Bluetooth Weather Instrument code update

[wstein25]

My company developed a wind speed sensor that communicates via Bluetooth. The original code was developed about 2 years ago. A simple app, it worked very nicely running on Android 5. Now it seems the code does not run and can not be installed on Android 7. We are looking for a developer to take the original code and update it to work on the more current versions of Android. Thanks. - Bill

 

[Star-Dust]

Why did not you try to update it?

 

[wstein25]

Well, I did try, but the Bluetooth library was changed from BLE to BLE2. There would be a bit of a learning curve, and where 2 years ago I got a slack period, now, we are quite busy. I have customers who need immediate attention to this problem. Looking for an experienced coder, who can turn this around quickly. Thanks - Bill

See the instruments: http://www.etesian-tech.com

 

[Star-Dust]

This requires having your bluetooth hardware device for testing or an emulator.
Is there a time deadline? What is the budget?

 

[wstein25]

Thank you for your reply. Good point about a needing the companion device. Our wind sensor utilizes the BL600 Bluetooth module manufactured by Laird. (https://www.lairdtech.com/products/bl600-series) Convenient that it is programmed in a version of BASIC.

We have taken a slightly different approach in that we do not connect to the device. About 8 bytes of data are attached to the advertisement that is broadcast every 3 seconds. An ID number is sent, and this must match the ID number entered into the app, so that the user knows they are getting data from the correct device.

If you have a means of obtaining the Laird BL600 I would send you the code for it. You could dial in voltages that represent temperature and wind direction. The wind speed is a little more complex as that is a frequency signal.

If you can not get a BL600 locally, I suppose I could mail to you one of Laird's development modules. I think given that you would have source code for both the sensor and the current Android app, I would feel more comfortable with an NDA in place.

Lastly, I want to be sure that the current upgrade is going to run on the vast majority of android phones. That is something of a problem, given there are so many in use. I did a little digging and found that the Samsung 8 running Android 7 has the largest market share in the US. So it would be necessary to test on this phone and version.

BTW, you can download the app at the Playstore (search for etesian) just to see what happens. I tried, and the color scheme is wrong, and the app is almost non responsive, that is it takes about 30 seconds to respond to a screen touch, and it never "sees" the ads. The app worked perfectly on an inexpensive Zenfone running Android 5 a couple of years ago.

The current code is about a page and a half total. I would think an experienced Bluetooth app coder should be able to update this app in no more than a day and a half. (isn't that the standard - a page of code a day?), so I think I am being realistic. My timetable is the sooner the better, customers are waiting for a fix.

Best regards,

Bill

 

[Star-Dust]

I have tested the App on different devices.
On Viko Raimbow Jam (android 5.1), Samsung S6 (Android 7), Huawei Honor 9 (Android 8), Huawei MediaPad M3 (Android 7) it seems to work
Not known slowdowns, the only crash that generates if it finds the bluetooth off.

For ads if you used Google's AdMob, there have been changes in the last year. Now we use Google FirebaseAdmob.

 

[wstein25]

Thanks for "kicking the tires". Did you try changing the ID number. Enter any 4 digit number and see if it responds. Also are the colors correct? I think you can tell from screen shots at the Playstore.

 

[Star-Dust]

I do not know if the colors are correct, but on all platforms the colors are these that you see in the picture of the Samsung S6 (Android 7)

Unfortunately I do not have a device to do the test, but if I understand correctly, it must send only one ID (8 bit) followed by the values of temeprature and the wind direction

 

[wstein25]

And of course it sends wind speed. Both Digi key and Mouser, and others as well sell the Laird BT module for about usd 20

 

[Star-Dust]

I meant I can not take the test right now.

I asked you these questions because I wanted to understand if it was necessary to switch to BLE2 or stay with BLE that still works with Android 7 asking for Runtime permissions.

Erel has released an update of the BLE examples that work with Android 7 and 8.

 

[wstein25]

Now we are getting to the problem. I tested on two different Samsung phones recently, one running 6 , the other 7, and neither would properly execute the
original app at the Playstore. I don't know what the problem is, but I imagined that BLE2 would likely solve the problem. Perhaps
it is not necessary.

 

[Star-Dust]

The problem was the slowdown and the failure to read the data?
Did you report an error? Have you tried to debug mode for bede if you reported any errors?
What models were dinsamsum?

 

[LucaMs]

Have you tried to lick up

I have some doubts that this attempt would work

 

[wstein25]

All - My genuine thanks for all your assistance and suggestions. I'm working with a developer and they would appear to have solved the problem. Once again my sincerest thanks.