Building iPhone and iPad Electronic Projects

Chapter 6. Bluetooth Low Energy

About This Chapter

Prerequisites

Read Chapter 1 and the end of Chapter 2 (the section on the techBASIC help system) if you need some help with techBASIC.

Equipment

You will need an iPhone 4S or later, iPod 5th Gen or later, or iPad 3 or later running iOS 5 or later. The chapter uses the Texas Instruments SensorTag as a sample device. You could follow along with any Bluetooth low energy device, but obviously it will be simpler to use the SensorTag. See Table 6-1 for a complete parts list.

Software

You will need a copy of techBASIC or techBASIC Sampler.

This chapter introduces Bluetooth low energy, a rapidly expanding technology for sensors. It’s used in the next two chapters for accessing sensor data from a model rocket and for controlling an RC truck using an Arduino microcontroller, just two of the many ways Bluetooth low energy technology can be used from an iOS device.

Chapters 9 and 10 show how to convert an iOS device so it becomes a Bluetooth low energy device that can be sensed and read by other devices, including other iOS devices.

What Is Bluetooth Low Energy?

Bluetooth low energy, also known as Bluetooth 4.0, BLE, Bluetooth LE, and Bluetooth Smart, is a new twist on the old Bluetooth standard. It’s designed for ultra-low-energy sensors that can run off of coin cell batteries. Some of the Bluetooth low energy devices that are already available include sports fitness sensors like bicycle speedometers and pedometers built into Nike running shoes; health ...