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Show HN: Bluetooth USB Peripheral Relay – Bridge Bluetooth Devices to USB

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Re: Show HN: Bluetooth USB Peripheral Relay – Bridge Bluetooth Devices to USB

#21

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

waiquoo wrote: post #9

This is awesome! I have some serial devices (RS 232) that I've wished I could make wireless. Are there any similar projects to bluetooth serial comms?

You can, of course, DIY something easily enough but you can also purchase devices like this off the shelf. Needing to make legacy RS232 devices wirelessly available is a common problem in industry. Search for "wireless RS232 gateway" and you should be able to find a ton of stuff.

If you still want to DIY, an ESP32 (BLE and Wi-Fi capable microcontroller) board, and an RS232 to logic-level breakout board should be all you need. Again, I'm sure if you search, you'll find existing projects doing exactly this.

If it's not actually at RS232 voltage levels and Classic Bluetooth is enough, then something like this will work just fine: https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Bluetooth-Transceiver-Integr...

Re: Show HN: Bluetooth USB Peripheral Relay – Bridge Bluetooth Devices to USB

#22

Post by bahaaador »

imhoguy wrote: post #17

Cool stuff! Actually that tempts me to start a new rabbit hole research: could we do BT -> Internet -> BT. I would have so many uses to that.

Thank you, I'm glad you're finding this inspiring. I've been thinking about some similar ideas that excite me. Would be happy to help as well if you ran into any blockers.

Re: Show HN: Bluetooth USB Peripheral Relay – Bridge Bluetooth Devices to USB

#23

Post by imhoguy »

bahaaador wrote: post #20
jwr wrote: post #12

This is a wonderful hack! But — using a Raspberry Pi and Linux is overkill for this. It introduces huge unnecessary complexity. A simpler approach would be to go with Zephyr and a small microcontroller (ARM Cortex M4).

Thank you! I think that's a fair point about potentially wasted resources, something like Pico would have been and a leaner choice if this was going to be mass-produced. But for me, part of the decision was my comfort level with system programming and what I desired to tinker with and learn along the way and still, it's a very affordable option (around 20 CAD I believe) Perhaps I'll look into porting it to Pico in fu…

I had same worries like yours but worry not, check MicroPython/CircuitPython when you get a chance. You load it up onto Pico and play with REPL in IDE. It is easier than debugging Go on large-RPi.

Re: Show HN: Bluetooth USB Peripheral Relay – Bridge Bluetooth Devices to USB

#25

Post by trklausss »

imhoguy wrote: post #17

Cool stuff! Actually that tempts me to start a new rabbit hole research: could we do BT -> Internet -> BT. I would have so many uses to that.

Well, you need a frame converter that sends it to an IP address/DNS server, and on the receiving side something that receives that packet on a specific port and translates it to a BT command.

I would say the most complicated part would be the TCP/IP stack, and binding/publishing your address, but if you are running something with Embedded Linux it is doable :)

Re: Show HN: Bluetooth USB Peripheral Relay – Bridge Bluetooth Devices to USB

#27

Post by fffrantz »

Damned, I just purchased a new keyboard with a 2.4 GHz dongle because my Bluetooth keyboard cannot with GRUB and I got tired of having to plug it in every time I rebooted.

What a cool little project. I might build a couple of these for the KVMs at work.

Re: Show HN: Bluetooth USB Peripheral Relay – Bridge Bluetooth Devices to USB

#28

Post by mtucker502 »

trklausss wrote: post #25
imhoguy wrote: post #17

Cool stuff! Actually that tempts me to start a new rabbit hole research: could we do BT -> Internet -> BT. I would have so many uses to that.

Well, you need a frame converter that sends it to an IP address/DNS server, and on the receiving side something that receives that packet on a specific port and translates it to a BT command. I would say the most complicated part would be the TCP/IP stack, and binding/publishing your address, but if you are running something with Embedded Linux it is doable :)

ESPHome has this feature (called btproxy). It works well with BTLE devices. I use it for remote temperature sensors and a few other IoT btle devices.

https://esphome.io/components/bluetooth_proxy.html

Re: Show HN: Bluetooth USB Peripheral Relay – Bridge Bluetooth Devices to USB

#29

Post by bahaaador »

JoBrad wrote: post #18
jwr wrote: post #12

This is a wonderful hack! But — using a Raspberry Pi and Linux is overkill for this. It introduces huge unnecessary complexity. A simpler approach would be to go with Zephyr and a small microcontroller (ARM Cortex M4).

a.k.a. > A delightfully over-engineered solution

<3

Re: Show HN: Bluetooth USB Peripheral Relay – Bridge Bluetooth Devices to USB

#30

Post by bahaaador »

fffrantz wrote: post #27

Damned, I just purchased a new keyboard with a 2.4 GHz dongle because my Bluetooth keyboard cannot with GRUB and I got tired of having to plug it in every time I rebooted. What a cool little project. I might build a couple of these for the KVMs at work.

Oops, I hope you can still return it!

I'm glad you might find this useful, be sure to create an issue on GH in case you run into any and I'll try my best to help :)

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