You can now use the $6 boards on-board Bluetooth radio:
The Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant, the Crystal Skull, Bluetooth on a Raspberry Pi Pico W. The last of these highly sought after things is finally available, at least to developers. When it launched last June, the $6 Pico W microcontroller impressed everyone with its built-in Wi-Fi 4 , but developers were disappointed that the Bluetooth radio that was built into the board's Infineon CYW43439 wireless chip could not be used.
We've been hearing hints that Bluetooth support was coming for a while now and, as of Friday, the official Raspberry Pi Pico SDK supports it. Available on Raspberry PI's Github repository, SDK 1.5.0 (opens in new tab) adds a new Bluetooth API from BTstack (opens in new tab).
[...] Note that the SDK is made for programming in C or C++ so, if you want to program your Pico W with it, you'll need to use that language. The Github page has instructions (opens in new tab) on how to set up your environment and get started.
We'd prefer to program our Pico W with CircuitPython or MIcroPython, which are much easier to work with. CircuitPython, in particular, has built-in support for turning a Pico or other RP2040-powered microcontroller into an HID device such as a mouse or keyboard. Perhaps now that the official SDK has added Bluetooth support, these other languages will get it also.
(Score: 2) by GloomMower on Tuesday February 14, @01:16PM (5 children)
I've not yet tried to build anything that uses battery, so have never used bluetooth in a project. Wifi has always been fine. But maybe I'll try to think of some ideas.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 14, @03:51PM
Wake me when it's available in MicroPython. I prefer C++ for my "real" work, but the C++ SDK for Pico is such a PITA for development as compared with Thonny/Micropython.
Yeah, WiFi is fine for me too, preferable for every application I've made so far, but... I would like a dedicated wireless button or two that I could press to "do things" and having a Bluetooth link for that might lead to significantly improved battery life / smaller cheaper batteries.
As it is, my buttons are implemented in http servers on the local network, so I can access them from my phone or browser on the PC, but that: fingerprint in, swipe to screen, launch app, tap to activate 15 second operation is nowhere near as gratifying as just reaching over and mashing the big red one and getting a confirmation light flash in response. I believe my bluetooth-button implementation will likely just be a bridge to a bluetooth receiver (or three) that hits the http server with the desired command(s) instead, so the phone and browser interface will be unchanged.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday February 14, @06:22PM (2 children)
Perhaps I'm missing something, but what does a project that uses battery power have to do with bluetooth support?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth [wikipedia.org]
Or are you just meaning that you'd use a Pico for a battery powered project, due to it's minuscule size?
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by GloomMower on Wednesday February 15, @02:44PM (1 child)
It might be that I need to get my head around use cases for bluetooth.
If I have to power a device with wall AC originating power, it is kind of stuck at the spot where I plug it in, so I'd usually just use wires for communication (rs485, ethernet, rs232, etc), or because it has "unlimited" power, wifi seems just fine, as bluetooth has been at least marketed to me as a better low power communication method. Whereas a battery powered device I might expect for it to move around all the time or more freely, (so can't use the wires) and would maybe go with bluetooth to save on power.
Most mobile phones or tablets have wifi already and a good sized battery at least. So I guess I was only was thinking of if the pico was the mobile battery ran device for bluetooth uses here. But it sounds like maybe I need to rethink when bluetooth is a good option.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday February 15, @02:58PM
Ah, that makes sense. I was just thinking of what devices actually use Bluetooth. Keyboards, mice, hand-held scanners, etc. All of which could be useful while plugged in or when on battery power. I mean, what else uses Bluetooth for communication? Ah, yes, Bluetooth speakers/headphones are huge too. I'm sure there are plenty of other things, but they don't necessitate a battery powered computer.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday February 15, @12:53AM
Rather than IoT, it could give another option to connect keyboard/mouse.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]