SparkFun Forums

[mitcho]

Hey guys. i got an arduino board and i am integrating it into a t shirt with some LEDs to make a wearable display.

one problem though - i need to make it wireless and i dont know how.

currently the only way i can send signals to the board is when its attached to my laptop using serial cable. i want to make this process wireless but am not sure how. can someone please shed some light.

what products/modules are available for spark fun that will allow me to communicate from my computer to arduino board wirelessly in the same way that i communicate with board using serial cable?

Any feedback is much appreciated. if anyone wants to email me directly my address is mpag5967@mail.usyd.edu.au

thanks heaps

[daemondust]

The easiest would be to get a BlueDongle RS232 and tap into the 5v line coming off your arduino board.

You'll have to cut up a mini-usb cable to provide power to the bluetooth board, but that shouldn't be too much trouble. From there, you should be able to use a regular serial cable between the two modules.

[mitcho]

that may not be the best solution for me as this requires a serial interface and then a usb for power. it also has an antenna which is quite bulky. i am making wearable device.

are there any similar modules which can simply be wired to the board and draw power from the board?

what about something like this http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/produc ... cts_id=158#?

[daemondust]

That will work if you can bypass the RS232 interface on your board. From what I can tell, you can't easily do that with arduino's boards.

[mitcho]

What about Wiring board (www.wiring.org.co) do you know with them.

alternatively, how do you bypass the RS232 interface?


Is there any other modules that you know of that dont need to bypass an RS232 interface?

[mitcho]

what about this module?

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/produc ... cts_id=582 it has 6 pins instead of 4

[daemondust]

I've never used any of Wiring's or Arduino's boards. I'm going off what I can find on their pages.

Bypassing the RS232 interface would probably be more trouble than it's worth... You would probably have to cut the traces and solder wires to them.

You don't need to provide a full USB connection to the part I first suggested. It doesn't do any communication over USB, it simply uses it for power. i.e., you could cut up an old cable and connect just the 5v and ground lines.

If you don't want to use that, and you don't want to bypass the RS232 interface on your Arduino board you could use the part you suggested along with a level shifter. They will both run off 5v, and that's what you get out of your board.

[mitcho]

Ok i have 3 questions:

1. firstly, what about this module? http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/produc ... cts_id=582

2. the BlueDongle RS232 you suggest has a serial connection. how do i connect the BlueDongle RS232 to the arduino board then?

3. when you say that i could use a level shifter, how do i connect the part i sugested to the level shifter. the level shifter has serial port, how does the BlueSMiRF conect to this?

Thankyou

[daemondust]

The BlueSMiRF Extended is the same as the BlueSMiRF Basic except that it has hardware flow control pins brought out as well. I don't know if your board needs these or not. I would guess that it doesn't.

The BlueDongle RS232 is basically a BlueSMiRF Basic coupled with a level shifter (and an external antenna). To connect it to your board you would

• * use a serial cable to connect the two (I don't know if it'll be a straight-through or "null modem" cable)
  * provide power to the "usb" port (cut a mini-usb cable in two and connect the red and black wires to the +5 and ground pins on the power connecter on your board)

If you used a BlueSMiRF and a level shifter together you would connect the TX and RX pins between the two, and provide the same power and tround to both (from the +5 and ground pins on your arduio board).

[mitcho]

thanks for all that info, i dont see how i can use connect a serial cable to the BlueDongle to arduino - arduino does not have a serial port - it has a usb.

how then?

thanks

[daemondust]

Oh... I was assuming you were using the serial version of the arduino board.

It looks like the serial lines come out on pins 1 and 2 of J1 on the USB version. If you can disable the USB interface You should be able to connect the tx and rx lines off a BlueSMiRF to those pins. I don't see any enable or disable pins on the USB chip they use, so I don't know how you would go about shutting it down. It may be as easy as unplugging it from a USB connection. You need to make sure the FTDI chip isn't asserting a logic level or the it and the BlueSMiRF will fight each other.

[mitcho]

Thanks..

so no need to bypass the Rs232 ?