NRF on espruino wifi?

Posted on
  • Is it possible to use the NRF module on an espruino wifi? I have an LE UART Friend https://www.adafruit.com/product/2479 and it is connected to my espruino on B5, B6, B7. Works great in UART and CMD mode, but it would be awesome to use the NRF module to interface with it. That module doesn't seem to be included with the wifi build.

  • Hi,

    I'm afraid you can't, no. Someone (you? :) ) could write their own NRF module that interfaced to the LE UART friend, but it's unlikely to be as full-featured as the real thing.

    However, what you can do is use something like a Puck.js or Pixl.js board (there'll be another very basic BLE board coming out soon too) and attach an ESP8266 board to that - giving you WiFi and BLE.

    I should also mention that you can now (as of a week or so ago) use BLE and Wifi on a single ESP32 board as well - however that's not an official Espruino one so you won't get the same support :)

  • thx. will the new ble board be breadboard friendly? i currently have a large breadboard to hack around in coffee shops, with separate switchable power for the esp wifi and the le uart ble. i'm finding how unfriendly it is to secure ble devices, hence the switchable power for when not in use.

  • Yes, that's the plan - it should have come out much earlier but Pixl.js took priority

    i'm finding how unfriendly it is to secure ble devices

    You mean to stop people getting in? Did you see http://www.espruino.com/Puck.js+Security­ ?

    I guess that's one of the things you get when you run Espruino on the BLE device - there's a lot more flexibility than if you just use the UART Friend.

  • yes, that link was the impetus for wanting to use NRF on the esp wifi. there's always a chink in the armor. i look forward to the new board.

  • i will say using web bluetooth is a very convenient way to communicate with the esp wifi via the uart friend. my hacking board is completely wireless, and i can program the esp wifi via bluetooth.

    i don't think it would be hard to expand this to be a full IDE, though it's just my personal setup.

  • @Gordon, I'm sure you noticed @J{a)SON's ...breadboard friendly? comment. In other words: (essential) pins in DIL format only.

    It was nice to have PICO as small (short) as possible. In hind sight though, I think having added 4/10" to its length to have pins only on the long sides would not have hurt its pico-image... ;-)

  • i will say using web bluetooth is a very convenient way to communicate ... i don't think it would be hard to expand this to be a full IDE

    Yes - are you using the Web IDE with Web Bluetooth already? That's what is supported for Puck.js, Pixl.js and this new breadboardable device - I'd have thought it would work with the WiFi and the UART friend.

    @allObjects it's ok, the new board is actually a bit longer than the Pico with more IO on it :)

  • this is where it gets interesting, and i really just started experimenting with what works. out of the box these work with the uart friend and the wifi paired:

    1. Adafruit Bluefruit LE android app
    2. This example http://www.espruino.com/Puck.js+Web+Blue­tooth
    3. The same example running locally on an rpi 3 b+ with express https

    the web bluetooth ide sort of works from my rpi with this setup. it connects to the uart friend, but doesn't get a proper prompt setup. i can upload code from the right side, and use the repl, but it gives errors. interestingly, i can connect the web bluetooth ide to the uart, and the windows native ide directly to the wifi, and see console output on both sides :)

    the windows native ide sees the uart friend but fails to connect. it does connect to my puck just fine.

    the web bluetooth ide on windows behaves similarly to pucks and the uart friend, in that it will connect, but give no prompt. and then sometimes it just doesn't work at all on windows in chrome.

    ultimately i'd like to have a local web bluetooth ide working. it looks doable on my rpi 3 b+. i haven't tried it yet on windows. the web bluetooth examples seem to have problems loading the bluetooth adapter in chrome on windows as well.

    frustrating world for web bluetooth development at the moment.

  • i can upload code from the right side, and use the repl, but it gives errors.

    What kind of errors? Could it be flow control-related?

    the windows native ide sees the uart friend but fails to connect

    Argh, that is a strange one. No error messages in the console that'd be helpful?

    the web bluetooth ide on windows behaves similarly to pucks and the uart friend, in that it will connect, but give no prompt.

    Yes, that's a bug in Windows' Web Bluetooth implementation. I keep hoping they'll fix it, but I don't know when :(

    frustrating world for web bluetooth development at the moment.

    Yes - well, definitely if you're on Windows. You could try Uri's Web Bluetooth Polyfill - it seems pretty good, even if it is a pain to install.

  • i installed polyfill, and it allows the example web bluetooth pages to work online and locally. when i try to use espruino.com/ide it finds the bluetooth devices but crashes the bluetooth adapter when connecting to a puck. it says it can't get the board configuration, but it connects with no prompt available. again i can send code to the puck, and it loads, but an error follows saying that it can't get a prompt, and it's trying to recover.

    i haven't gotten to testing flow control yet, but since web bluetooth is working locally on windows with node express, then i'll use this opportunity to see what kind of dashboard i can get going. i'll continue more updates in a different thread.

    at least now i can program my hacking board remotely, and not need to be connected to the internet. now i can hack from a park just as easily as a coffee shop :)

  • Post a reply
    • Bold
    • Italics
    • Link
    • Image
    • List
    • Quote
    • code
    • Preview
About

NRF on espruino wifi?

Posted by Avatar for J{a}SON @J{a}SON

Actions