Adding Bluetooth to Vex

[CJO]

The easiest way to do it would be to use the "programming" port on the vex as opposed to the radio port.

[Joe Johnson]

Originally Posted by CJO

The easiest way to do it would be to use the "programming" port on the vex as opposed to the radio port.

Does the programming port on the VEX use RS-232 voltage levels (<-5V = 1, >5V = 0) or TTL voltage levels (<1.4V = 1, >1.4V=0)?

Sorry for the silly question. I am out of the loop on VEX stuff.

If the Programming Port uses RS-232 voltages, then you could use an off the shelf Blue Tooth radio like this one.

Otherwise, I would use the TTL voltage level serial port and use one of the modules that is compatible with that voltage level.

Joe J.

[foobert]

Originally Posted by Joe Johnson

Does the programming port on the VEX use RS-232 voltage levels (<-5V = 1, >5V = 0) or TTL voltage levels (<1.4V = 1, >1.4V=0)?

programming port is ttl. programming dongle, however, has level shifter in it and since you need one anyway to program the controller to listen to the serial port, there's no point in not using it with an rs-232 level radio if that's what you've got. otherwise a ttl level radio could be used on either the programming port or the rx and tx connectors up top.

[Joe Johnson]

Originally Posted by foobert

programming port is ttl. programming dongle, however, has level shifter in it and since you need one anyway to program the controller to listen to the serial port, there's no point in not using it with an rs-232 level radio if that's what you've got. otherwise a ttl level radio could be used on either the programming port or the rx and tx connectors up top.

This Radio, by AirCables, is an RS-232 radio that have used a lot and that I love. It has only 10M range, but it is beautiful in terms of its performance. I have not done it myself, but the engineer at AirCables tells me that if you crack the case it has the ttl signals easily available on pins. Highly recommended.

Joe J.

[AJBelayer]

Ok I am new to the vex world but I have been in programing (C, C++, java, assembler, etc.) for a while now and I want to add bluetooth to my vex robot for control, I assume this is done easiest over the serial port connection and i have rad this entire thread. Has anyone successful done this? If so would you be willing to help me get figured out where to start and what radios work best? I would like to stay with the 100m range bluetooth.

AJBelayer