Android tablet communicate with ARM development board via bluetooth

Question

I am new to embedded programming and I am given a project to establish Bluetooth communication between an Android tablet and an ARM development board with Bluetooth capabilities.

Please tell me whether this project can be done or not ??

If it can be done then how should I approach it ??

Thanks

Answer 1

I haven't worked with Android to ARM board via bluetooth but I have done some work communicating between an Android device and an Arduino using bluetooth. I tried to document what I learned in a series of examples. There are several that might be helpful.

http://digitalhacksblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/arduino-to-android-basic-bluetooth.html

http://digitalhacksblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/arduino-to-android-turning-led-on-and.html

http://digitalhacksblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/android-example-bluetooth-simple-spp.html

The first two examples show how to setup communication via bluetooth from an Android device to an Arduino with a bluetooth board. I would expect that to get some initial connectivity between the Android and the ARM the Android side of things would be the same.

The third example shows how to setup a simple spp client and server between an Android device and a PC running windows.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

If what you want is a simple and robust communication method over Bluetooth then SPP is definitely the way to go.

The only issue could be the bandwidth, but if the throughput of a traditional serial cable connection is enough for your application then there certainly won't be any problems there. IIRC then most modules have > 1 Mbit throughput using SPP.

Some information about using SPP on Android is here.

But we need a little bit more information to give suggestions about what you need to do on your ARM kit. Maybe you could post a few details about its type, which Bluetooth module is in use there, how it is connected to the ARM MCU etc.

If you're lucky then your kit's BT module can function as a serial cable replacement and you can treat it as if the Android device is connected to your MCU's UART. Of course prior to that, some configuration is needed over some interface (could be the same UART, depending on module type) to establish a Bluetooth connection.

Oh and to answer your first question: yes, it certainly can be done :)

Answer 3

Check out this page: http://www.amarino-toolkit.net/

They are using the arduino board with a bluetooth component to connect to android. You can check the source code of their library to see how they establish and use the connection here:

http://code.google.com/p/amarino/