Channel 9 - Entries tagged with Bluetooth Microsoft http://mschnlnine.vo.llnwd.net/d1/Dev/App_Themes/C9/images/feedimage.png Channel 9 - Entries tagged with Bluetooth http://channel9.msdn.com/Tags/bluetooth Channel 9 keeps you up to date with the latest news and behind the scenes info from Microsoft that developers love to keep up with. From LINQ to SilverLight – Watch videos and hear about all the cool technologies coming and the people behind them. http://channel9.msdn.com/Tags/bluetooth en Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:40:09 GMT Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:40:09 GMT Rev9 17 1 25 Netduino + Bluetooth, Laurent shows us how easy it is... Bluetooth is everywhere, right? For our Hardware Friday post, I was wondering how hard it would be to add Bluetooth to a .Net Micro Framework, Netduino project?

Laurent Ellerbach shows us how (and it's easier than you might think!)

Adding Bluetooth support to a NETMF board (.NET Microframework)

I recently bought a very cheap Bluetooth adaptor for my Netduino. I wanted to test how easy/hard it is to support Bluetooth. I see lots of advantages with Bluetooth for a near field communication like piloting easily a robot with a Phone without the need of other network or Infrared. Also Bluetooth is a secured communication with a peering.

So I bought this cheap Bluetooth adaptor for $8.20. It does expose itself to the world with a serial port on one side and as a normal Bluetooth device on the other side. Communication is supported with a serial port from one side to the other. On a PC, Phone or whatever device, it creates a serial port. So communication is basically very transparent and assimilated to a serial port from end to end.

...

When I received it, I was impatient to test it. First step was to peer it with a PC. I looked at the documentation and found the default name for this device was “linvor” and found out the passkey was 1234. After cabling it with 3.3V (my board support 3.3V to 12V alimentation) and the ground, and approximately 1 minutes, I peered it!

New step was to write a bit of code to test all this. I decided to do a very basic echo program. So whatever it will receive, it will send it back to the calling program. On the netduino board, I’ll use the COM1 (pins D0 and D1). I found also in less than 1 minute that the default configuration was 9600 bauds, 8 bits, no parity and 1 bit stop. So I wrote this very simple code for the test, very hard to do more basic than that:

image

...

I send couple of commands to test and it worked just perfectly  So I renamed the device to LaurelleBT instead of linvor. As the device was already peered, Windows did not had to reinstall drivers or cut the communication, it was just about changing the displayed name:

image

So that’s it! In 5 minutes I had a working Bluetooth module on my board. I was positively surprised and I’ll buy more for sure! Next step it to mount it on a robot and pilot it from a Windows Phone or Windows 8 device.

See? Easy!

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/blog/Netduino--Bluetooth-Laurent-shows-us-how-easy-it-is Bluetooth is everywhere, right? For our Hardware Friday post, I was wondering how hard it would be to add Bluetooth to a .Net Micro Framework, Netduino project? Laurent Ellerbach shows us how (and it's easier than you might think!) Adding Bluetooth support to a NETMF board (.NET Microframework)I recently bought a very cheap Bluetooth adaptor for my Netduino. I wanted to test how easy/hard it is to support Bluetooth. I see lots of advantages with Bluetooth for a near field communication like piloting easily a robot with a Phone without the need of other network or Infrared. Also Bluetooth is a secured communication with a peering. So I bought this cheap Bluetooth adaptor for $8.20. It does expose itself to the world with a serial port on one side and as a normal Bluetooth device on the other side. Communication is supported with a serial port from one side to the other. On a PC, Phone or whatever device, it creates a serial port. So communication is basically very transparent and assimilated to a serial port from end to end. ... When I received it, I was impatient to test it. First step was to peer it with a PC. I looked at the documentation and found the default name for this device was “linvor” and found out the passkey was 1234. After cabling it with 3.3V (my board support 3.3V to 12V alimentation) and the ground, and approximately 1 minutes, I peered it! New step was to write a bit of code to test all this. I decided to do a very basic echo program. So whatever it will receive, it will send it back to the calling program. On the netduino board, I’ll use the COM1 (pins D0 and D1). I found also in less than 1 minute that the default configuration was 9600 bauds, 8 bits, no parity and 1 bit stop. So I wrote this very simple code for the test, very hard to do more basic than that: ... I send couple of commands to test and it worked just perfectly  So I renamed the device to LaurelleBT instead of linvor. As the device was already peered, Windows did not had to r http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/blog/Netduino--Bluetooth-Laurent-shows-us-how-easy-it-is Fri, 07 Jun 2013 13:00:00 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/blog/Netduino--Bluetooth-Laurent-shows-us-how-easy-it-is Greg Duncan Greg Duncan 2 http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/blog/Netduino--Bluetooth-Laurent-shows-us-how-easy-it-is/RSS .NET Micro Framework Bluetooth Coding4Fun An amazing maze, with some Windows Phone 8, Netduino, servos and some 3D printing for flavor... Welcome to the RogueCode Blog!

Just kidding... Smiley but with all the cool work Matt, aka RogueCode, has been doing, and which we've been highlighting, it kinds of feels that way doesn't it? Now if only the stuff he was doing wasn't just so darn cool.

We have just about everything in this project. Hardware, electronics, development, mobile even 3D printing!

Netduino + WP8 real-life maze game

When I was young my parents bought me a wooden maze game. I loved that thing. I don’t think I ever cared much for the actual maze element – but the mechanism to tilt the stage was intriguing, and very simple.

When I remembered it the other day I managed to both find it online, and actually find my original one in an old cupboard from storage.

image

Moving on a decade or two, we now have hundreds of these ball games on smartphones using their accelerometers (like this one – a random one from the WP store), but their graphics leave a lot to be desired. Which is why I’ve made a photorealistic one Wink

The objective was to make a maze game that was a merge between the old-school and new-school ones. So the phone is used as a tilt controller to control the physical maze via Bluetooth with a Netduino. The maze is a simple model printed on my 3D printer and is tilted by using two servos. Bonus points for adding a switch mechanism to report back to the phone when the player gets to the end.

What you need:

  • 2 fairly strong servos. I used Turnigy metal-gear ones from HobbyKing.
  • Bluetooth module
  • Netduino
  • Small square maze-like object
  • 10K ohm resistor
  • 4.8V battery pack
  • Conductive ball-bearing/marble

The maze:

This probably took longer than all the other parts combined because my 3D printer’s extruder nozzle jammed up rather solidly. And even when I did eventually get it to print, the result was pretty terrible. However, the actual maze model at the end of this post is perfect and will print fine on your printer if you have one. I printed it 9CM x 9CM because that is about the biggest my Makerbot Thing-O-Matic can print.

image

To make the model, I first went to http://www.mazegenerator.net/ and generated a 9X9 maze. Then imported the result into SketchUp, traced out the lines, and extruded the walls up. I only made the walls high enough to steer the ball – not encase it.

And of course, Matt's made everything that can be downloaded, downloadable...

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/blog/An-amazing-maze-with-some-Windows-Phone-8-Netduino-servos-and-some-3D-printing-for-flavor Welcome to the RogueCode Blog! Just kidding... but with all the cool work Matt, aka RogueCode, has been doing, and which we've been highlighting, it kinds of feels that way doesn't it? Now if only the stuff he was doing wasn't just so darn cool. We have just about everything in this project. Hardware, electronics, development, mobile even 3D printing! Netduino + WP8 real-life maze gameWhen I was young my parents bought me a wooden maze game. I loved that thing. I don’t think I ever cared much for the actual maze element – but the mechanism to tilt the stage was intriguing, and very simple. When I remembered it the other day I managed to both find it online, and actually find my original one in an old cupboard from storage. Moving on a decade or two, we now have hundreds of these ball games on smartphones using their accelerometers (like this one – a random one from the WP store), but their graphics leave a lot to be desired. Which is why I’ve made a photorealistic one The objective was to make a maze game that was a merge between the old-school and new-school ones. So the phone is used as a tilt controller to control the physical maze via Bluetooth with a Netduino. The maze is a simple model printed on my 3D printer and is tilted by using two servos. Bonus points for adding a switch mechanism to report back to the phone when the player gets to the end. What you need:2 fairly strong servos. I used Turnigy metal-gear ones from HobbyKing. Bluetooth module Netduino Small square maze-like object 10K ohm resistor 4.8V battery pack Conductive ball-bearing/marble The maze:This probably took longer than all the other parts combined because my 3D printer’s extruder nozzle jammed up rather solidly. And even when I did eventually get it to print, the result was pretty terrible. However, the actual maze model at the end of this post is perfect and will print fine on your printer if you have one. I printed it 9CM x 9CM because that is about the biggest my Makerbot Thing- http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/blog/An-amazing-maze-with-some-Windows-Phone-8-Netduino-servos-and-some-3D-printing-for-flavor Fri, 15 Mar 2013 13:00:00 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/blog/An-amazing-maze-with-some-Windows-Phone-8-Netduino-servos-and-some-3D-printing-for-flavor Greg Duncan Greg Duncan 0 http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/blog/An-amazing-maze-with-some-Windows-Phone-8-Netduino-servos-and-some-3D-printing-for-flavor/RSS .NET Micro Framework Bluetooth Coding4Fun Hardware What does the Imperial March, Windows Phone 8, Netduino, Bluetooth and Sonar have in common? This! In today's Hardware Friday Project takes us back, Windows Phone 8, Netduino and Bluetooth..., to the very cool work that Matt Cavanagh is doing. Chris Walker of Netduino fame was impressed enough to reach out to us to point out the cool stuff Matt's doing now.

I mean how can you not dig a Windows Phone 8, Netduino, Sonar and the Star Wars Imperial March all in one project!?

But first...

More Netduino + WP8 + Bluetooth fun- 3D reconstruction

Following my previous post on Bluetooth with the Netduino, I thought I would extend it a bit.

The goal for this project is the following: Have a Netduino sending it’s orientation data (XYZ) over Bluetooth to WP8 which displays a 3D representation of it (at the right angle of course), and for bonus points attach a potentiometer to control the zoom.

In the video above, as with the last one, the Netduino is only plugged in because I don’t have a 9v battery lying around. And you might notice a few MS of lag – that’s due to the smoothing filters. It’s possible to get the movement to just about real-time (Bluetooth is impressively fast) but then you also get all the fluctuations of the accelerometer.

...

For the phone app I’ve copied pretty much the entire code from the last post. Some is commented out because it referenced UI stuff that isn’t in this project. Because the previous post covered all this, I’m not going to go into any of that code.

So how do we show a 3D model? Well, in my opinion the easiest way is XNA. However, Microsoft killed XNA on WP8 (and W8) leaving native code as the only way. Enter: MonoGame. MonoGame is a framework that enables XNA developers to write one code base and have it run on many different platforms. So even though XNA isn’t officially supported on WP8, we can still use MonoGame – which is pretty much identical (at least for anything we’re going to be doing). Here is their explanation of it:

...

Okay, okay.. I know, "Star Wars!...", here you go...

Netduino + Sonar + WP8 + Bluetooth - Controlling sound with your mind

OK, maybe not with your mind, but at the very least, your hand.

The objective here was to add a sonar (ultrasonic) sensor to the Netduino, work out how close my hand was, and then send that info over Bluetooth to Windows Phone 8 and display it. Bonus points for doing something useful with the data (yes, controlling the volume of the Imperial March is totally useful!).

What you need for this is:

  • Netduino or variant
  • Sonic/sonar sensor
  • Bluetooth Module
  • Windows Phone 8

...

few months ago I bought this Sonar sensor: HC-SR04 (http://lightake.com/detail.do/sku.UltrasonicSensorHCSR04DistanceMeasuringModuleBlueSilver-58594). I got it from a random little online Chinese shop for $4. I literally just bought it to see if they would actually deliver (free worldwide) because they have quite a big range of Arduino/Netduino sensors and it’s hard to get things locally. Surprisingly it actually came.

image

So last night I opened it, tweeted, and plugged it into the Netduino:

VCC   -  5v
Trig   -  D6
Echo  - D7
GND  - GND

This site has a great explanation about how these work: http://arduino-info.wikispaces.com/UltraSonicDistance

They have two transducers, basically a speaker and a microphone.
Ultrasound is a high frequency sound (typically 40 KHz is used). A short burst of sound waves (often only 8 cycles) is sent out the "Transmit" transducer (left, above). Then the "Receive" transducer listens for an echo. Thus, the principle of ultrasonic distance measurement is the same as with Radio-based radar.

After understanding it I started coding a little helper to do the math for me, and realized that someone would have done this before – and proceeded to find this perfect little class by J Wilson on the Netduino forums: http://forums.netduino.com/index.php?/topic/3256-library-for-hc-sr04-ultrasonic-rangefinder/

Download that class and add it to your Netduino project.

...

Create a new WP8 project just like before and add the Bluetooth stuff like in the first post.

Then I have a very simple UI. It’s got a ProgressBar to visualize the volume, a MediaElement to play the song, and some TextBlocks to show the current value.

 

This would have probably been a good time to show a very basic use of MVVM, but I will leave that for another day.

Besides the Bluetooth code, there is really only one method that does all the work here, and it’s really simple. This method is called when a message is received over BT. The message in this case will be the CM distance value from the sonar sensor:

...

And yes, of course the source is available for both projects... Smiley

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/blog/What-does-the-Imperial-March-Windows-Phone-8-Netduino-Bluetooth-and-Sonar-have-in-common-This In today's Hardware Friday Project takes us back, Windows Phone 8, Netduino and Bluetooth..., to the very cool work that Matt Cavanagh is doing. Chris Walker of Netduino fame was impressed enough to reach out to us to point out the cool stuff Matt's doing now. I mean how can you not dig a Windows Phone 8, Netduino, Sonar and the Star Wars Imperial March all in one project!? But first... More Netduino + WP8 + Bluetooth fun- 3D reconstructionFollowing my previous post on Bluetooth with the Netduino, I thought I would extend it a bit. The goal for this project is the following: Have a Netduino sending it’s orientation data (XYZ) over Bluetooth to WP8 which displays a 3D representation of it (at the right angle of course), and for bonus points attach a potentiometer to control the zoom. In the video above, as with the last one, the Netduino is only plugged in because I don’t have a 9v battery lying around. And you might notice a few MS of lag – that’s due to the smoothing filters. It’s possible to get the movement to just about real-time (Bluetooth is impressively fast) but then you also get all the fluctuations of the accelerometer. ... For the phone app I’ve copied pretty much the entire code from the last post. Some is commented out because it referenced UI stuff that isn’t in this project. Because the previous post covered all this, I’m not going to go into any of that code. So how do we show a 3D model? Well, in my opinion the easiest way is XNA. However, Microsoft killed XNA on WP8 (and W8) leaving native code as the only way. Enter: MonoGame. MonoGame is a framework that enables XNA developers to write one code base and have it run on many different platforms. So even though XNA isn’t officially supported on WP8, we can still use MonoGame – which is pretty much identical (at least for anything we’re going to be doing). Here is their explanation of it: ... Okay, okay.. I know, "Star Wars!...", here you go... Netduino + Sonar + WP8 + http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/blog/What-does-the-Imperial-March-Windows-Phone-8-Netduino-Bluetooth-and-Sonar-have-in-common-This Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:00:00 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/blog/What-does-the-Imperial-March-Windows-Phone-8-Netduino-Bluetooth-and-Sonar-have-in-common-This Greg Duncan Greg Duncan 0 http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/blog/What-does-the-Imperial-March-Windows-Phone-8-Netduino-Bluetooth-and-Sonar-have-in-common-This/RSS .NET Micro Framework Bluetooth Coding4Fun TWC9: VS 2012 Update 2 CTP3, Save Project As, Zooming Windows 8 and more This week on Channel 9, Brian and Nisha discuss the week's top developer news, including;

Picks of the Week

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/This+Week+On+Channel+9/TWC9-February-15-2013 This week on Channel 9, Brian and Nisha discuss the week's top developer news, including; [0:56] CTP for Visual Studio 2012 Update 2 (VS 2012.2) is available (Brian Harry), February CTP for Visual Studio Update 2 (Charles Sterling) [1:47] Embracing Semantic Logging, Introducing Semantic Logging (Grigori Melnik), Codeplex site. [2:51] [Sample Of Feb 13rd] Project SaveAs VS extension (Philip Fu), http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/VBVSXSaveProject-65a4f335 [4:01] Introducing Simple.OData.Client: a portable OData client library for .NET4.x, Windows Store, Silverlight 5 and Windows Phone 8 (Vagif Abilov) [5:32] Simple golden rules for async / await (Nigel Sampson) [6:22] Windows 8: Working with Semantic Zoom using C# and XAML (Mahesh Sabnis) [7:34] Make your app more attractive to customers in the Windows Phone Store (Kami LeMonds) [8:36] Create a blog reader Windows Store app using JavaScript and HTML [9:42] XAML Introduction (Shahid Aziz ) [10:54] Visual Studio 3D Starter Kit (Windows Store only), Visual Studio 3D Starter Kit (Windows Phone only) (Roberto Sonnino) [11:55] Game Design [Storyboard] Shapes Picks of the Week Nisha's Pick of the Week:[12:55] BLINK Brian's Pick of the Week:[13:42] Windows Phone 8 Bluetooth -- Fun with Gyros, Windows Phone 8 Bluetooth – Sonar and Imperial March (Matt aka @RogueCode ) [Found Via: Chris Walker] 908 http://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/This+Week+On+Channel+9/TWC9-February-15-2013 Fri, 15 Feb 2013 21:06:07 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/This+Week+On+Channel+9/TWC9-February-15-2013 Brian Keller, Greg Duncan, Nisha Singh Brian Keller, Greg Duncan, Nisha Singh 11 http://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/This+Week+On+Channel+9/TWC9-February-15-2013/RSS .NET Micro Framework Bluetooth Microsoft Research Odata Storyboards Visual Studio XAML Windows 8 Windows Store App Windows Phone 8, Netduino and Bluetooth... Today's Hardware Friday project comes to us via Matt Cavanagh and

Controlling a Netduino over Bluetooth with WP8

The last time I touched my Netduino was about 5 months ago (due to work-load), around the time of my wedding to make the wedding tank. So this weekend I decided to dust it off and introduce it to my Lumia 920.

Disclosure: I didn’t actually dust it off.

They are now lovers.

Here is a video of what this post aims to explain how to make. It’s hard to see the actual color of things in the video – so let’s just trust me that it works

I’m going to start by explaining the entire Netduino side of things then move to WP8. Also, I’ve pretty much explained it as simply as possible incase there is anyone on earth worse than me at electronic stuff...

First he covers the hardware...

First was to get the Netduino updated. Surprisingly, the Netduino didn’t update itself sitting in the cupboard. I’m running Windows 8 – but besides mistakenly flashing it with the Netduino Plus rom the drivers all work fine and there's nothing special you need to do.

Next I picked up this awesome little Bluetooth module from Pro-tecc:

...SNAGHTML232730c8

 

... next Windows Phone 8

Onto Windows Phone 8.

Create a new WP8 application in VS2012. Yes, this is only possible in WP8, not 7.

I’ve made a simple UI which has 3 sliders, one for each color. By default, the color of the sliders on the left of the handle will be the phone’s accent color, so I overrode the style and changed that. Below that is a Rectangle that shows the color. Then there are 3 radio buttons: Still, Strobe, and Ambient. Still will just send the slider values and strobe will randomize the sliders every 100MS (essentially flickering the LED). Ambient is a bit more complicated. I am using the [back] camera on the device to get the average color of what the phone is looking at, and then it sends that color through to the Netduino. To force the camera to initialize I needed to put a hidden rectangle on the UI and bind it’s Brush to the camera.

Above all of that is a Grid with a ProgressBar to show that it’s connecting. If the connection fails (or the first time it connects), it will display this overlay until it’s successfully reconnected and has sent and received a test ping.

image

...

SNAGHTML232799c7

Source? Yes, he's made the source for both sides available, just Click through to the post, and scroll down to the bottom of the post.

This should help you get started and keep your WP8 from feeling blue...

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/blog/Windows-Phone-8-Netduino-and-Bluetooth Today's Hardware Friday project comes to us via Matt Cavanagh and Controlling a Netduino over Bluetooth with WP8The last time I touched my Netduino was about 5 months ago (due to work-load), around the time of my wedding to make the wedding tank. So this weekend I decided to dust it off and introduce it to my Lumia 920. Disclosure: I didn’t actually dust it off. They are now lovers. Here is a video of what this post aims to explain how to make. It’s hard to see the actual color of things in the video – so let’s just trust me that it works I’m going to start by explaining the entire Netduino side of things then move to WP8. Also, I’ve pretty much explained it as simply as possible incase there is anyone on earth worse than me at electronic stuff... First he covers the hardware... First was to get the Netduino updated. Surprisingly, the Netduino didn’t update itself sitting in the cupboard. I’m running Windows 8 – but besides mistakenly flashing it with the Netduino Plus rom the drivers all work fine and there's nothing special you need to do. Next I picked up this awesome little Bluetooth module from Pro-tecc: ...   ... next Windows Phone 8 Onto Windows Phone 8. Create a new WP8 application in VS2012. Yes, this is only possible in WP8, not 7. I’ve made a simple UI which has 3 sliders, one for each color. By default, the color of the sliders on the left of the handle will be the phone’s accent color, so I overrode the style and changed that. Below that is a Rectangle that shows the color. Then there are 3 radio buttons: Still, Strobe, and Ambient. Still will just send the slider values and strobe will randomize the sliders every 100MS (essentially flickering the LED). Ambient is a bit more complicated. I am using the [back] camera on the device to get the average color of what the phone is looking at, and then it sends that color through to the Netduino. To force the camera to initialize I needed to put a hidden rectangle on the UI and bind it’s Brush to the cam http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/blog/Windows-Phone-8-Netduino-and-Bluetooth Fri, 01 Feb 2013 14:00:00 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/blog/Windows-Phone-8-Netduino-and-Bluetooth Greg Duncan Greg Duncan 2 http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/blog/Windows-Phone-8-Netduino-and-Bluetooth/RSS .NET Micro Framework Bluetooth Coding4Fun Windows Phone 8 The Ball is in our court and control with the Sphero C# Controller (WP8, MonoDroid, MonoTouch and more) I'm not sure if this is a awesome Hardware Friday most, a Mobile Monday post, a Modern Monday post or a Wild Wednesday post. Well, actually I think it's all four!

BallControl - an open source Sphero C# controller - WP7, MonoDroid and hopefully MonoTouch (and WinRT?)

Meet my latest open source project - meet BallControl for Sphero:

image

Here's a first video I made for the project - sorry about the low audio volume!

Xamarin the Native, Sphero the Ball and Lumia the Phone....

After a long week of coding, this experiment in sleep deprivation reaches its inevitable conclusion....

Featuring:
- Xamarin.Mobile Picture capture
- Native voice control
- Native accelerometer control
- Native UI with lots of touch
- Native BlueTooth
- Guest Starring Sphero the ball
- Cross platform Mvvm

Xamarin the Monkey....  because going Native matters

 

...

Some technical info
The project demonstrates Xamarin.Mobile by using Xamarin.Mobile media picker.... But, beyond that it also extends Xamarin.Mobile tackling some elements of several Xamarin.Mobile requests on uservoice:
The Source
The source is on: https://github.com/slodge/BallControl
Currently, we have:
  • a working WP8 app
  • a working (but ugly) MonoDroid app
  • a non-working Windows Store app - it seems that Windows Store does not yet support BlueTooth SPP devices - which is so bad Sad

I will get a MonoTouch app working soon....
I will also post to the WP8 app store soon.
And I will post some more videos soon....

If anyone is interested in how the app was built I did live blog the first 10 hours of coding... see PDF at http://sdrv.ms/V8xdmV (or email ...

Ball Control

A BlueTooth/Accelerometer/Camera/VoiceControl app for fun and for Developer Competition

Ball Control is an open source Sphero controller.

To use Ball Control, you first need a Ball - get your Sphero from http://gosphero.com - and in the UK from http://www.firebox.com/product/5367/Sphero

WHAT?

Ball Control's first target platform is Windows Phone 8 where it makes use of Portable Class Libraries, Xamarin.Mobile library, and MvvmCross

The app allows you to control your ball - currently you can control:

  • heading
  • rolling
  • colo(u)r
  • tail light on/off

Using the WP8 APIs - abstracted inside PCL MvvmCross plugins, you can control these things using:

  • touch
  • tilt
  • voice

The current repo includes a first version of Ball Control for Xaramin Mono for Android. this is in draft at present - it works but is not styled yet. Ball Control will also soon provide WinRT and Xamarin MonoTouch for iOS version Smiley

PROJECT DETAILS

The goal of this application was to show off C# Mobile coding, specifically showing off the use of C# native solutions including the use of Xamarin.Mobile products. It was also a chance for me to write some fun code after being on 'business logic' for a few months. This application uses MvvmCross and Portable Class Libraries throughout - there are no #if statements allowed - it's AmazeBalls.

This project includes:

  • Xamarin.Mobile
    • Media Picker
      • Really easy way to take a photo - took seconds to add to my app
  • MvvmCross
    • Mvvm Platform
      • Plugins via IoC and PCL for code sharing
  • Windows Phone 8 SDK
    • Voice Control
    • BlueTooth
    • Accelerometer
  • Android SDK with Xamarin's Mono for Android
    • BlueTooth
    • Accelerometer
    • more coming soon....

Other platforms and features will be added soon....

There are some NUnit unit tests included - I ran out of time a bit - so coverage is not huge. More will be added!

...

Now how awesome is that!

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/blog/The-Ball-is-in-our-court-and-control-with-the-Sphero-C-Controller-WP8-MonoDroid-MonoTouch-and-more I'm not sure if this is a awesome Hardware Friday most, a Mobile Monday post, a Modern Monday post or a Wild Wednesday post. Well, actually I think it's all four! BallControl - an open source Sphero C# controller - WP7, MonoDroid and hopefully MonoTouch (and WinRT?)Meet my latest open source project - meet BallControl for Sphero: Here's a first video I made for the project - sorry about the low audio volume! Xamarin the Native, Sphero the Ball and Lumia the Phone.... After a long week of coding, this experiment in sleep deprivation reaches its inevitable conclusion....Featuring:- Xamarin.Mobile Picture capture- Native voice control- Native accelerometer control- Native UI with lots of touch- Native BlueTooth- Guest Starring Sphero the ball- Cross platform MvvmXamarin the Monkey....  because going Native matters  ... Some technical infoThe project demonstrates Xamarin.Mobile by using Xamarin.Mobile media picker.... But, beyond that it also extends Xamarin.Mobile tackling some elements of several Xamarin.Mobile requests on uservoice: File/Directory browser API. Cross Platform Project File Solution Multiplatform MVVM Framework Bluetooth API Posting things (links, txt, pics,..) on Facebook Accelerometer Make Xamarin Mobile API open source The Source The source is on: https://github.com/slodge/BallControlCurrently, we have: a working WP8 app a working (but ugly) MonoDroid app a non-working Windows Store app - it seems that Windows Store does not yet support BlueTooth SPP devices - which is so bad I will get a MonoTouch app working soon.... I will also post to the WP8 app store soon.And I will post some more videos soon.... If anyone is interested in how the app was built I did live blog the first 10 hours of coding... see PDF at http://sdrv.ms/V8xdmV (or email ... Ball ControlA BlueTooth/Accelerometer/Camera/VoiceControl app for fun and for Developer CompetitionBall Control is an open source Sphero controller. To use Ball Control, you first need a Ball - get http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/blog/The-Ball-is-in-our-court-and-control-with-the-Sphero-C-Controller-WP8-MonoDroid-MonoTouch-and-more Fri, 07 Dec 2012 14:00:00 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/blog/The-Ball-is-in-our-court-and-control-with-the-Sphero-C-Controller-WP8-MonoDroid-MonoTouch-and-more Greg Duncan Greg Duncan 4 http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/blog/The-Ball-is-in-our-court-and-control-with-the-Sphero-C-Controller-WP8-MonoDroid-MonoTouch-and-more/RSS Bluetooth Coding4Fun Windows Phone 8 Building Apps for Windows Phone 8 Jump Start: (12) Proximity Sensors and Bluetooth in Windows Phone 8 Andy and Rob cover local communication with Windows Phone 8 in this module. After a Bluetooth Overview, using Bluetooth from an application, Near Field Communications (NFC), bump-to-connect, using NFC from an application and proximity API functionality are covered.

Full course outline:

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Series/Building-Apps-for-Windows-Phone-8-Jump-Start/Building-Apps-for-Windows-Phone-8-Jump-Start-12-Proximity-Sensors-and-Bluetooth-in-Windows-Phone-8 Andy and Rob cover local communication with Windows Phone 8 in this module. After a Bluetooth Overview, using Bluetooth from an application, Near Field Communications (NFC), bump-to-connect, using NFC from an application and proximity API functionality are covered. [01:58] - Bluetooth overview [11:38] - App to app communication [20:40] - Near Field Communication [34:28] - NFC and Bluetooth demo Full course outline: Mod 01a: Introducing Windows Phone 8 Development Part 1 Mod 01b: Introducing Windows Phone 8 Development Part 2 Mod 02: Designing Windows Phone 8 Apps Mod 03: Building Windows Phone 8 Apps Mod 04: Files and Storage on Windows Phone 8 Mod 05: Windows Phone 8 Application Lifecycle Mod 06: Background Agents Mod 07: Tiles and Lock Screen Notifications Mod 08: Push Notifications Mod 09: Using Phone Resources in Windows Phone 8 Mod 10: App to App Communication in Windows Phone 8 Mod 11: Network Communication in Windows Phone 8 Mod 12: Proximity Sensors and Bluetooth in Windows Phone 8 Mod 13: Speech Input in Windows Phone 8 Mod 14: Maps and Location in Windows Phone 8 Mod 15: Wallet Support Mod 16: In-App Purchasing Mod 17: The Windows Phone Store Mod 18: Enterprise App Architecture Mod 19: Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 Cross Platform Development Mod 20: Mobile Web 2528 http://channel9.msdn.com/Series/Building-Apps-for-Windows-Phone-8-Jump-Start/Building-Apps-for-Windows-Phone-8-Jump-Start-12-Proximity-Sensors-and-Bluetooth-in-Windows-Phone-8 Tue, 04 Dec 2012 19:27:48 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Series/Building-Apps-for-Windows-Phone-8-Jump-Start/Building-Apps-for-Windows-Phone-8-Jump-Start-12-Proximity-Sensors-and-Bluetooth-in-Windows-Phone-8 JeffKoch, Larry Lieberman JeffKoch, Larry Lieberman 2 http://channel9.msdn.com/Series/Building-Apps-for-Windows-Phone-8-Jump-Start/Building-Apps-for-Windows-Phone-8-Jump-Start-12-Proximity-Sensors-and-Bluetooth-in-Windows-Phone-8/RSS Bluetooth sensors Windows Phone 8 Microsoft Auto at CES 2008 Microsoft Auto showed of 2 new great technologies to make all of our driving experiences more pleasant with a focus on the Sync My Ride technology. I can't wait to get this in my car. Not only does it offer voice activated features with your wireless MP3 player and your bluetooth mobile phone- but you will be blown away at the excellent text messaging options. Well, at least I was. Take a look and you be the judge.
]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/LauraFoy/Microsoft-Auto This was by far the best part of the Bill Gates keynote for me and probably the highlight of the show overall. Microsoft Auto showed of 2 new great technologies to make all of our driving experiences more pleasant with a focus on the Sync My Ride technology. I can't wait to get this in my car. Not only does it offer voice activated features with your wireless MP3 player and your bluetooth mobile phone- but you will be blown away at the excellent text messaging options. Well, at least I was. Take a look and you be the judge. 403 http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/LauraFoy/Microsoft-Auto Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:11:00 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/LauraFoy/Microsoft-Auto Laura Foy Laura Foy 6 http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/LauraFoy/Microsoft-Auto/RSS Automation Bluetooth CES Ford Sync Microsoft auto Ford Wireless MP3 CES 2008 Microsoft and Ford Sync up announced a partnership with Ford to collaborate on a way to control your mobile devices while behind the wheel via voice. Sync works with most Bluetooth-enabled phones and popular media devices (full list here).

For $395 (the same price as racing stripes on the Mustang) Sync will allow you to place calls by name, read incoming text messages, call out playlist names to your media player, or even ask it what it's playing. Detroit Free Press reporter Sarah Webster took Sync for a 2-day spin and it's an interesting read. She came away calling Sync a first step in "something potentially life changing."

Sync is a respectable little device with a 400Mhz processor and is open to developers which I think is the best feature, because the future of Sync will driven by consumer demand and the imagination of developers. Sync is available in a number of 2008 Fords, Mercury, and Lincolns, which are hitting the showrooms now. You can find out more about Sync at Ford's site www.SyncMyRide.com. ]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/LarryLarsen/Microsoft-and-Ford-Sync-up You may remember back in January when Microsoft announced a partnership with Ford to collaborate on a way to control your mobile devices while behind the wheel via voice. Sync works with most Bluetooth-enabled phones and popular media devices (full list here). For $395 (the same price as racing stripes on the Mustang) Sync will allow you to place calls by name, read incoming text messages, call out playlist names to your media player, or even ask it what it's playing. Detroit Free Press reporter Sarah Webster took Sync for a 2-day spin and it's an interesting read. She came away calling Sync a first step in "something potentially life changing."Sync is a respectable little device with a 400Mhz processor and is open to developers which I think is the best feature, because the future of Sync will driven by consumer demand and the imagination of developers. Sync is available in a number of 2008 Fords, Mercury, and Lincolns, which are hitting the showrooms now. You can find out more about Sync at Ford's site www.SyncMyRide.com. http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/LarryLarsen/Microsoft-and-Ford-Sync-up Wed, 19 Sep 2007 10:30:00 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/LarryLarsen/Microsoft-and-Ford-Sync-up Larry Larsen Larry Larsen 2 http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/LarryLarsen/Microsoft-and-Ford-Sync-up/RSS Bluetooth Mobility Cars Cellphones Cellphone BlueTooth Fiber Optic Clothing....really? Imagine no longer- it's real and it's here. This is what happens when Exmocare teams up with JF Magic.

And take a look at our previous coverage of Exmocare. ]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/LauraFoy/BlueTooth-Fiber-Optic-Clothingreally Picture it...you're flying a helicopter over a warzone and you're looking for soldiers who need to be rescued. You see uniforms spread out across the battlefield but you can't tell who is in need of assistance. Well...imagine now that these same soldiers had illuminations on their uniforms that allowed you, and only you, to determine their level of distress. Imagine no longer- it's real and it's here. This is what happens when Exmocare teams up with JF Magic.And take a look at our previous coverage of Exmocare. 984 http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/LauraFoy/BlueTooth-Fiber-Optic-Clothingreally Fri, 15 Jun 2007 18:55:00 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/LauraFoy/BlueTooth-Fiber-Optic-Clothingreally Laura Foy Laura Foy 4 http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/LauraFoy/BlueTooth-Fiber-Optic-Clothingreally/RSS Bluetooth Health Medical clothing BlueHat - #2: Bluetooth Snipers
Turns out it is.

Watch. ]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/Rory/BlueHat-2-Bluetooth-Snipers You may have seen these guys on slashdot a couple years ago. They set out to prove that Bluetooth, despite its relatively short range, is a security hazard. Turns out it is. Watch. http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/Rory/BlueHat-2-Bluetooth-Snipers Wed, 30 May 2007 19:58:23 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/Rory/BlueHat-2-Bluetooth-Snipers Rory Rory 6 http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/Rory/BlueHat-2-Bluetooth-Snipers/RSS BlueHat Bluetooth Hardware Security Vitelix shows their latest VoIP hardware Vitelix is a Microsoft partner in unified communicatins that designs and markets VOIP solutions for converging telephony, Internet and PCs through USB and Bluetooth connectivity. These devices are designed to operate with Microsoft's Unified Communications platform.

In this video, Vitelix shows some of their latest products and talk a little bit about the story behind them. So check it out and see some of the stuff that mght end up on your desk soon. ]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/Tina/Vitelix Vitelix is a Microsoft partner in unified communicatins that designs and markets VOIP solutions for converging telephony, Internet and PCs through USB and Bluetooth connectivity. These devices are designed to operate with Microsoft's Unified Communications platform. In this video, Vitelix shows some of their latest products and talk a little bit about the story behind them. So check it out and see some of the stuff that mght end up on your desk soon. 422 http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/Tina/Vitelix Fri, 18 May 2007 20:32:00 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/Tina/Vitelix Tina Tina 0 http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/Tina/Vitelix/RSS Bluetooth Seattle VoIP Vitelix Exmocare: BlueTooth Medical Wristwatch helps protect your family. Exmocare Watch monitors the physical and emotional state of your loved one and alerts you when potential issues arise.

The watch is uniquely designed to gather many physiological signals at once. Exmocare Home uses proven methods from contemporary psychophysiology to interpret these physiological signals to interpret emotions. With continuous access to physiological, emotional, and activity information, Exmocare Home is the most advanced overall personal wellness-monitoring system currently available. This is the first watch of its kind and my prediction is this is the future of home medical care.

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/LauraFoy/Exmocare-BlueTooth-Medical-Wristwatch-helps-protect-your-family The Exmocare Watch monitors the physical and emotional state of your loved one and alerts you when potential issues arise. The watch is uniquely designed to gather many physiological signals at once. Exmocare Home uses proven methods from contemporary psychophysiology to interpret these physiological signals to interpret emotions. With continuous access to physiological, emotional, and activity information, Exmocare Home is the most advanced overall personal wellness-monitoring system currently available. This is the first watch of its kind and my prediction is this is the future of home medical care. 499 http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/LauraFoy/Exmocare-BlueTooth-Medical-Wristwatch-helps-protect-your-family Mon, 16 Apr 2007 22:47:00 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/LauraFoy/Exmocare-BlueTooth-Medical-Wristwatch-helps-protect-your-family Laura Foy Laura Foy 3 http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/LauraFoy/Exmocare-BlueTooth-Medical-Wristwatch-helps-protect-your-family/RSS Bluetooth gadget Gadgets Medical wristwatch The Geek Stories: Wireless Health Gadgets for Life Alive Technologies, just loves his gadgets. These gadgets do some pretty cool things: watch your blood oxygen level, ECG and heart rate over Bluetooth to your Windows Mobile phone.

Add a GPS, collate the data and map onto a live.com map: and you have the perfect exercise gadget for the sporty-and-wired-up cyber-geek.

Watch this episode of The Geek Stories and see these devices hooked up to both Bruce and your host. Whowill flatline first?
]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/nhodge/The-Geek-Stories-Wireless-Health-Gadgets-for-Life Bruce Satchwell, CEO of Alive Technologies, just loves his gadgets. These gadgets do some pretty cool things: watch your blood oxygen level, ECG and heart rate over Bluetooth to your Windows Mobile phone.Add a GPS, collate the data and map onto a live.com map: and you have the perfect exercise gadget for the sporty-and-wired-up cyber-geek. Watch this episode of The Geek Stories and see these devices hooked up to both Bruce and your host. Whowill flatline first? 1119 http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/nhodge/The-Geek-Stories-Wireless-Health-Gadgets-for-Life Mon, 19 Mar 2007 20:30:00 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/nhodge/The-Geek-Stories-Wireless-Health-Gadgets-for-Life Nick Hodge Nick Hodge 2 http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/nhodge/The-Geek-Stories-Wireless-Health-Gadgets-for-Life/RSS Bluetooth Gadgets Health Windows Mobile TheGeekStories Revisiting WiMo - The Windows Mobile Robot
Brian Cross is, like, really smart. That's what I've decided.
 
He woke up one day and felt like building a robot...
 
...so he did.
 
He's come along way from his early attempts, and he now has multiple hardware platforms which all tie into a single brain. That brain is a Bluetooth-enabled Windows Mobile SmartPhone. There's also some stuff that runs on a PC which was built with some of the Robotics bits that are available with Microsoft Robotics Studio.
 
Brian uses the phone to direct the actions of the robots, as well as handle things like communications and image acquisition (yeah - these robots, like the various probes we've launched into space, like to send images back).
 
I was floored by what I saw. And, for those of you who like what you see here, Brian has posted directions on the official WiMo site which describe how to build a robot similar to the one you'll see in the video.
 
It's amazing what you can do with a computer, a phone, and a couple hundred bucks nowadays.
]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/Rory/Revisiting-WiMo-The-Windows-Mobile-Robot Brian Cross is, like, really smart. That's what I've decided.   He woke up one day and felt like building a robot...   ...so he did.   He's come along way from his early attempts, and he now has multiple hardware platforms which all tie into a single brain. That brain is a Bluetooth-enabled Windows Mobile SmartPhone. There's also some stuff that runs on a PC which was built with some of the Robotics bits that are available with Microsoft Robotics Studio.   Brian uses the phone to direct the actions of the robots, as well as handle things like communications and image acquisition (yeah - these robots, like the various probes we've launched into space, like to send images back).   I was floored by what I saw. And, for those of you who like what you see here, Brian has posted directions on the official WiMo site which describe how to build a robot similar to the one you'll see in the video.   It's amazing what you can do with a computer, a phone, and a couple hundred bucks nowadays. 1648 http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/Rory/Revisiting-WiMo-The-Windows-Mobile-Robot Tue, 12 Dec 2006 21:16:22 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/Rory/Revisiting-WiMo-The-Windows-Mobile-Robot Rory Rory 11 http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/Rory/Revisiting-WiMo-The-Windows-Mobile-Robot/RSS Bluetooth Hardware Robotics Speech Speech API Windows CE Windows Mobile 水谷さん - ハードウェア製品dogfood: 社内テスターへの配布 マイクロソフト社内では、出荷前の製品を自社導入し、自らベータテストを行うことを 「ドッグフードを食べる （Eating your own dogfood）」 と呼んでいます。
現在、マイクロソフト社内では、Windows Vistaや2007 Office systemといった出荷前の製品を自社導入しております。
Dogfoodは、ソフトウェア製品だけではなく、マウスやキーボードといったマイクロソフト製ハードウェアデバイス（ならびにドライバ ソフトウェア IntelliPoint / IntelliType Pro)に対しても行われます。

このビデオでは、Windows Vista対応をするマイクロソフト製のマウス・キーボード製品の社内テスターへの配布の直前の様子から配布をしている様子までを約５分のビデオにまとめてみました。

関連サイト:
Microsoft Hardware | ホームページ
http://www.microsoft.com/japan/hardware/default.mspx

Microsoft Optical Desktop Elite for Bluetooth
http://www.microsoft.com/japan/hardware/keyboard/op_desk_elite_bt.mspx



For English audience:
This video is based on Japanese conversation only with no English transcript.
In this video, Mizutani-san talks about 'dogfood' process (i.e. beta testing for own products in Microsoft) for Hardware devices such that Microsoft Mouse & Keyboard products on Windows Vista.

The video duration is around 5 minutes.
  ]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/c9Japan/238548 マイクロソフト社内では、出荷前の製品を自社導入し、自らベータテストを行うことを 「ドッグフードを食べる （Eating your own dogfood）」 と呼んでいます。現在、マイクロソフト社内では、Windows Vistaや2007 Office systemといった出荷前の製品を自社導入しております。Dogfoodは、ソフトウェア製品だけではなく、マウスやキーボードといったマイクロソフト製ハードウェアデバイス（ならびにドライバ ソフトウェア IntelliPoint / IntelliType Pro)に対しても行われます。このビデオでは、Windows Vista対応をするマイクロソフト製のマウス・キーボード製品の社内テスターへの配布の直前の様子から配布をしている様子までを約５分のビデオにまとめてみました。関連サイト:Microsoft Hardware | ホームページhttp://www.microsoft.com/japan/hardware/default.mspxMicrosoft Optical Desktop Elite for Bluetoothhttp://www.microsoft.com/japan/hardware/keyboard/op_desk_elite_bt.mspxFor English audience:This video is based on Japanese conversation only with no English transcript.In this video, Mizutani-san talks about 'dogfood' process (i.e. beta testing for own products in Microsoft) for Hardware devices such that Microsoft Mouse & Keyboard products on Windows Vista.The video duration is around 5 minutes.  http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/c9Japan/238548 Wed, 11 Oct 2006 09:37:51 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/c9Japan/238548 Akira Onishi Akira Onishi 0 http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/c9Japan/238548/RSS Bluetooth Hardware Japan MSD Windows Vista Anil Dhawan - Partying with Bluetooth Mike Hall takes his camcorder over to talk to Anil about his media box that is controlled by his Bluetooth phone. Lots of fun, he built this for his house so he could party with his friends.

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Anil-Dhawan-Partying-with-Bluetooth Mike Hall takes his camcorder over to talk to Anil about his media box that is controlled by his Bluetooth phone. Lots of fun, he built this for his house so he could party with his friends. http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Anil-Dhawan-Partying-with-Bluetooth Mon, 12 Sep 2005 16:43:31 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Anil-Dhawan-Partying-with-Bluetooth scobleizer scobleizer 14 http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Anil-Dhawan-Partying-with-Bluetooth/RSS Bluetooth Windows Media Windows Media Center Windows Mobile