How to trigger BiBoard skills from wifi?

I have a few Bittles with BiBoards and would like to trigger skills from a Matlab/Julia/Python script using a wifi connection. Specifically, I want to be able to tell the robot to walk forward, turn left, turn right, and stop (although in general I would like to be able simply to trigger generic skills programmatically). I cannot yet see where this control is documented (although I did find https://docs.petoi.com/apis/serial-protocol for documenting instructions emitted over a serial cable). Obviously it's possible, as the app works for commanding the robot!

Anyone could point to some documentation or post a working code sample?

12 comments

12 Comments

este este

Dec 05, 2024

Here are a couple of possibilities:

Depending on your use case, you may find Bluetooth communication better (and easier IMO). That is what the mobile app uses and what I have also used in my C# code.

If you're interested in using Bluetooth, you might find my post here useful.

Kenz Dale

Dec 05, 2024

Replying to

We just now tried three windows laptops: only one could even see the BT device, and that one couldn't successfully bind.

With the USB cable plugged in and the Bittle outputting to the serial port, I can see my Mac pair with the BiBoard, and I can see my student's attempt-but-fail. So I'm definitely connecting successfully, and hers is definitely failing even though the pairing code is correct. I just can't get any serial commands to result in actions.

And the exact same commands sent over the wired connection result in actions, so I know it isn't a formatting issue with the commands themselves.

Interestingly, when pairing on macOS, I don't get a pairing code. It just connects straight up and this is reflected in the Bittle's output. Strange to see this divergence in behavior.

Silly question, but the serial port settings are irrelevant here, correct? All data is sent over the BT link so the notion of baud rate is somewhat of a red herring, but I figure it pays to check...

Edited

este este

Dec 05, 2024

Replying to

Sorry to hear of these difficulties. What version of Windows are you using? I know this works in Win 10.

Regarding the request pairing code, sometimes I see the following in the Windows "Add a device" screen where there are both SSP and BLE entries for the BiBoard.

I only click on the "SSP" entry. When I have clicked on the BLE entry, it sometimes works but sometimes I get a pairing code request which, for me at least, always fails.

Note that SSP stands for Simple Secure Pairing (an alternative to using pairing code requests). Don't confuse it with SPP, the Serial Port Profile communication.

Regarding your not-silly question, SPP just creates a serial port over Bluetooth so all the serial port rules apply, as if there is an old fashioned serial cable attached to the BiBoard. This means serial parameters like baud rate, data bits, parity, stop bits, and handshake must be specified.

I am using these settings: