separate programmer to get the BT11 going. I don't know if you can get a deadlock when you send command to the BT11 by the pc serial port. But the datastream of your program is going by RF and when you set the BT in a state where you cannot get a connection anymore because the BT is polling around or whatever, wrong serial speed you cannot save it. It is'n defect but you have to load the default program to get it working again. When separate you connect the BT11 to the pc and send a escape sequence (read it somewhere but have to check it again).
Now I'thinking about how ik can overcome this when I send commands to the BT11 such as: SET CONTROL INIT RESET .. . When reset it sets itself again in a state it can communicate whit the arduino BT by RF.
Just some thoughts. Now I'm going on reading the manual(s).
Are you saying that the Arduino would only be able to talk to the PC through USB and not bluesmirf? What good is the bluesmirf then?
No. You will be able to talk to the PC, but, and correct me if I'm wrong here, you won't be able to transfer your program from the IDE to the arduino using the bluesmirf - that will be done using USB.
Also what do you mean by a "one-off"?
How many are you going to make? If only one, then its a one-off.