Vorpal Factory Paired Bluetooth Modules - Revision history

Vorpalwiki: /* NOTES */

2018-04-06T17:53:02Z

‎NOTES

Vorpalwiki: /* How do I connect the modules to Arduino or Similar Devices? */

2018-04-06T17:49:34Z

‎How do I connect the modules to Arduino or Similar Devices?

Vorpalwiki: /* Can I receive and transmit at the same time? */

2018-04-06T17:44:02Z

‎Can I receive and transmit at the same time?

Vorpalwiki: /* How are the modules configured? */

2018-04-06T17:40:51Z

‎How are the modules configured?

Vorpalwiki: /* What's in the package */

2018-04-06T17:39:31Z

‎What's in the package

Vorpalwiki: /* What's in the package */

2018-04-06T17:39:03Z

‎What's in the package

Vorpalwiki: /* What's in the package */

2017-11-27T01:27:56Z

‎What's in the package

Vorpalwiki at 20:10, 6 October 2017

2017-10-06T20:10:04Z

Vorpalwiki at 20:04, 6 October 2017

2017-10-06T20:04:32Z

Vorpalwiki: /* What's in the package */

2017-10-06T20:02:34Z

‎What's in the package

@@ Line 128: / Line 128: @@
 * The manufacturer of these modules says they consume about 60 mA of current when pairing. We have found that to be safe you should make sure they get at least 100 mA of regulated 5V power. An Arduino Nano can supply this much from its +5V and GND pins.  For example, we run these all the time from a Nano which is powered through its VIN pin using a 9V battery, then we supply power to the HC05s through the Nano's regulated +5V and the second GND pin on the Nano.
-* However, the same trick will not work for a Pro Mini, because the Pro Mini (at least the ones we've used) are very borderline on being able to supply +5V at 100 mA from their power pins. They may work sometimes but not others, and this is not a reliable setup. In that case we recommend using an inexpensive 5V BEC to provide regulated power to the Bluetooth modules.
+* However, the same trick will not work reliably for a Pro Mini, because the Pro Mini (at least the ones we've used) are very borderline on being able to supply +5V at 100 mA from their power pins. They may work sometimes but not others, and this is not a reliable setup. In that case we recommend using an inexpensive 5V BEC or +5V voltage regulator to provide regulated power to the Bluetooth modules.
-* Although these are using 3.3V Bluetooth chips, the power in pin is +5V and the data pins are 5V tolerant. We have run these for hundreds of hours using a 5V Arduino Nano.
+* Although these modules are using 3.3V Bluetooth chips, the power in pin (VCC) supports up to +6V and the data (TXD and RXD) pins are 5V tolerant. We have run these for hundreds of hours using a 5V Arduino Nano directly connected to the TX and RX pins.  You will find many Internet sources that recommend using a voltage divider to safely interface to RX. This is not necessary with these particular modules, the Internet sources are just being cautious because there are modules that are not 5V tolerant on RX.

@@ Line 57: / Line 57: @@
 == How do I connect the modules to Arduino or Similar Devices? ==
-NOTE: The package includes Female-Female cables. These will work great if you're connecting either to an Arduino with an IO shield (male pins) or if you're connecting directly to an Arduino Nano, Pro Mini, or similar model which also typically provide male pins.  However, if you are connecting directly to an UNO or similar model that provides female sockets, you would need a short Male-Male jumper, or just a piece of typical hookup wire, to make the connection work.
+NOTE: You will need "jumper" wires which have female-female Dupont style connectors to connect these modules directly to an Arduino pin or to an IO shield. However, depending on what you're doing and how you plan to make connections, you may instead need male-female jumper wires.
 The HC05 has six pins, but you're not going to use two of them.
@@ Line 63: / Line 63: @@
 * EN: (May be different labels on some units). You're not going to use this, leave it disconnected.
 * VCC: You should connect a RED Dupont jumper cable to this and connect it to a regulated +5v power supply that can provide at least 50 to 60 milliamps of power. For example, an Arduino UNO can provide the right power from its +5V pin. Do not connect this to unregulated battery power. Connecting this lead to a power supply greater than +6.0 volts will immediately destroy the module.
-* GND: Use a BLACK cable and connect this to the ground side of a power supply.
+* GND: Use a BLACK cable and connect this to the ground side of a power supply. This ground should be common to the Arduino's ground.
 * TXD: "Transmit Data". Use a YELLOW cable and connect this to a digital IO pin on your controller. For the Arduino examples used in this wiki page, connect it to digital pin 3 (of course, not the same Arduino as you used for the slave, the whole point of this is to let two different Arduinos communicate!). Again, any digital pin can typically be used.
 * RXD: "Receive Data". Use the GREEN cable and connect this to another digital IO pin.  For the Arduino examples used in this wiki page, connect it to digital pin 2. Again, any digital IO pin should work.
 * STATE: (May be different label on some units.) Leave this disconnected, you don't need it for basic communications.
-Once connected and power is turned on, both modules should light up. The lights will both blink rapidly at first. After about 5 to 10 seconds, the lights will show a pattern of 2 seconds off, then two quick blinks, the two seconds off, etc.
+Note: Although we suggest yellow and green for TXD and RXD, you can of course use any color wire you want, but our examples will assume you're following our recommendation.
 If either module will not light up at all, that's almost always due to power not being applied correctly. Disconnect power immediately and check connections again.
-If the module gets hot, that probably means you reversed the VCC and GND pins. Unfortunately, this will destroy the module within a few seconds, so be very careful.
+If the module gets very hot or starts to smoke, that probably means you reversed the VCC and GND pins. Unfortunately, this will destroy the module within a few seconds, so be very careful.
 == ARDUINO SAMPLE CODE ==

@@ Line 53: / Line 53: @@
 However, there are alternative packages such as altSoftwareSerial that do properly support full duplex operations on pins other than D0 and D1. The downside is, these packages are not a native part of the Arduino offering and my not be well supported at all times.
-In any case, if full duplex operation is something you want to use, you certainly can do it, but you need to carefully choose how you attack the modules to your Arduino systems and which serial library will best meet your needs.
+In any case, if full duplex operation is something you want to use, you certainly can do it, but you need to carefully choose how you attach the modules to your Arduino systems and which serial library will best meet your needs.
 == How do I connect the modules to Arduino or Similar Devices? ==

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 NOTE: You don't need to fully understand this section in order to use the modules, this is provided for more advanced users.
-The modules are both configured at a speed of 38,400 baud, no parity, 8 bits. The slave module has a name which is identical to the label you will find on it, for example VORPAL1234. This name will show up if you have a device such as an Android smartphone which can detect Bluetooth devices.
+The modules are both configured at a speed of 38,400 baud, no parity, 8 bits. The slave module has a name which is derived from the label you will find on it, for example if the label is VORP S1235 then the Bluetooth name will be VORP1234. This name will show up if you have a device such as an Android smartphone which can detect Bluetooth devices.
 The MAC address of the slave is preconfigured in the master such that they auto-pair and connect when power is applied to both modules.
-When unpaired, both modules will have a rapidly blinking red light.  During pairing you may see the lights blink slowly a few times or go off for a couple of seconds. After pairing is successful, both modules will show a light pattern as follows: off for 2 seconds, two rapid blinks, off for two seconds, etc. Pairing normally only takes 5 to 10 seconds after both modules are powered on.
+When unpaired, both modules will have a rapidly blinking red light.  During pairing you may see the lights blink slowly a few times or go off for a couple of seconds. After pairing is successful, both modules will show a light pattern as follows: off for several seconds, two rapid blinks, off for several seconds, etc. Pairing normally only takes 5 to 10 seconds after both modules are powered on.
 == How fast are they? ==

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 The package contains:
-* Two HC05 Bluetooth modules, one configured as master and the other configured as slave. The modules are labeled with a name such as VORP M1234 and VORP S1234. The "S" on the label marks the slave module and the "M" marks the master. In most applications, it doesn't matter which system uses the master and which uses the slave.
+* Two HC05 Bluetooth modules, one configured as master and the other configured as slave.
-* Eight female-female Dupont cables, color coded, 10cm (2.5") long. These can be conveniently used to make connections for power and data to your microcontroller.
+* The modules are labeled with a name such as VORP M1234 and VORP S1234. The "S" on the label marks the slave module and the "M" marks the master. In most applications, it doesn't matter which system uses the master and which uses the slave.
 == How are the modules configured? ==

@@ Line 58: / Line 58: @@
 NOTE: The package includes Female-Female cables. These will work great if you're connecting either to an Arduino with an IO shield (male pins) or if you're connecting directly to an Arduino Nano, Pro Mini, or similar model which also typically provide male pins.  However, if you are connecting directly to an UNO or similar model that provides female sockets, you would need a short Male-Male jumper, or just a piece of typical hookup wire, to make the connection work.
 The HC05 has six pins, but you're not going to use two of them.
@@ Line 70: / Line 64: @@
 * VCC: You should connect a RED Dupont jumper cable to this and connect it to a regulated +5v power supply that can provide at least 50 to 60 milliamps of power. For example, an Arduino UNO can provide the right power from its +5V pin. Do not connect this to unregulated battery power. Connecting this lead to a power supply greater than +6.0 volts will immediately destroy the module.
 * GND: Use a BLACK cable and connect this to the ground side of a power supply.
-* TXD: "Transmit Data". Use a YELLOW cable and connect this to a digital IO pin on your controller. For the Arduino examples used in this wiki page, connect it to digital pin 3 (of course, not the same Arduino as you used for the HC06, the whole point of this is to let two different Arduinos communicate!). Again, any digital pin can typically be used.
+* TXD: "Transmit Data". Use a YELLOW cable and connect this to a digital IO pin on your controller. For the Arduino examples used in this wiki page, connect it to digital pin 3 (of course, not the same Arduino as you used for the slave, the whole point of this is to let two different Arduinos communicate!). Again, any digital pin can typically be used.
 * RXD: "Receive Data". Use the GREEN cable and connect this to another digital IO pin.  For the Arduino examples used in this wiki page, connect it to digital pin 2. Again, any digital IO pin should work.
 * STATE: (May be different label on some units.) Leave this disconnected, you don't need it for basic communications.
-Once connected and power is turned on, both modules should light up. The lights will both blink at first. After about 5 to 10 seconds, the light on the HC06 will turn steady red, while the HC05 will continue to blink.
+Once connected and power is turned on, both modules should light up. The lights will both blink rapidly at first. After about 5 to 10 seconds, the lights will show a pattern of 2 seconds off, then two quick blinks, the two seconds off, etc.
 If either module will not light up at all, that's almost always due to power not being applied correctly. Disconnect power immediately and check connections again.
@@ Line 87: / Line 81: @@
 === TRANSMITTING ARDUINO CODE ===
-This code simply transmits the word "Hello!" once per second over the Bluetooth connection. It assumes digital IO port 2 is connected to RXD and digital IO port 3 is connected to TXD. You can use either the HC05 or HC06.
+This code simply transmits the word "Hello!" once per second over the Bluetooth connection. It assumes digital IO port 2 is connected to RXD and digital IO port 3 is connected to TXD.
   #include <SoftwareSerial.h>
@@ Line 105: / Line 99: @@
 === RECEIVING ARDUINO CODE ===
-This code receives bytes one by one (if there are any available) and prints them out to the USB serial port. You can use the Ardunio IDE serial port monitor to see it working. It assumes digital IO port 2 is connected to RXD and digital IO port 3 is connected to TXD. You can use either the HC05 or HC06.
+This code receives bytes one by one (if there are any available) and prints them out to the USB serial port. You can use the Ardunio IDE serial port monitor to see it working. It assumes digital IO port 2 is connected to RXD and digital IO port 3 is connected to TXD. You can use either of the modules, master or slave.
   #include <SoftwareSerial.h>
@@ Line 128: / Line 122: @@
 * It is also possible to use standard Serial instead of SoftwareSerial if you hook up the Bluetooth modules to digital pins 0 and 1. Remember to cross the wires, in other words TX on the Arduino should be going to RX on the Bluetooth module, and vice versa. In that case, you will need to remember to disconnect the RED wire from the module whenever you want to upload a new program to your Arduino, because digital pins 0 and 1 are also used for flashing new programs to the Arduino. However, because the Serial library uses an actual UART (hardware serial port) you can simultaneously receive and transmit using this method.
-* The manufacturer of these modules says they consume about 60 mA of current when pairing. We have found that to be safe you should make sure they get at least 100 mA of regulated 5V power. An Arduino Nano can supply this much from its +5V and GND pins.  For example, we run these all the time from a Nano which is powered through its VIN pin using a 9V battery, then we supply power to the HC05 or HC06 through the Nano's regulated +5V and the second GND pin on the Nano.
+* The manufacturer of these modules says they consume about 60 mA of current when pairing. We have found that to be safe you should make sure they get at least 100 mA of regulated 5V power. An Arduino Nano can supply this much from its +5V and GND pins.  For example, we run these all the time from a Nano which is powered through its VIN pin using a 9V battery, then we supply power to the HC05s through the Nano's regulated +5V and the second GND pin on the Nano.
 * However, the same trick will not work for a Pro Mini, because the Pro Mini (at least the ones we've used) are very borderline on being able to supply +5V at 100 mA from their power pins. They may work sometimes but not others, and this is not a reliable setup. In that case we recommend using an inexpensive 5V BEC to provide regulated power to the Bluetooth modules.
 * Although these are using 3.3V Bluetooth chips, the power in pin is +5V and the data pins are 5V tolerant. We have run these for hundreds of hours using a 5V Arduino Nano.