Bluetooth Mesh Communication

Projects General Guidance
1

Hi all,

I’m searching for a solution for Motorbike group intercom. Available intercom systems are only for max. 4 users, if all have the same headset device.
My idea would be an Arduino board with 2 Bluetooth transceivers: one for Interface to existing BT Headset, one that can realize BT mesh for communication to the group.
Communication should work by ptt like a walkie talkie. By using long range mesh function, also groups of 10 bikers an more should be possible with more than 1km between #1 and #10.
Pairing with headset should be possible several times to different headsets, the mesh can be fixed as all my devices are in one mesh.

What do you think? Is this possible based on arduino?

2

Bane81:
more should be possible with more than 1km between #1 and #10.

A tall order for Bluetooth

3

Bane81:
one for Interface to existing BT Headset,

If you mean that the Arduino has to deal with the volume of data associated with speech then I suspect that alone is a tall order.

...R

4

And the maximum distance between two nodes is ?

5

The Distance between the nodes is in the range of 100m - 300m.

6

Bluetooth claims 100m range, that's no doubt in ideal conditions and clear line of sight. Bluetooth is designed to be low power, not long range.

You'd better be looking at other radios, such as RFM69 or HC12.

7

This seems a clear issue of an XY Problem.

It has nothing to do with Arduinos or bluetooth.

CB radios with VOX are readily available and cheap, and there is no limit to how many share the same channel.

8

But there are no CB radios that can connect via Bluetooth to a headset available in Europe. Only professional ones that are very expensive. And the voice quality is very poor, as it is analog.

Bluetooth 5 should fulfill all my requirements, but the question is if a cheap Arduino board can do it in combination with a bt5 module ?

9

Bane81:
But there are no CB radios that can connect via Bluetooth to a headset available in Europe.

Seems to me that a simpler solution would be to build a headset (i.e. earpiece and microphone) that connects directly to the CB radio and forget about Bluetooth.

The only uncertainty would be your soldering skills.

Designing and testing an Arduino interface will be very time consuming - even if you know at the outset that it can work in principle.

...R

10

Robin2:
Seems to me that a simpler solution would be to build a headset (i.e. earpiece and microphone) that connects directly to the CB radio and forget about Bluetooth.

Yeah. It's called wire! :grinning:

Bane81:
And the voice quality is very poor, as it is analog.

Does suggest you have no idea what you are talking about and that is the base problem. :astonished:

UHF CB is FM.

11

Bane81:
Bluetooth 5 should fulfill all my requirements

Do you have much experience with RF stuff, testing modules and the like ?

There is often a very significant difference between a quoted line of sight (LOS) range and what range you get in practical situations.

The long range part of Bluetooth 5 (150kbps ?) has been tested to around 1km LOS I believe, but in a practical application where objects have an annoying habit of getting in the way, that would likley be 100m or less, you want 300m. Even if you only 50m away, turn a corner and I would expect Bluetooth long range to drop out.

There are 2.4Ghz RF modules out there that will do 4km LOS @ 200kbps and potentially 8km LOS, but they aint Bluetooth.