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This is something that really interests us, connecting your Microcontrollers up to some sort of GUI in order to control it. This small project was originally just connected using a USB Cable (but that was boring!).
We have connected up a HC-06 Bluetooth module to an Arduino and are able to control it from a VB.NET application.
What’s required?
1x Arduino Uno
1x HC-06/HC-05 Bluetooth Module – £4 – £5 online.
Visual Studio (or anything to compile .NET applications)
What can this be used for?
- Controlling any Arduino based applications wirelessly.
- Sending/Receiving data from the Arduino.
- ….anything where you don’t want wires.
Once paired this will create a virtual serial connection between the Master/Slave device – This means you can program your Arduino sketches in the exact same way you would if you were using a USB cable. The .NET application we wrote allows us to Send and Receive this serial information in an external application.
Connecting it up
As the Bluetooth module uses 3.3v logic for RX (and Arduino uses 5v) we need it to make sure we can communicate with it. We have used two resistors 1.2KOhms and a 2.2KOhms to make a voltage divider. This will be used on the Arduino TX pin connected to the Bluetooth RX.
The other 3 pins are straightforward, 5v, TX (to Arduino RX) and Ground. This should be all that is needed to communicate with the Bluetooth module. It should look something like the following:
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Let’s get started
Firstly we’ll be creating a basic Arduino sketch that outputs Serial information. It doesn’t matter what information you output; it could be text, numbers or a combination of both.
We have inserted | as a delimiter; for easy use in .NET we terminate each “piece of information” with a | character. For example if you wanted to send weather data you could use “t=15|hu=70|pr=40″ and the .NET application will split the string up into separate variables so you can display it however you want.
We are going to be using the following sketch for testing the connection:
The Arduino Sketch
int led = 13;
boolean ledStatus = false;
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
pinMode(led, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
if (Serial.available()) {
int inChar = getChar();
if (inChar == 'D') {
Serial.println("This is some test data|");
} else if(inChar == 'L') {
ledStatus = !ledStatus;
if (ledStatus) {
Serial.prntln("Turning light On.|");
digitalWrite(led, HIGH);
} else {
Serial.prntln("Turning light On.|");
digitalWrite(led, LOW);
}
} else {
Serial.println("Unknown command received.|");
}
}
}
char getChar() {
while(Serial.available() == 0);
return((char)Serial.read());
}What this code will do is check for a couple of characters that have been sent to it via Serial – If it detects a ‘D’ then it will output a string of test data. If it receives an ‘L’ then it will toggle the on-board LED on and off. Any other character it receives will be met with an unknown command message.
Note: The Arduino we tested would not upload sketches properly with TX/RX connected. Make sure to disconnect these when uploading new sketches.
Now you have the sketch on your Arduino and have the Bluetooth module connected. You need to connect to this from your PC/Laptop. If you’re using Windows 7 just open up the Bluetooth device manage and “Add new Device” – All being well you should see this device listed. Connect and pair this device using the default passcode of 1234.
Now you’re connected you can test the connection directly; we used PuTTy to open a connection to the COM port that the Bluetooth module was assigned. We quickly tested that the sketch works, see image below:
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If you see the above then you know the Bluetooth module is working and that your Arduino is sending/receiving data properly. The next step will be to make this happen in VB.NET. It works the exact same way, we’ll open a connection to the COM port, match up the baud rate and send/receive data.
The .NET application code
Imports System.IO
Imports System.IO.Ports
Imports System.Threading
Public Class Form1
Dim buffer As String
Delegate Sub myMethodDelegate(ByVal [text] As String)
Dim bD1 As New myMethodDelegate(AddressOf process)
Dim WithEvents SerialPort As New IO.Ports.SerialPort
Private Sub Form1_Disposed(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Disposed
If SerialPort.IsOpen() Then
SerialPort.Close()
End If
End Sub
Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
GetSerialPortNames()
End Sub
Sub GetSerialPortNames()
For Each sp As String In My.Computer.Ports.SerialPortNames
lstPorts.Items.Add(sp)
Next
End Sub
Sub SendSerialData(ByVal Port As String, ByVal data As String)
If (SerialPort.IsOpen) Then
SerialPort.Write(data)
Else
MsgBox("Not connected to Port.")
End If
End Sub
Sub process(ByVal myString As String)
buffer = buffer + myString
Dim str As String
str = buffer
If InStr(str, "|") Then
Dim words As String() = str.Split(New Char() {"|"})
buffer = ""
Dim word As String
For Each word In words
If (word.Length > 0) Then
lstConsole.Items.Add(word)
End If
Next
End If
End Sub
Private Sub SerialPort_DataReceived(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.IO.Ports.SerialDataReceivedEventArgs) Handles SerialPort.DataReceived
Dim str As String = SerialPort.ReadExisting()
Invoke(bD1, str)
End Sub
Private Sub Button2_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button2.Click
If lstPorts.SelectedIndex <> -1 Then
Try
If SerialPort.IsOpen Then
SerialPort.Close()
Button2.Text = "Connect"
Else
SerialPort.PortName = lstPorts.SelectedItem.ToString
SerialPort.BaudRate = 9600
SerialPort.DataBits = 8
SerialPort.Parity = Parity.None
SerialPort.StopBits = StopBits.One
SerialPort.Handshake = Handshake.None
SerialPort.Encoding = System.Text.Encoding.Default
SerialPort.Open()
Button2.Text = "Disconnect"
End If
Catch ex As Exception
MsgBox(ex.Message)
End Try
Else
MsgBox("Please choose a serial port", vbInformation, "Serial Port")
End If
End Sub
Private Sub Button3_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button3.Click
Application.Exit()
If SerialPort.IsOpen Then
SerialPort.Close()
End If
End Sub
Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
If (lstPorts.SelectedIndex <> -1) Then
SendSerialData(lstPorts.SelectedItem.ToString, "L")
End If
End Sub
Private Sub Button4_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button4.Click
If (lstPorts.SelectedIndex <> -1) Then
SendSerialData(lstPorts.SelectedItem.ToString, "D")
End If
End Sub
End ClassWhat this application does is connect to a COM port of your choosing and then send a character serially to that port. It also listens for incoming data and appends it in the list box.
You can download the MS Visual Studio 2010/2013 project files by clicking here: ArduinoCOM. The application should look like the following once loaded:
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Please note that this is a test application. You will need to do your own error checking and additional programming, this is just a basic example of how it can be done.
All being well you’ve just added Bluetooth functionality to your Arduino. It’s a reliable, cheap way of removing the constraint of wires when connecting it up to a computer. This also allows endless limits with regards to control, some obvious uses for this would be a data logger, robot/rc car control, making a controller/joystick etc. the list is endless.
If you think we’ve missed any steps here; or have any comments, questions or suggestions then please feel free to leave us a message in the comment section below or send us a message using the contact page.
That’s all for now!