Connection between two Arduino BLE

Using Arduino Networking, Protocols, and Devices
1

Hello everybody,
I am new to the forum and I am not an Arduino expert, I hope not to ask stupid questions ...
I would like to connect digital sensors to the first Arduino and then read the status of the sensors on the second Arduino, how can I proceed? How far can I reach with communication? What delay will there be on the signals read?
Thank you

P.S. Excuse my english

2

Welcome to the forum.

There are no stupid questions.

Let's turn this around:

  • What is the minimum distance you need for your application to work?
  • What data do you want to transmit? e.g., values per second, resolution, data type
  • What is the maximum delay acceptable for your application and why?
  • How is your application powered?

Some general points:

  • BLE is basically a body network for small amount of sensor data, you and your phone in the middle and some smart sensors or a device around you e.g., your bicycle, a configurable machine ...

There are many protocols supported by different Arduino boards. The choice depends on

  • bandwidth required
  • compatibility with smartphones (WiFi, Bluetooth and BLE, mobile phone network)
  • energy available (line powered vs battery)
  • distance

As always you cannot get it all at once. :slight_smile: e.g., high bandwidth, long distance and low power will not work

3

Hi Klaus K, thanks for the reply.

I try to better describe my request, it is about sending Boolean data (or 1 byte) in practice the logic state of two digital signals, a photocell and a reset button from the first to the second Arduino. Minimum operating distance 200 meters, as regards the transmission speed it must be as high as possible, because the photocells command a chronometer where the precision of 0.1 seconds is required. I read from the datascheet of the bluethoot module that the maximum range is 500m meters I hope to reach 200. For now the connections are via cable, for convenience we would like to remove the cables. Another request is the absence of external antennas to the container of the photocell / button, in fact I was thinking of the BLE because it has an integrated antenna. Power supply via 12V lithium battery.

Thank you

4

BLE is definitely the wrong choice for this application. Look for high speed UART serial wireless modems.

You might find this buying guide useful: Wireless Buying Guide - SparkFun Electronics

5

Hi jremington,
I was afraid I had the wrong hardware, in fact the amount of data to be transmitted is minimal, they must be fast and the distance is not very little, things that usually are not done with the bluethoot.
Do you have any advice on what hardware, maybe cheap, to use?

P.S. Anyone know how long it takes for Arduino BLE to transmit a Byte of data?

Thank you

6

Reading datasheet does not always give you the truths. The 200m operating distance may be possible for the hardware when you use another protocol. It will come at the cost of higher power and likely even smaller bandwidth.

For long distance sub-GHz is a better choice. Have a look at LoRa.

That is not a useful question for BLE. BLE uses packets, has connection intervals and some additional protocol overhead. You cannot just send a single byte.

There is a difference between bandwidth and signal delay.

7

Good morning,
in fact the idea of using two BLEs for this application does not make sense, I thought I would look for some LoRa module, perhaps it is more suitable for this project. If you have any suggestions, they are welcome, thank you all :smiley:

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