iPhone bluetooth apps that connect to Bluesmirf boards?

Wireless & IoT Bluetooth
1

I have a few older Bluesmirf boards (ID as Firefly) that I have been using in robotics projects. In the past I have connected to my 'bots through a laptop. I’d love to use an iPhone or iPad now. I have tried half a dozen apps that I found in the app store, but none of them will find my Bluesmirf boards with a scan. All of the apps say they are BLE, is BLE that different from Bluetooth that a Bluesmirf board cannot connect?

Is my desire a pipe dream?

Thanks,

DLC

2

Hi DLC.

Apple requires Bluetooth devices that connect to Apple products to be MFi certified and that’s something that Apple charges manufactures to add to a product.

Unfortunately none of the Bluetooth modules we carry are MFi certified and usually won’t connect to an Apple device. I’ve heard that some newer BLE devices can get around this, but the older SPP profile (Non BLE) devices won’t connect to newer Apple product.

BLE is the newer Bluetooth 4 - Bluetooth 5.1 standard and the older modules would be Bluetooth 1.1 - Bluetooth 3.

3

Thanks Chris. I have been searching on the 'net and found the same issue. So, I figured that, as usual, Apple is more of a barrier than an enabler so I thought that I’d go looking in the “Wild, wild, west” for an Android solution. Nope, no joy there either. I’ll look at getting a small WIndoze pad and run a Tera Term on that to get a more portable BT solution.

This was only one of my disappointments today. The other was finding out that I could not put my Pololu TrexJr in a mode where I could read the analog voltages on its inputs while also being able to control the motors through the serial port. Some days, the good ideas don’t turn out so good…

Thanks for your attention!

DLC

4

Actually, I got a little help from Pololu and did indeed get both my analog inputs and motor control outputs working on a serial port connection. So, not all was lost today!

Thanks,

DLC