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BlueTooth to program the Prop. Possible?? — Parallax Forums

BlueTooth to program the Prop. Possible??

w4fejw4fej Posts: 264
edited 2010-10-19 01:04 in Propeller 1
My project uses the prop for virtually all the control of the R/C submarine I am building. Also the control unit uses a Prop. I want to be able to make programming changes to the submarine WITHOUT having to dismantle the boat and remove a bizillion screws from the water tight compartment. Can the Bluetooth be brought into service for this purpose??

What say all you heavy hitters out there? This gonna work or is there and even better way to accomplish this??

Mike B.

Comments

  • groggorygroggory Posts: 205
    edited 2010-10-18 15:42
    w4fej wrote: »
    My project uses the prop for virtually all the control of the R/C submarine I am building. Also the control unit uses a Prop. I want to be able to make programming changes to the submarine WITHOUT having to dismantle the boat and remove a bizillion screws from the water tight compartment. Can the Bluetooth be brought into service for this purpose??

    What say all you heavy hitters out there? This gonna work or is there and even better way to accomplish this??

    Mike B.

    This should do it.
    http://obex.parallax.com/objects/574/

    Uses xBee...but I believe you can send serial streams with bluetooth, so that'll work too.
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2010-10-18 15:47
    The short answer is NO. You cannot use a wireless link for programming either a Stamp or a Propeller. The download protocols between the PC and the microcontroller are time-sensitive and will time out with the inherent delays in the wireless link.

    That said, the Propeller Backpack has a different download protocol made possible by downloading a different boot loader using the standard wired download link. This different boot loader is more robust in terms of link delays. You would need to make some changes to the Backpack loader to use it with xBee or Bluetooth, but it could be made to work.

    Frankly, the easiest way would be to bring the 4 wires involved through the hull and provide a waterproof connector for them on the outside. One of the 4 wires is ground and that could be the hull.
  • groggorygroggory Posts: 205
    edited 2010-10-18 15:57
    Mike Green wrote: »
    The short answer is NO. You cannot use a wireless link for programming either a Stamp or a Propeller. The download protocols between the PC and the microcontroller are time-sensitive and will time out with the inherent delays in the wireless link.

    That said, the Propeller Backpack has a different download protocol made possible by downloading a different boot loader using the standard wired download link. This different boot loader is more robust in terms of link delays. You would need to make some changes to the Backpack loader to use it with xBee or Bluetooth, but it could be made to work.

    Frankly, the easiest way would be to bring the 4 wires involved through the hull and provide a waterproof connector for them on the outside. One of the 4 wires is ground and that could be the hull.

    What about the object I linked to above?

    The way I think it operates is it uses a very fault tolerant protocol such as Kermit to transmit the file to the upper 32k of eeprom (or another eeprom). From there you use an object such as http://obex.parallax.com/objects/473/ to tell the propeller to reprogram the lower half of the boot eeprom. Then I suspect you'd need to tell your xbee or whatever to remotely pulse the reset pin on the propeller so it'll reboot and load your new program.

    So in short, I agree that directly wirelessly programming the propeller is near impossible. But transmitting the code and then having the propeller locally reprogram itself seems much more feasible.
  • w4fejw4fej Posts: 264
    edited 2010-10-18 17:17
    Mike Green wrote: »
    The short answer is NO. You cannot use a wireless link for programming either a Stamp or a Propeller. The download protocols between the PC and the microcontroller are time-sensitive and will time out with the inherent delays in the wireless link.

    That said, the Propeller Backpack has a different download protocol made possible by downloading a different boot loader using the standard wired download link. This different boot loader is more robust in terms of link delays. You would need to make some changes to the Backpack loader to use it with xBee or Bluetooth, but it could be made to work.

    Frankly, the easiest way would be to bring the 4 wires involved through the hull and provide a waterproof connector for them on the outside. One of the 4 wires is ground and that could be the hull.

    Well I kind of suspected as much. Looks like the simplest soultion might just be the best. Thanks Mike Green. I would want to put the hull penetration below the wate line so it couldn't be seen when in the water.

    Ok, I'll put the BlueTooth idea to bed then and go for a "standard" connection to the netbook.

    Thanks to all. Mike B.
  • groggorygroggory Posts: 205
    edited 2010-10-19 01:04
    You know what'd be really cool...program the prop using low frequency transducers via the water waves. :-p
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