Nano 33 BLE constantly crashing and blinking in a wierd way

Hello everybody
I'm pretty new to the Nano 33 BLE world.
I'm trying to communicate between 2 slaves Nano 33 BLE and 1 master Nano 33 BLE.
and almost every time (but not every time) when the second slave connects to the master , then the master is crashing and start blinking in a weird way (fast than slow than fast again).
did someone saw that behavior?
does it have a solution?
Thanks
yohai

my code:

master:

#include <ArduinoBLE.h>
#include <String>
//config
//0-timing 1 slave 1 master communication
//1-1 slave 1 master send to matlab
//2-2 slaves 1 master send to matlab
//3-2 slaves 1 master send to matlab 2 way communication
bool Debug = HIGH;
byte numSlaves = 3;
int WHAT=0;
//functions
void connecting(String, int);
void initChar(BLEDevice & , const char* , const char*, const char* , BLECharacteristic &, BLECharacteristic &, BLECharacteristic &);
void sendData(BLECharacteristic, BLECharacteristic,bool,int,int);
void sendMasterData(bool Debug);
uint16_t sync(BLECharacteristic ,BLECharacteristic ,bool ,int );

void setup() {
  //setup serial
  Serial.begin(115200);
  //  setup ble
  BLE.begin();
  //BLE.debug(Serial);
  pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW);
}
void loop() {
  int periphCount = BLE.peripheralCount();
  BLEDevice p0 = BLE.peripheral(0);
  BLECharacteristic valC0 , tssC0 , tsmC0;//s means slave m means master
  switch (numSlaves) {
    case 0:
      {
        if (periphCount < 1)
        {
          connecting("per1", 0);
          BLE.stopScan();
        }
        //define charachtiristics
        initChar( p0, "0101", "0102","0103", valC0, tssC0, tsmC0);
        //while the slaves connected send data
        while (p0.connected() )
        {
          uint32_t t0 = millis();
          uint16_t ts, a;
          valC0.readValue(a);
          tssC0.readValue(ts);
          Serial.print( "dt is ");
          Serial.println(millis() - t0);
          digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH);
        }
        break;
      }
    case 1:
      {
        if (periphCount < 1)
        {
          connecting("per1", 0);
          BLE.stopScan();
        }
        //define charachtiristics
       initChar( p0, "0101", "0102","0103", valC0, tssC0, tsmC0);
        //while the slaves connected send data
        while (p0.connected() )
        {
          uint32_t t0 = millis();
          sendData(tssC0, valC0, Debug, 0,numSlaves);
          Serial.print( "dt is ");
          Serial.println(millis() - t0);
          digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH);
        }
        break;
      }
    case 2:
      {
        if (periphCount < 2)
        {
          connecting("per1", 0);
          connecting("per2", 1);
          BLE.stopScan();
        }
        //define charachtiristics
        initChar( p0, "0101", "0102","0103", valC0, tssC0, tsmC0);
        BLEDevice p1 = BLE.peripheral(1);
        BLECharacteristic valC1 , tsC1;
        initChar( p0, "0101", "0102","0103", valC0, tssC0, tsmC0);
        //while the slaves connected send data
        while (p0.connected() && p1.connected())
        {
          uint32_t t0 = millis();
          sendData(tssC0, valC0, Debug,numSlaves, 0);
          sendData(tsC1, valC1, Debug,numSlaves, 1);
//          Serial.println(BLE.peripheralCount());
//          Serial.print( "dt is ");
//          Serial.println(millis() - t0);
          digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH);
        }
        break;
      }
    case 3:
      {
        if (periphCount < 2)
        {
          connecting("per1", 0);
          connecting("per2", 1);
          BLE.stopScan();
        }
        //define charachtiristics
        initChar( p0, "0101", "0102","0103", valC0, tssC0, tsmC0);
        BLEDevice p1 = BLE.peripheral(1);
        BLECharacteristic valC1 , tssC1,tsmC1;
        //delay(5000);
        initChar( p1, "1101", "1102","1103", valC1, tssC1, tsmC1);
        //while the slaves connected send data
        while (p0.connected() && p1.connected())
        {
          uint32_t t0 = millis();
          //exchanging time stamps with slave1
          uint32_t dt0=sync(tssC0,tsmC0,Debug,0);
          uint32_t dt1=sync(tssC1,tsmC1,Debug,1);
          //sample data and time of saw tooth and send it to matlab
          sendMasterData(Debug);
          sendData(tssC0, valC0, Debug,numSlaves, 0);         
          sendData(tssC1, valC1, Debug,numSlaves, 1);
          digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH);
        }
        break;
      }
  }
  //connecting to the slaves

  digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW);
}
void connecting(String namee, int num)
{

  //check if peripheral1 connected
  BLEDevice p0 = BLE.peripheral(num);
  //loop until peripheral1 is connected
  BLE.scanForName(namee);
  BLEDevice a0 = BLE.available();
  while (!a0.connected())
  {
    if (Debug)
      Serial.println("scaning...");
    while (!a0)
    {
      a0 = BLE.available();
    }

    if (a0.connect())
    {
      if (Debug)
      {
        Serial.print("conected");
        Serial.println(num + 1);
      }
    }
    else
    {
      if (Debug)
      {
        Serial.print("failed to connect");
        Serial.println(num + 1);
      }
    }
  }
}

void initChar(BLEDevice &p0, const char* Char1name, const char* Char2name, const char* Char3name, BLECharacteristic &valC0, BLECharacteristic &tsC0, BLECharacteristic &tmC0)
{
  p0.discoverAttributes();
  valC0 = p0.characteristic(Char1name);
  tsC0 = p0.characteristic(Char2name);
  tmC0 = p0.characteristic(Char3name);
}
void sendData(BLECharacteristic tsC, BLECharacteristic valC, bool Debug, int numSlaves ,int slaveNum)
{
  uint32_t tss,tse, a ,ts;
  switch(numSlaves ){
    case 0:
    {
      
    }
    case 1:
    {
      tss=0;
      valC.readValue(a);
      tsC.readValue(ts);
      tse=ts;
      break;
    }
    case 2:
    {
      tss=millis();
      valC.readValue(a);
      //tsC.readValue(ts);
      tse=millis();
      break;
    }
    case 3:
    {
      tss=0;
      valC.readValue(a);
      //tsC.readValue(ts);
      tse=ts;
      tse=millis();
      break;
    }
  }
   
  if (Debug)
  {
    Serial.print ("hello from sendData ");
    Serial.println(slaveNum);
    Serial.print("a is ");
    Serial.println(a);
    Serial.print("dts is ");
    Serial.println((tse-tss));
  }
  else
  {
    Serial.write(a);
    Serial.write(a >> 8);
    Serial.write(a >> 16);
    Serial.write(a >> 24);
    Serial.write(tse-tss);
    Serial.write((tse-tss) >> 8);
    Serial.write((tse-tss) >> 16);
    Serial.write((tse-tss) >> 24);
  }
}

void sendMasterData(bool Debug)
{
  uint16_t val;
   switch(WHAT)
      {
        case 0:
        {
          val=analogRead(A0);
        }
        case 1:
        {
          val=digitalRead(A0);
        }
      }
  uint32_t ts=millis();
  if (Debug)
  {
     Serial.println("hello from send2master");
    Serial.print("a is ");
    Serial.println(val);
    Serial.print("ts is ");
    Serial.println(ts);
    Serial.println();
  }
  else
  {
    Serial.write(val);
    Serial.write(val >> 8);
    Serial.write(val >> 16);
    Serial.write(val >> 24);
    Serial.write(ts);
    Serial.write((ts) >> 8);
    Serial.write(ts >> 16);
    Serial.write(ts >> 24);
  }
  
}

uint16_t sync(BLECharacteristic tssC0,BLECharacteristic tsmC0,bool Debug,int slave)
{
  //this function send tm1 in char tsmC0 and read ts2 in char tssC0 and than measure tm2
  //and than print all of them
  uint32_t ts2 ,tm2 ,tm1,dt;
  //send to slave
  tm1=millis();
  tsmC0.writeValue(tm1); 
  //read from slave
  tssC0.readValue(ts2);
  tm2=millis();
  dt=tm1/2-ts2+tm2/2;
  if (Debug)
  {
    Serial.print("hello from sync");
    Serial.println(slave);
    Serial.print("tm1 is ");
    Serial.println(tm1);
    Serial.print("tm2 is ");
    Serial.println(tm2);
    Serial.print("ts2 is ");
    Serial.println(ts2);
    Serial.print("bye from sync");
    Serial.println(slave);
  }
  else
  {
    Serial.write(dt);
    Serial.write(dt >> 8);
    Serial.write(dt >> 16);
    Serial.write(dt >> 24);
    
    
    
  }
}

The LED blink pattern comes from Mbed OS.... basically you've crashed the hardware and it reboots... hence repeating pattern... you're doing something in your code that it does not like (sorry haven't reviewed to see what).

I did a test back in June 2020. I was able to get a Arduino Nano 33 IoT central/client to connect to two Arduino Nano 33 BLE peripherals/server. But I could not get the Arduino Nano 33 BLE to do the same as central.

The blink pattern is a sign that mbedOS crashed.

The Arduino Nano 33 IoT uses the same ArduinoBLE library and API but it does not use mbedOS.