nrfuart -- node-nRF8001

node.js support for the Adafruit Bluetooth Low Energy nRF8001 breakout board. This module also works with the Adafruit BLE Friend nRF51822 board.

Other nRF800x and nRF51822 board may also work.

This module is built on noble so it should work where ever noble works.

See also cc2uart if using the CC2540 chip.

Tested configurations

A USB to Bluetooth 4.0 gadget similar to this is required to add BLE support to systems without Bluetooth 4.0/BLE hardware.

Laptop running Ubuntu Linux 14.04

Laptop running Ubuntu 14.04 <-> BLE <-> nRF8001 <-> Arduino Uno

Ubuntu 14.04 includes bluez 4.101 which is sufficient for this module. Install the following packages before installing nrfuart.

sudo apt-get install bluetooth bluez-utils libbluetooth-dev

Raspberry Pi running Raspbian Linux

The tested device is a Raspberry Pi Model B running a fresh installation of Raspian release 2015-02-16. Be sure to do the usual post-installation steps such as "sudo apt-get update", "sudo apt-get upgrade", and "sudo raspi-config".

The next step is to install node.js. The version of node.js in the Raspian repo is too old so install a recent version.

wget https://node-arm.herokuapp.com/node_0.10.36_armhf.deb
sudo dpkg -i node_0.10.36_armhf.deb

Install bluez 4.99 from the Raspian repo. Testing has shown this version works with BLE and noble. This is much easier and faster than install bluez 5.x from source code.

sudo apt-get install bluez bluez-tools libbluetooth-dev

If bluez 4.99 does not work, remove it then install bluez 5.x as described below. Remember, do the next block of commands only if BLE is not working.

sudo apt-get remove bluez bluez-tools libbluetooth-dev
# Reference: https://www.elinux.org/RPi_Bluetooth_LE
sudo apt-get install libdbus-1-dev libdbus-glib-1-dev libglib2.0-dev \
libical-dev libreadline-dev libudev-dev libusb-dev make
mkdir bluez
cd bluez
wget https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/bluetooth/bluez-5.28.tar.xz
tar xf bluez-5.28.tar.xz
cd bluez-5.28
./configure --disable-systemd --enable-library
# The next step takes a long time.
make
sudo make install
sudo hciconfig hci0 up

Install this module

npm install nrfuart

Use this module

This program sends a test pattern and displays anything that comes back.

var nrfuart = require('nrfuart');

nrfuart.discoverAll(function(ble_uart) {
    // enable disconnect notifications
    ble_uart.on('disconnect', function() {
        console.log('disconnected!');
    });

    // connect and setup
    ble_uart.connectAndSetup(function() {
        var writeCount = 0;

        console.log('connected!');

        ble_uart.readDeviceName(function(devName) {
            console.log('Device name:', devName);
        });

        ble_uart.on('data', function(data) {
            console.log('received:', data.toString());
        });

        setInterval(function() {
            var TESTPATT = 'Hello world! ' + writeCount.toString();
            ble_uart.write(TESTPATT, function() {
                console.log('data sent:', TESTPATT);
                writeCount++;
            });
        }, 3000);
    });
});

Example 1: node.js and BLE UART

This program writes data to the BLE device and displays everything that comes back. Run an echo loopkback test on the Arduino to verify data flows in both directions.

Setup the Arduino Uno with nRF8001 board

Adafruit BLE UART

Follow the Adafruit tutorial to run the Arudino BLE UART driver and the callbackEcho.ino test program.

Install the nrfuart package

npm install nrfuart

Make sure the Arduino is running callbackEcho.ino and verify it is working using the Adafruit Bluefruit LE iOS application. When done, disconnect.

Next run the node.js BLE echo test example program.

cd node_modules/node-nRF8001/examples/simpleuart
sudo node bleEchoTst.js

The output should look like this.

connected!
Device name: UART
data sent: Hello world! 0
received: Hello world! 0
data sent: Hello world! 1
received: Hello world! 1

Example 2: node.js and BLE firmata

Firmata allows node.js programs to control the pins on an Arduino Uno. Adafruit provides BLEFirmata but a few fixes are required so use the fork described below

Setup the Uno with BLEFirmata

Install the BLEFirmata fork into your Arduino library directory.

git clone https://github.com/bbx10/Adafruit_BLEFirmata.git
cd Adafruit_BLEFirmata
git checkout nodejs

This fork fixes 3 firmata responses required by node.js firmata and johnny-five. Burn this into the Arduino Uno and hook up the Adafruit nRF8001 breakout board as specifed in the Adafruit nRF8001 tutorial.

Run the node.js firmata test program

cd node_modules/node-nRF8001/examples/blefirmata
npm install firmata
sudo node blefirmata.js

Example 3: johnny-five and BLE UART

Setup the Uno with BLEFirmata

See the previous example to install BLEFirmata.

Run the node.js johnny-five test program

cd node_modules/node-nRF8001/examples/blejohnnyfive
npm install firmata johnny-five
sudo node blej5.js