NRF52840 Dongle DK to recieve multiple bluetooth data from 3 different arduino bluetooth modules (HC-05)

[Alnos]

Hello everyone,

I have interfaced an encoder and speed sensor on a spinning bike that all connect to arduino via COM/USB port. The COM port communicates to a game engine and allows you to have a virtual training.

Using low energy BLE I would like to go wireless for all my sensors!

Assuming I know how to pair each sensor to an arduino nano, bluetooth module and battery to run in low power mode:

1. Could the NRF52840 Dongle Be used to recieve multiple BLE signals from arduino simultaniously ?

2. Could I use the NRF52840 to organize how that data is sent to COM so that a software uses that data for its virtual environment?

3. Is this a relatively easy task?

Thank you very much and sorry if the question is beginner, I have not worked with bluetooth yet.

[awneil]

I think the HC-05 is not BLE - is it?

Nordic chips are BLE-only - so won't work with that.

Alnos said:

Could the NRF52840 Dongle Be used to recieve multiple BLE signals from arduino simultaniously ?

Yes

Alnos said:

Could I use the NRF52840 to organize how that data is sent to COM so that a software uses that data for its virtual environment?

Yes

Alnos said:

Is this a relatively easy task?

That depends!

I would say that it is rather ambitious for a beginner.

For a beginner, I would strongly suggest that you start with the nRF52-DK, and work through some of the SDK examples to gain familiarity & experience.

This assumes that you are already a competent embedded 'C' programmer?

[Jørgen Holmefjord]

Hi,

1. The s140 softdevice (Bluetooth stack) for nRF52840 support up to 20 concurrent links, so there is no problem gathering data from 3 different sensors. You can start out with the BLE Multilink Central example in our SDK. I would recommend starting out with a nRF52840 Development Kit, as the dongle does not have any debug capabilities. If you are new to Bluetooth, you will most certainly encounter issues that you need to debug during development.
2. Yes, you can send whatever data you want to a COM port using the UART peripheral in the chip. There is a UART peripheral example in the SDK that you can try out.
3. This question depends on your skill level. It is certainly not too complicated task, but if you have not worked with Bluetooth before, it could take you some time to get familiar with how things work. I recommend that you take a look at our Bluetooth Low Energy tutorials, to get some basic understanding of Bluetooth and our solution.

Best regards,
Jørgen

[Alnos]

Thank you for your kind reply.

Correct, HC-05 is not BLE. I have yet to decide what to buy for the bluetooth arduino module. Regardless, the NRF52 can deal with other bluetooth versions so it would not be a problem receiving the signals correct?

I am by no means a "competent" C programmer. I have done some C/C++, some arduino projetcs, some Python, a tiny bit of C# but never worked with bluetooth projects.

Therefore, I am having alot of trouble deciding "what to buy" to make all my set up wireless.

Why is the nRF52- DK a better choice? Can it still recieve multiple bluetooth channels to USB?

Any advice on what I need is greatly appreciated.

[Alnos]

Thank you!

[Jørgen Holmefjord]

The DK is a better choice, as it has built-in debugger. If you have not decided on sensor bluetooth module, why go with Arduino in the first place, and not use nRF52 series for both sides of the link? This gives you better control on the whole system.