Generic HID example

RE: Generic HID example

grantb4 — Wed, 16 Jan 2019 17:03:57 GMT

Hi, I have a couple of followup questions for this thread. The device I'm making is intended to be a microcontroller connected to an nRF module via UART.

In my case I want to be able to do one at least of the following on a bonded Windows PC (less interested in phone or tablet uses), using the PC's built-in Bluetooth. It would be OK to specify min Win OS version, but would rather not install new drivers or Python or anything like that on the PC.

Create either an HID keyboard or generic/raw HID device as mentioned below in the next top-level post.
Using a service of some kind is OK as long as there is some API on the PC-side that can talk to it.

Main question now is, given the above, is it better to start with an nRF528xx over and nRF518xx part?

RE: Generic HID example

ovrebekk — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 09:05:38 GMT

Hi Grant

In the later SDK's we have added support for Segger Embedded Studio (SES). This is an IDE similar to Keil, but is provided for free to users of Nordic products without any code size limitation.

For an introduction to software development in SES, please refer to the following guide.

Best regards
Torbjørn

RE: Generic HID example

grantb4 — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 16:25:00 GMT

Thanks, that's encouraging. I've failed on a competitors platform because there was no "server" for generic HID (only, kb, mouse, joystick, etc). So I'm new to your toolchain. I downloaded the Keil tools and can't make the various HID examples due to size restrictions I suppose. What do you recommend for a toolchain to try this out? I have no issue with the Keil price as long I can make proof of concept beforehand.

RE: Generic HID example

ovrebekk — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 07:38:42 GMT

Hi Grant

We don't have a dedicated example for this, but it should be relatively straight forward to modify one of the existing examples (like ble_apps_hid_keyboard) to use a generic HID descriptor.

The appearance is set in the gap_params_init() function, and the HID descriptor is configured in the hids_init() function.

Assuming you change the descriptor you would also need to change the functions for reading and writing HID data to match the new descriptor.

Best regards
Torbjørn

RE: Generic HID example

grantb4 — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 18:28:02 GMT

I have the same question. I have a USB connected device that I would like to port to BLE. At the present time I have bidirectional 8-bit communication. The USB characteristics are such that no inf or special driver is required. Just the built-in HID driver on all OS's. So to be able to do similar on BLE would be great. So, it's not a keyboard or mouse just an HID "thing". Super easy to write software on the PC for also. Can we make something like this in BLE? I can provide more USB info if needed.

RE: Generic HID example

ovrebekk — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 14:10:20 GMT

What kind of application or service do you want to receive the data on the host side?

Any particular reason you want to use HID, rather than a purpose built proprietary BLE service?

Best regards
Torbjørn