Bluebirb

Inspiration

I wanted to do a hardware hack and was inspired by the new web apis for connected to BLE (bluetooth low-energy devices), it would be cool to be able to connect to an embedded device from a website instead of a native app.

What it does

How I built it

I wrote the code for the Arduino 101 board in C++ using Arduino's Create Web IDE for uploading the code to the board. The web UI makes use of the new WebBLE apis to pair a browser to the Arduino and subscribe to BLE services. The website gets data from the board for every new sensor reading.

Challenges I ran into

I had absolutely no idea how BLE worked, spent a while just figuring out what kind of UUID's I should set for my BLE service and characteristics (and also learn what BLE services and characteristics were).

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

That anything actually works and I can read values from a temperature sensor from a website without any native app running!

What I learned

WebBLE api, BLE

What's next for Bluebirb

Probably will switch to a smaller and cheaper board like the NodeMCU developer kits that utilize the ESP32 chip. Support for more sensors and a smaller overall package design.

Set up accounts to store sensor readings in a database in the cloud. 3D print containers to package everything into a box that can be attached to a scooter or bike. Payment system to pay other users to collect data.

Built With

• arduino
• ble
• bluetooth
• c++
• javascript
• webble