A low-cost wireless Arduino

A Lilypad with a Sparkfun SMD module and the connection diagram
Some days ago I received my first Lilypad Arduino and started to experiment with a SMD Bluetooth module i bought from Sparkfun. The connection between the BT module and the Arduino board has been described here by Leah Buechley, but instead of using a BlueSmirf Gold Board (which is based upon a Roving Networks module and costs more than 60$) I tried the less expensive Sparkfun SMD module.
From a software point of view, the only difference is the command set when the module is in COMMAND mode.

First of all I covered the back side of my Lilypad Arduino with a layer of insulating pvc tape, then, using a small piece of biadhesive tape, I secured the Bluetooth module over the pvc tape.
The connections are quite easy as you may notice from the picture, the only detail that's worth a mention is the small 2 way smd dip switch between the crossed RX/TX connection to Arduino pins, in order to disable the module communication with the ATMega chip when using the USB programmer to load a sketch, since with Lilypad standard bootloader it's not possible to load sketches via Bluetooth.
At this point there are two possible ways of changing the configuration of the module:


Configuring the module within an Arduino Sketch
At the end of the page you will find a short arduino sketch which allows to modify the configuration of the BT module, just edit the first rows to fit your needs, and then:
  1. Use the dip switch to disable communication between Arduino and the BT module
  2. Edit the sketch to fit your needs and load it on the Lilypad using a USB-Serial converter
  3. Plug out your USB-Seral converter
  4. Use the dip switch to enable communication again
  5. Power up Arduino using a battery or an external power supply
  6. Connect via Bluetooth to the module (if asked for a password, the default pin is "0000") and enter "+++" in the terminal window to enter command mode (you should not see anything in the terminal window) then hit the reset button on the Lilypad
  7. Wait until the led flashes and then you are done!
  8. Remember to switch off the communication with the module if you wanto to load a new sketch

Configuring the module using the USB-Serial converter
Connect your USB-Serial converter (or even a MAX232-based one) as described in the drawing below, then open any terminal application (like HyperTerminal, if you're using windows) and configure the serial port of the USB-Serial converter (or to your pc COM port if you're using a MAX232 board) using these settings:
  • Baud Rate: 9600
  • Data bits: 8
  • Stop bits: 1
  • Parity: none
  • Flow Control: none
At this point you are ready to connect to the module, so just follow these simple steps:
  1. Open another terminal and connect to your Bluetooth module using SPP (default PIN is "0000")
  2. Also connect to the serial port of the USB-Serial converter in the other terminal window
  3. Enter "+++" in the Bluetooth terminal window
  4. The module is now in COMMAND mode, if everything worked fine you should see the module entering COMMAND mode, now you can use the USB-Serial terminal window to send configuration commands to the module (see the BGB203 SPP User Guide)
Total cost (according to SparkFun Feb 2009 prices):
Bluetooth SMD module: 29.95$
Lilypad Arduino: 21.95$
USB-Serial converter: 13.95$ (if you don't have any)


	int LED = 13;

	

	void setup()

	{

	  pinMode(LED, OUTPUT); // set direction of led pin

	

	  //default SparkFun BT module baud rate

	  Serial.begin(9600);

	

	  //Change module name

	  Serial.print("AT+BTLNM="wirelessLilypad" "); 

	  delay(500);

	

	  //Change UART settings (baud rate, data bits, stop bits, parity, stop bits, flow control)

	  Serial.print("AT+BTURT=57600, 8, 0, 1, 0 ");

	  delay(500);

	

	  //Write settings on BGB203 flash memory

	  Serial.print("AT+BTFLS ");

	  delay(500);

	

	  //Start Bluetooth Server

	  Serial.print("AT+BTSRV=1 ");

	  delay(500);

	

	}

	

	void loop()

	{

	  //Led blinking

	  while(1){

	    digitalWrite(LED, HIGH);

	    delay(500);

	    digitalWrite(LED, LOW);

	    delay(500);

	  }

	}
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