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Bluetooth control

 

Hi Guys,

quite often modern TV's and other equipment have only one option for control - Bluetooth remotes. No IR's, no hard wired ethernet.

Does anybody know any doable soluthion? Is there any Bluetooth gateway at all?

Thx
 

Serialio.com makes DB9 to Bluetooth adapters that may work.  I used one several years ago to pair with an Apple TV to send username/password data and it worked well.  Their tech support was responsive and very helpful as I remember.
 

Shelly just announced a Bluetooth gateway with a REST api.  It was just announced this morning, along with some other products. Supposedly, the web site will be updated to show the new products shortly.  I know very little about it at this point but it might be worth a look.

Hope this helps

Jay

On 8/31/2023 7:39 AM, Tony Barger wrote:

Serialio.com makes DB9 to Bluetooth adapters that may work.  I used one several years ago to pair with an Apple TV to send username/password data and it worked well.  Their tech support was responsive and very helpful as I remember.

 

the magic of the Serial I/O bluetooth dongle was that the AppleTV is designed to be controlled by a standard bluetooth keyboard, so it uses the HID command set.  You would need to see if a keyboard can pair with the smart TV for that to work.  For that matter, the TV may be locked down in such a way that it recognizes the remote and will refuse control over Bluetooth from other devices.  It will take some experimenting.

Michael
 

I bought this
https://www.shelly.com/en/products/shop/shelly-gateway

will try soon.
Thanks!
 


One thing to keep in mind. It is my understanding that the Shelly Bluetooth Gateway supports javascript so you can customize the operation of the device.

Hope this helps

Jay

On Mon, Sep 4, 2023 at 6:27 AM dmostyka <dima.flex@...> wrote:
I bought this
https://www.shelly.com/en/products/shop/shelly-gateway

will try soon.
Thanks!

 

Could someone direct me to a currently available and working RS-232 to Bluetooth-HID-Keyboard hardware adapter that could be used to control a device that accepts Bluetooth keyboard commands?
 
Had a look at the serialo website, but wasn’t sure if the available items meet the requirement… 😉
 

Ok, so RS232 to Bluetooth HID keyboard?  Here we go!

Just for fun, I went and grabbed an ESP32 Arduino microcontroller (actually I grabbed an M5Core Basic, which is an ESP32 in an enclosure... because this is a presentable device that doesn't look like a bare circuit board), and had ChatGPT write me a quick Arduino sketch that would advertise the device as a Bluetooth keyboard, wait for serial input, and then send that input over the emulated Bluetooth keyboard.

IT WORKED!!!!!!  I had it up and running in less than 15 minutes (but I'm experienced with Arduino so your mileage will vary)

the only babysitting I had to do was two things:
1) manually find a BleKeyboard library on Github and install it into my Arduino IDE Library file (basically I had to unzip a file and move a folder),
2) ChatGPT's code waited to receive an enter keypress over the RS232 line before it was willing to send keystrokes, and I desired to remove that...

Also it helped that I had a TTL-to-serial converter handy... you would need one of these to talk to RS232-level voltage since ESP32's only accept 0-3.3V and so the voltage shift is mandatory.  That costs a nominal amount to buy on Amazon.  Or buy a different ESP32 that has RS232 conversion built in. Example https://shop.m5stack.com/products/atomic-rs232-base-w-o-atom-lite

Here's the prompt I used:

"Can you write me an Arduino sketch for ESP32 that emulates a bluetooth keyboard and takes serial input over a pin and types keys on the bluetooth keyboard? Please include a simple pairing function and describe how to activate it."

The code it produced worked, it advertised my Arduino as "ESP32 Keyboard", paired successfully to my iPhone, and operated correctly without modification, except for the removal of the undesired "wait for enter key" condition.



On Thu, Nov 28, 2024 at 6:09 AM Markus Vollmer via groups.io <crestron=markusvollmer.com@groups.io> wrote:
Could someone direct me to a currently available and working RS-232 to Bluetooth-HID-Keyboard hardware adapter that could be used to control a device that accepts Bluetooth keyboard commands?
 
Had a look at the serialo website, but wasn’t sure if the available items meet the requirement… 😉
 

Hi Michael,
 
that sounds really cool, although I might have to agree that my mileage would/will vary as I have not worked with Arduino before and don't use ChatGPT... ;-)
 
I was hoping for a "plug-and-play" solution, but might have to go down the route you drafted if nothing easier comes up!
 
Thanks again!
 
Markus
 

I threw the code and the instructions into a Pastebin --- https://pastebin.com/c2MPHAZ0 -- come back and search for this later if you decide to try it.

My Pastebin contains links to order the same hardware I tested with.  It's under $20, coming from Shenzhen China.  You'll spend more on shipping than on the hardware itself.  When I order from there and ship with DHL, the shipments consistently arrive early, 2-3 days typical.

My biggest use case for devices from this company is in building cheap sensors (mostly temperature) that report sensor data over WiFi.  They are pretty resilient and reliable, especially for the price, and they boot in under 1sec.  Any network issues, they do a hard reboot (as I have them configured) resulting in amazing total uptime.  I get them to talk to Crestron over serial, or TCP, or UDP.  Other applications I've made with their devices include: small tabletop LCD status displays, an automatic pool filler, an irrigation system monitor (measure water flow / solenoid current per zone), fireplace flame sensor (via IR camera), a network-to-serial driver for a large "stock ticker" LED sign, and a house gate controller.  Generally I'm happy with how the solutions have turned out.

Mike






On Fri, Nov 29, 2024 at 5:40 AM Markus Vollmer via groups.io <crestron=markusvollmer.com@groups.io> wrote:
Hi Michael,
 
that sounds really cool, although I might have to agree that my mileage would/will vary as I have not worked with Arduino before and don't use ChatGPT... ;-)
 
I was hoping for a "plug-and-play" solution, but might have to go down the route you drafted if nothing easier comes up!
 
Thanks again!
 
Markus
 

yes. the serial I/o product works great.  I have used them to control AppleTVs and Mac's.  They just appear as a wireless keyboard- easy peasy. Get the BlueSnap DB9 w/ FAST-HID firmware option and power cable.  Should be about $100.
 

just curious what TVs only have bluetooth and no IR so I can avoid them. I havent ran into anything other than cheap streaming devices that are bluetooth only so far.
 

On Tue, Dec 3, 2024 at 08:47 AM, Greg B wrote:
just curious what TVs only have bluetooth and no IR so I can avoid them. I havent ran into anything other than cheap streaming devices that are bluetooth only so far.
I do have the challenge that I have a Samsung TV and a Samsung "smart" PC monitor (ViewFinity S9 5K monitor)  in the same room and for a number of IR commands they both react on the same commands. I don't use the IP-TV stuff in the monitor, but for some settings, the remote is needed. Now if I can control the monitor via Bluetooth and the TV via IR, then I would be fine! ;-)
 
 
 

On Fri, Nov 29, 2024 at 12:15 PM, Michael Caldwell-Waller wrote:
I threw the code and the instructions into a Pastebin --- https://pastebin.com/c2MPHAZ0 -- come back and search for this later if you decide to try it.
 
My Pastebin contains links to order the same hardware I tested with.  It's under $20, coming from Shenzhen China.  You'll spend more on shipping than on the hardware itself.  When I order from there and ship with DHL, the shipments consistently arrive early, 2-3 days typical.
 
My biggest use case for devices from this company is in building cheap sensors (mostly temperature) that report sensor data over WiFi.  They are pretty resilient and reliable, especially for the price, and they boot in under 1sec.  Any network issues, they do a hard reboot (as I have them configured) resulting in amazing total uptime.  I get them to talk to Crestron over serial, or TCP, or UDP.  Other applications I've made with their devices include: small tabletop LCD status displays, an automatic pool filler, an irrigation system monitor (measure water flow / solenoid current per zone), fireplace flame sensor (via IR camera), a network-to-serial driver for a large "stock ticker" LED sign, and a house gate controller.  Generally I'm happy with how the solutions have turned out.
 
Mike
 
Hi Mike,
 
thank you so much for your input!
 
I took the plunge and ordered three sets of the parts that you recommended.
 
Following your detailed instructions, I got the Bluetooth keyboard recognized by the smart monitor, but I am struggling with the syntax of the strings that I can send via RS232.
The HID keyboard bluetooth library that is being used is said to have the same functionality as the USB keyboard, if I got that right.
 
Having a look at the Arduino keyboard documentation, I found a section where they explain, how to trigger non-ASCI keys, like the function key F1 to F20, the arrow keys and so on, as those are the keys I need to control the monitor.
 
But what would the syntax be of what I send via RS232 to the "Bluetooth keyboard dongle", e.g. for the navigation up key where they say "Key: KEY_UP_ARROW, Hexadecimal value: 0xDA, Decimal value: 218"? Do I need a delimiter?
Have you tried to send anything but ASCII characters via these magic devices?
 
Thanks agaiin!
 
Markus
 
 

Hi Markus -- I'm pleased to see you took this and ran with it and found success!

Here is what you are going to do to get access to function and media keys.  It looks like you have already found the file you need, in order to see that KEY_UP_ARROW sends a hex value of DA.  The complete list is here https://github.com/T-vK/ESP32-BLE-Keyboard/blob/master/BleKeyboard.h

To send 0xDA from Crestron (as it appears in the link above), you'll just send \xDA in the serial send block.  Both of these are notations for representing DA as a hex byte, just in two different contexts.  Because \xDA is an escape code, it causes the Crestron processor to emit the single byte with the hexadecimal value DA (rather than the four characters \,x,D,A).  Best I can tell, it's really that simple.  That should get you the up arrow.

It's also trivial to modify the Arduino script to manipulate the data in-stream and translate it, which might be necessary if you're interested in pressing any of the "media keys" (like KEY_MEDIA_PLAY_PAUSE) that aren't defined as a single byte.  For example you might test for the byte B0 (just one I picked at random for being unused), and map it to KEY_MEDIA_PLAY_PAUSE by tweaking the Arduino code with the following pattern:

if (inputBuffer=="\xB0")
bleKeyboard.write(KEY_MEDIA_PLAY_PAUSE);
else if (inputBuffer=="\xB1")
bleKeyboard.write(KEY_MEDIA_STOP);
else if (...repeat this same pattern for more keys...)
bleKeyboard.write(...more keys...);
else
bleKeyboard.print(inputBuffer); // Existing line that sends any keys not caught by the above "if" statements

You don't need to make any of these modifications if all you want is arrow and function keys and other normal keyboard keys, which are already available as single bytes you can send from Crestron.

Mike


On Sun, Dec 15, 2024 at 9:03 AM Markus Vollmer via groups.io <crestron=markusvollmer.com@groups.io> wrote:
On Fri, Nov 29, 2024 at 12:15 PM, Michael Caldwell-Waller wrote:
I threw the code and the instructions into a Pastebin --- https://pastebin.com/c2MPHAZ0 -- come back and search for this later if you decide to try it.
 
My Pastebin contains links to order the same hardware I tested with.  It's under $20, coming from Shenzhen China.  You'll spend more on shipping than on the hardware itself.  When I order from there and ship with DHL, the shipments consistently arrive early, 2-3 days typical.
 
My biggest use case for devices from this company is in building cheap sensors (mostly temperature) that report sensor data over WiFi.  They are pretty resilient and reliable, especially for the price, and they boot in under 1sec.  Any network issues, they do a hard reboot (as I have them configured) resulting in amazing total uptime.  I get them to talk to Crestron over serial, or TCP, or UDP.  Other applications I've made with their devices include: small tabletop LCD status displays, an automatic pool filler, an irrigation system monitor (measure water flow / solenoid current per zone), fireplace flame sensor (via IR camera), a network-to-serial driver for a large "stock ticker" LED sign, and a house gate controller.  Generally I'm happy with how the solutions have turned out.
 
Mike
 
Hi Mike,
 
thank you so much for your input!
 
I took the plunge and ordered three sets of the parts that you recommended.
 
Following your detailed instructions, I got the Bluetooth keyboard recognized by the smart monitor, but I am struggling with the syntax of the strings that I can send via RS232.
The HID keyboard bluetooth library that is being used is said to have the same functionality as the USB keyboard, if I got that right.
 
Having a look at the Arduino keyboard documentation, I found a section where they explain, how to trigger non-ASCI keys, like the function key F1 to F20, the arrow keys and so on, as those are the keys I need to control the monitor.
 
But what would the syntax be of what I send via RS232 to the "Bluetooth keyboard dongle", e.g. for the navigation up key where they say "Key: KEY_UP_ARROW, Hexadecimal value: 0xDA, Decimal value: 218"? Do I need a delimiter?
Have you tried to send anything but ASCII characters via these magic devices?
 
Thanks agaiin!
 
Markus
 

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