Need Advice on BLE Shield for iPhone/Android

Projects General Guidance
1

Hi there,

First, Thank you for taking your time to check this post. I'm new to Arduino and looking to develop a mini RC Car powered with bluetooth low energy + arduino for iPhone and Android as my first project.

I'm very much confused with the amount of information I'm looking at.

As far as i know it is easy to develop an android based blue tooth powered car rather than iPhone. I could be wrong, but ' what I've found cause most people did their projects based on androids only. At least far as I've checked.

So in order to search for a BLE module on ebay I found many.. from $7 to $70 and I have no idea what's the difference apart from the sizes of the circuit boards/chips.

My question is.. Which BLE I should go for ? that works with arduino.

I found a few products below.. please do suggest if you have something else as well. I'm also trying to be low on the costs as well.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ABBLEShield-BLE-Bluetooth4-0-Serial-iBeacon-Module-Arduino-Netduino-Raspberry-Pi-/261845120405?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cf72f7595

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bluetooth-Low-Energy-BLE-Shield-for-Arduino-Uno-iOS-adn-Android-Device-/271824162503?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f49fb8ec7

http://www.ebay.in/itm/HM-10-cc2540-cc2541-4-0-BLE-bluetooth-to-uart-transceiver-Module-/261840163077?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_203&hash=item3cf6e3d105

Not to mention, But this guy has gave me lot of info via his website. But he used similar HM-10 module and made pretty intense modifications to it which I may not be capable of. So, I don't mind spending a few bucks to get something similar to his.

Any advice is very much appreciated and I'm looking forward to hear from you guys.

Thank you for your time again.

RK

Edit: I found this to be easy by the looks of it... Do you recommend this ?

2

rshnk90:
As far as i know it is easy to develop an android based blue tooth powered car rather than iPhone. I could be wrong, but ' what I've found cause most people did their projects based on androids only.

I think this is right but the situation may change. You need to check that an appropriate app is available for iPhone

Serial Bluetooth 4.0 BLE Module - iBeacon

I believe this is the best bet, best deal, and least confusion, as I believe it works like a plain vanilla HC-05. This to the point where it appears to be a drop-in replacement

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ABBLEShield-BLE-Bluetooth4-0-Serial-iBeacon-Module-Arduino-Netduino-Raspberry-Pi-/261845120405?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cf72f7595

I think this is a slave-only device, and buying it will be something you might later regret.

http://www.ebay.in/itm/HM-10-cc2540-cc2541-4-0-BLE-bluetooth-to-uart-transceiver-Module-/261840163077?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_203&hash=item3cf6e3d105

This is just a bare module and probably best avoided at this stage

3

Thank you for replying.

Do you think this ( Introduction | Getting Started with the nRF8001 Bluefruit LE Breakout | Adafruit Learning System ) is better than Tinysine ( http://www.tinyosshop.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=65_110&product_id=705 ) ?

I have funds to invest on either one of those. Since I need to invest a few more on other stuff as well. So, Im in a tight position to choose any one from those 2.

And BTW, I will try to code my own APP for iPhone since I have a developer license sticking around.

4

rshnk90:
Do you think this ( Introduction | Getting Started with the nRF8001 Bluefruit LE Breakout | Adafruit Learning System ) is better than Tinysine ( Serial Bluetooth 4.0 BLE Module - iBeacon ) ?

No. See my previous. The adafruit is an SPI device. I have no idea how that would work, or why anybody would want such a thing, and I certainly wouldn't pay $19.95 to find out. I also note with faint interest that it apparently won't work with Android, which seems an exceptionally stupid restriction.

The Tinysine is a serial device, exactly as one would expect. Indeed it looks, walks, and quacks like the familiar HC-05, so I see no reason to get anything else.

The BLE<>Arduino waters are rather muddy and I suspect this is down to manufacturers, but the Tinysine crowd appear to be taking a familiar path and I would be reluctant to stray from it.

5

Thanks Nick, I think I'm starting to understand a bit now. But I'm little more confused with the adafruit part... I hope you don't mind giving me some info about that :slight_smile:

What's a difference with SPI vs Serial device with Arduino ? If you don't mind me asking. Is it too much work/hassle involved ?

When I asked adafruit, they said it will work with iphone4S(above) and Android with Bluetooth 4.0 enabled devices.

They showed me this diagram and link to how to wire & setup as well...

^ that's the sketch.

The thing is.. Adafruit device is available at a store within my country and Tinysine, I need to purchase via ebay.com which is $15 USD ( including shipping )

So, 15 vs 20 USD and I don't mind spending that extra $5 if the Adafruit makes it easy for me to setup everything without any hassle. But if that's the opposite, I'm happy to go with Tinysine as per your suggestion.

Also on the other hand.. please have a look at this product and let me know if this also does the job without extra work.

http://redbearlab.com/blemini/
vs
http://redbearlab.com/bleshield/

I've made a list of materials below... Please confirm if the following materials are good to start my first Bluetooth Low Energy powered RC car...

1.) Arduino Uno R3
2.) MotorShield for motors/servos.
3.) Tinysine BLE Module / Adafruit Module / Redbear BLE mini ( the part I'm confused )
4.) breadboard
5.) jump-wires
6.) iPhone/Android Device
7.) A free app for now to test the connections.. ( which I guess it comes with the tinysine/adafruit documentation )
8.) And obviously an RC car.

Did I miss anything else ? Please do suggest if I did...

Things I expect the BLE / Arduino to function.

  1. forward / reverse ( motor )
  2. turn left / right ( using servos )
  3. headlights on/off
  4. horn

Thank you so much for giving me a picture of what this is all about. This will sure help me to progress on my project.

6

What's a difference with SPI vs Serial device with Arduino ? If you don't mind me asking. Is it too much work/hassle involved ?

SPI is a bus type i.e. several devices can share pins 10-13. The most common devices are SD cards, Ethernet, and some displays. SPI devices require extra software.
Serial devices use the serial ports. Typical devices are bluetooth and GPRS. They require no extra software, you just say "serial.print(dadedah)"

When I asked adafruit, they said it will work with iphone4S(above) and Android with Bluetooth 4.0 enabled devices.

No comment - other than that is not clear to me

The thing is.. Adafruit device is available at a store within my country and Tinysine, I need to purchase via ebay.com which is $15 USD ( including shipping )

So, 15 vs 20 USD and I don't mind spending that extra $5 if the Adafruit makes it easy for me to setup everything without any hassle.

It probably doesn't. The only time I can see justification for BT on SPI is when you have a more serial devices than serial ports. This is very unlikely, and there are other solutions to that which are probably better.

Also on the other hand.. please have a look at this product and let me know if this also does the job without extra work.

http://redbearlab.com/blemini/
vs
http://redbearlab.com/bleshield/

As Admiral Lord Fisher once famously put it:"overpriced and undergunned". I understand one of them is a slave-only device which, at the price, seems rather an insult, and something you are likely to later regret.

7.) A free app for now to test the connections.. ( which I guess it comes with the tinysine/adafruit documentation )

Not likely, but not a problem

Things I expect the BLE / Arduino to function.

  1. forward / reverse ( motor )
  2. turn left / right ( using servos )
  3. headlights on/off
  4. horn

I'm sure there will be no problem doing that. The robotics mafia will have plenty of help

7

When I asked adafruit, they said it will work with iphone4S(above) and Android with Bluetooth 4.0 enabled devices.

No comment - other than that is not clear to me

They showed me the diagram/sketch ( which I linked in previous post ) and said that it will work with Arduino UNO and support iphone4S ( & above ) and android with bluetooth 4.0 enabled devices. It's simple to connect and proceed with the project. But they didn't tell me anything about the slave / master... SPI or Serial.etc tho.

Anyways, I've purchased Tinysine Serial Bluetooth 4.0 BLE Module from Ebay

PIN defineļ¼š

STATE -You can connect a external LED to indicate the bluetooth state. It same as the state LED on the module.
RXD -Receive data
TXD -Send data
GND -Power ground
VCC -DC power in (3.3V-6VDC)
KEY -Turn on/off this module by this pin.

Specifications:

TTL data transparent transfer between a host Bluetooth device(IOS or Android 4.3).
Ultra-low standby power consumption 400uA ~ 800uA
Default Baud Rate: 9600,8,1,n.
Coverage up to 60 meters
Built in antenna
Power input: 3.6V-6VDC(Can not higher than 6V)

I hope that is what I needed to connect simple RC car with iPhone.

And By the way, Do you know any speaker module that produces sound like an actual car horn ? If so, can you recommend me any ? All I found online has a buzzer module that beeps off though.

8

rshnk90:
Anyways, I've purchased Tinysine Serial Bluetooth 4.0 BLE Module from Ebay

I'm sure you have made the best choice. I believe it will work just like the plain-vanilla HC-05, and there will be plenty of support on this forum.

I'm afraid I don't know anything about sound, but there is a sound section here and that may be useful.

9

Thank you Nick, I will keep you posted with my project. By the way... One more question lol

What's the difference between Arduino Nano vs standard Arduino Uno ?

10

rshnk90:
What's the difference between Arduino Nano vs standard Arduino Uno ?

Quite a big one, by the look of it.

11

Yeah and I've seen the comparison as well. But confirming, the only difference between the normal (big) and nano ( tiny ) is without DC jack right ? the rest is all same ?

If so, Can I use the nano instead of normal big one ? also Do i need a different ( smaller ) motor shield for the nano or can I use the normal motor shield ?

12

rshnk90:
Yeah and I've seen the comparison as well. But confirming, the only difference between the normal (big) and nano ( tiny ) is without DC jack right ? the rest is all same ?

All I know is that it has half the SRAM, and "It has more or less the same functionality of the Arduino Duemilanove". For me, the first makes it useless, and the second is meaningless.

Can I use the nano instead of normal big one ?

If your code will fit, yes. I wouldn't take the risk but I think Unos are too small, so I'm biased on this matter.

Do i need a different ( smaller ) motor shield for the nano ?

Clearly, yes. All you have to do is find one.

13

"What's the difference between Arduino Nano vs standard Arduino Uno ? "
Uno is a good place to start learning Arduino if you are new to Arduino,

but for small projects that do not require too many digital outputs, I love the Nano because it is tiny, good space saver.

for larger projects I use the Uno or my fav--Mega!! :slight_smile:

Simply put, it depends on the requirement of your projects to choose the suitable one.