hi there!
Am new to the whole arduino business but need to get a blutooth version of the board for a university project. I'm trying to design a wireless MIDI controller, including several bend sensors and switches to control virtual synths (mainstream stuff such as NI reaktor).
I have managed to fing out answers for pretty much all my questions exept these two:
I want to make sure the arduino is fully wireless when i use it in performance situations, but i am not sure how to power it adequately.do I need an adapter to fit the batteries in and plug into the dc in?
I understand this will be regarded as a silly question, but i'd really hate to fry the bugger before i even got a chance to use it
How do I convert the data sent by the arduino to a language that the synths will understand (MIDI) on a virtual port that the virtual synth will see (Virtual midi in of some sort)?
I am guessing this might be possible through max/msp (which i have and know the basics of, luckily)
Still, has anyone done it yet? remember I'm only looking to find out about the BT arduino, as the "wired" versions are well documented...
"The use of a DC-DC convertor, allowing the board to be powered with a minimum of 1.2 V, but with a maximum of 5.5 V. Higher voltages or reversed polarity in the power supply will kill the board. "
If you're new to electronics, batteries wired in series's voltages will add together, so two 2.5V batteries in series will equal 5V.
If you want to increase the time you run on batteries you can put two five volt batteries in parallel, as it'll still be five volts, just less current draw from each.
I'm looking at doing the exact same project.
I figured it'd be effecient to do the ADC level to MIDI conversion inside the microcontroller cause it'd decrease the amount of information sent via bluetooth.
I'd suggest you find the information Tom Igoe and Todbot have on this site, as it'll save you from reinventing the wheel.
MaxMSP sounds like your best bet for sending MIDI information, otherwise look up the stuff on Glovepie and MIDIyoke.
What you're looking for is serial to midi drivers. THere is some information on the forum reguarding this.
Hey there! Thanks a lot for the info. The arduino BT is now on its way.
Is there anychance you could send me your arduino program when your done? I'm gonna try and figure it out myself, but i wanna make sure I have a back up plan (in case i turnout to be too dim!)
Thanks
TO start out with I'm going to be using MIDI code people have already written.
Thats the beauty of an open source community. There is a handful of people that have already tackled this issue. Do a search on this forum and google. I say google because people have done this for other microcontrollers as well and the C code easily translates.
But eventually I do plan on adding a few personal touches to the code and I will be sharing when that happens.
This sounds a lot like the project that I am working on right now for my 4th year Engineering project. I've already got my wired prototype handling stretch sensors, accelerometers, hall-effect sensors, swtiches and piezo transducers, so if you want to compare notes there I can help you out.
There are some Bluetooth-based solutions out there, such as The MIDI Pick™, that rely on mounting the Adruino as a serial device and manipulating the data stream through Max/MSP as dshay said. Unfortunately they are not generalized, that is, they can't send MIDI out from the board and into a MIDI port for the computer. Having that would save you heaps of work as the software side is already done through your program of choice (Reason, Traktor, Ableton Live).
I am trying to work on a generalized MIDI controller using two Arduino boards with xbee modules. The problem I foresee is that I will be using both Tx and Rx on the two boards for wireless communication and cannot then use the serial out on the "receiver" board for MIDI communications. Has anyone here ever time-multiplexed a serial port on the Arduino before?