Search results for:

@Gordon as a concept, would it be possible to use something like Firebase via NPM package to establish real-time connection via the Javascript interface? In which case, technically could act on “real-time” updates, for example, pass a command to a function within the MDBT42Q, connected through BLE to light up an LED? Basically use Firebase or any teatime database as a command center.

Can BLE share Internet with the host device? I would imagine so.

Thanks @Gordon that was definitely my initial question, so a stand-alone application would have to be responsible for connecting and pushing the updates. Makes sense, I was imagining a scenario where the onboard software, as long as it has a BLE connection to any phone, would be able to connect and pull the latest code, even if that meant some remote security feature.

In my case, there is no app, it’s Bluetooth based with a bunch of neopixel functionality and just a connection to a phone/device for sound playback of music, etc.. in this case I figured, what if I wanted to adjust the neopixels to do something else. In this case I couldn’t do that without physical access to the device.

@fanoush I have a few MDBT42Q. Makes sense from a security perspective, although there are other security features like passkey, connectable: false, etc.. just seems like it would be a great application for remote updates, that boot loader mode is definitely the wrench in the plan.

Also, not particularly taking about firmware updates, rather, what if I wanted to for example, extend or change functionality by writing more robust or feature rich Javascript and pushing it out to all of my devices.

Is this possible or on a road map?

What if I have 50 devices which run on the same code, is there a possibility that live updates could be pushed in bulk to these devices when they’re connected to a host device, ie: phone? Or would you have to essentially flash each device individually with no possibility of future updates if it’s not in your possession?

@fanoush coming back to this. I just realized the receivers are Bluetooth 5.0 and they DO support BLE, so maybe some light at the end of the tunnel here. In this case, I could likely use nrf52 to communicate between the modules, I guess it just comes down to figuring out what commands need to be sent in order to have the receiver interact, ie: play, pause, next.

Thanks @Jean-Philippe_Rey, I’m realizing that now, unfortunate. A wireless solution to decouple control from receiving just sounded like a worthwhile project, back to the drawing board.

Thanks @fanoush, guess I have to rethink this model. I know there are some Bluetooth receivers out there that have buttons already embedded/soldered to the board, maybe that’s the play, obviously sounds better (and more fun to build) to decouple the receiver from the controller and have them communicate wirelessly, but I guess we’re not quite there yet.

I appreciate the back and forth, a sanity check goes a long way.

@Jean-Philippe_Rey thanks for your reply, you’re exactly correct, my issue is that both the Bluetooth receiver/speakers AND the MDBT42Q are contained within the same enclosure. So the UX becomes odd to have the user connect to 2 devices in order to use one device.

@fanoush thanks for your reply. I guess my concern is that both the audio receiver and the MDBT42Q are contained within the same enclosure, so having a user connect to both seems like bad UX.

I think you’ve pretty much reached where I ended up. BLE audio isn’t sufficient, audio receiver would need to handle the audio portion. That part works out of the box, it’s really just the external control that becomes the blocker.

It seems like an order of operations issue, ie: if I connect to the receiver first, can I then power on the MDBT42Q and immediately have it connect to whatever phone the receiver is connected to? Likely no, seems like a leap to think the receiver would have that connection available to poach the MAC address of the phone.

But you’re saying if the receiver can handle BLE, then I may be able to do something like that? ie: pass commands through the receiver to the master phone?

Just a thinker.

Hey everyone,

Working on a concept and I’m having a difficult time wrapping my head around the logic behind this design pattern.

Ideally what I’m looking to accomplish is to have a device, which has physical buttons, which control playback of Bluetooth audio originating from a smart phone.

-Smart phone connects to Bluetooth receiver
-Music plays over Bluetooth
-Music from smart phone can be controlled by physical buttons on a MDBT42Q

The blocker I run into is that the phone can only be connected to one Bluetooth device at a time and even if it could be connected to multiple, that’s not a good user experience to have to connect to the controller and then connect to the receiver.

What I believe needs to happen is that the smart phone needs to connect to the Bluetooth receiver first and then the Bluetooth receiver would have to somehow connect to the BLE device, in my case a MDBT42Q which will control the smart phone playback using BLE HID.

The issue is that the commands from the MDBT42Q would have to be passed through the receiver to the smart phone in order to actually execute commands since the MDBT42Q is not directly connected to the smart phone in this case, so BLE HID direct to the smart phone wouldn’t be an option from what I can gather.

Looking for some clarification, any thoughts would be very appreciated.