Working: bGeigie Nano + Bluetooh + Python

[Greg Albrecht]

Hi All,

I've had a Nano for quite some time, but have only had slight spare time to hack on my intended project (details TK). One of the things I'll need for that project is a means of reading sensor data from the Nano from an off-board system. Given M.Kroll's BLEBee, a Raspberry PI, a generic USB BLE  adaptor, and my pygatt Python Module, I've been able to read sensor data from the Nano on demand! I intend to write a more detailed blog post on this setup, but what follows should suffice for an overview:

Overview:

1) Get a Linux machine. I'm using Raspbian on a Raspberry Pi Model B+.

2) Get any generic USB BLE Adaptor: https://www.adafruit.com/product/1327

3) Get a BLEBee: http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/BLEBee-v100-p-1632.html

4) Install BlueZ 5+: http://www.bluez.org/

5) Install pygatt: https://github.com/ampledata/pygatt

6) Try the following script: https://gist.github.com/ampledata/48d7cfe984a8dba37dfd

Given those steps and that script, I've been able to retrieve sensor data from my Nano:

$BNRDD,2359,2014-12-14T09:46:47Z,32,2,2398,A,3745.6045,N,12229.8638,W,50.40,A,8,87*5B

Thanks,

-g

[Greg Albrecht]

...and by 'Bluetooh' I meant 'Bluetooth', also it's 2:30AM I should be asleep...

-g

[Rob Oudendijk]

Greg,

Good work. You can also telnet into a Xbee Wifi, 15.4 or normal bluetooth Xbee's. If the bGeigeiNanoS will be available (testing now) we should be able to program the Xbee's from the bGeigieNano itself and can select what data to send or receive.

regards

rob

[Mike Patterson]

Any idea if the Seeedstudio V2.0 of the BLEBee will work?

[Kyle Purintun]

I'd like to know about the Seeed Studio 2.0 also...

[Sean Bonner]

We have no reason to think it won’t work, but haven’t played with it in person yet. Rob has been in contact with the devs.

-s

Sean Bonner

Co-Founder, Director of Global Operations

Safecast.org | pgp key

[Mike Patterson]

I purchased the seeed studio v1.0 BleBee and it appears to no work. The nano powers up and appears to work fine but the Bluetooth does not show up in the blexplr iOS app. The fio now has a red led underneath which is blinking (normally off). Have not looked at the board to see which led it is yet.

This is the one I purchased:
https://www.epictinker.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=SS-814002001

Let me know if there is more information I can provide or if I just have the wrong module.

Love the Nano.

Thanks,
Mike

[Kyle Purintun]

Hey Mike,

That's the one i just got also and I haven't had much luck with it either.  I did find that its also called the HM-11 --> http://www.seeedstudio.com/wiki/Bluetooth_V4.0_HM-11_BLE_Module

Kyle

[Sean Bonner]

Unfortunately that’s the wrong chip - or rather, it’s not the one we’ve been using. The one we have used for our testing is this:

http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/BLEBee-v100-p-1632.html

Which is confusing since there now seems to be lots of things called BLEBee. Anyway, as you can see 1.0 of that is discontinued and 2.0 is in the works. We’ve been in contact with the developer of this before 1.0 came out (and it was built to our specs) and we expect that 2.0 will work fine as well, though since it doesn’t exist yet we can’t confirm yet.

-s

[Kyle Purintun]

That link doesn't seem to have any available...  there is one left here... http://www.robotmesh.com/microcontrollers/seeedstudio/blebee-v1-0-0

[Mike Patterson]

Thanks. I figured the hm-11 one was a wrong chip set. Just purchased the other one.

Heard there is a safecast iOS app in the works and can't wait to see it. Here's hoping an apple watch integration is in the works to see cpm, etc when the nano is out the window or in a backpack.

Thanks,
Mike

[Kyle Purintun]

I just received the recommended BLEBee v1 in the mail... was able to connect to it..  changed the baud rate to all the rates using BLExplr (via http://www.mkroll.mobi/?page_id=1070) then looked in the RX info... wasn't able to see any usable data..

Am i missing something?

Thanks,

Kyle

On Wednesday, June 3, 2015 at 6:07:52 PM UTC-4, sean wrote:

[Kyle Purintun]

'Enable notify' seems to do magic

$BNRDD,2423,2015-06-09T02:31:44Z,38,2,328,A,3401.9224,N,***05.7426,W,***.50,A,9,96*5F

[Kyle Purintun]

Should probably also say that I set the 'convert characteristics' setting to enabled in the settings menu for anyone else

[Robert McRostie]

Hello All,

I am looking at adding the BLEBee module to my newly built bGeigie Nano but as I have found out the BLEBee module that you guys are using is not being made.

Has anyone tried this one -> http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/Bluetooth-Bee-v20-p-2373.html

Or can anyone see any reason that is would not work? Thanks for your help with this. I might just need to buy one and try my luck.

Regards,

Robert.

[Kyle Purintun]

Don't buy that one, it doesn't work...  trust me I know,  but if you really want it... I can sell you the one that didn't work for me..  :)

You can still find them around..

Just a heads up that currently, the Bluetooth data gathering is pretty weak... its just a string of text and doesn't interface with the safecast app from what i can tell.

Kyle

[Robert McRostie]

Thanks. I might hold off then, but thanks for the offer. ;) I started going around in cricles on the website with those modules but there was not much info about the chipset etc. So hard to say if they would work or not. I did read in the safecast report that there is some work being done on the BLE hardware so I will just wait for that. Hopefully the hardware is not far off.

Regards,
Robert.

[Kyle Purintun]

I am a little further down the same road...  there was talk a year ago and some evidence of a working BLE iOS app... but i haven't been able to get near it.   i would love the safe cast app to naitivly accept the BLE data..  but i am not sure what is involved... the safe cast app looks to do all the calculations real time via the audio port...  the BLE data sends 3 count numbers (current CPM, counts since last update, and total counts since last reset)  so its not super real time..

it is nice to see the data...  this is the same data copied to the logging chip. 

Kyle