[Q] USB/ Bluetooth development for special devices. - Asus Transformer TF700

I just bought a TF700. I've never written a single line of code for an Android device. I've done some Linux development.
I want to build an app to control a Zoom HDZ300 AM/FM radio. It can be controlled remotely by simple messages sent to its serial port, but apparently the sending device does need to handle flow control.
The sound output is regular analog stereo. That will go into an amplifier, not my Android.
Does the Android operating system (Ice Cream Sandwich or Jelly Bean) allow programmers direct access to the USB or Bluetooth stacks so that one can enumerate devices and send/receive raw data to/from them ?
I am hoping to use the ASUS stand alone USB adapter, a USB hub and a USB serial port adapter to interface to the radio. I'd put a link here to the device, but I'm a newb and newbs are prevented from linking in their first 10 posts.
Does anyone see a problem with doing this ?
How would a Bluetooth Serial adapter work instead ? From the OS point of view, which would be easier/better to use ?
Thanks

I'd also like to connect and use an external USB sound "card". What are the issues with doing that ?
Thanks

Related

hardware based data transfer

Hi!
I want to use my G1 to do some special measurements. For this purpose I've created a microcontroller board (Atmel ATmega8) that does that. Now I want to transfer the data the board collected to the Android phone.
Because of the high powerconsumption the G1 has while Bluetooth is on this isn't a real alternative for me - the measurements will last about 2 - 3 hours.
I'm not experienced concerning hardware access within Linux and Android but thought there might be a possibility to gain a kind of low level access to the USB port. I do neither need high bandwith nor real USB functionality - so might it be possible to create an own kind of bus using that interface? Do you have any other idea?
Thank you in advance!
If you use micro linux system, the ones that are like a usb port, a network jack and a vga connecter, you could script some adb commands and have it run every few seconds to upload the data, not an ideal solution. As far as I know the g1 doesn't support host mode. But if you have a micro linux computer in the middle, it could work.
Something like this
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2008/08/27/a-real-space-oddity-arrives-at-pc-pro/
I'm sure there are other ways to do it, maybe check there how to make a serial port thread a few pages back in the dev section.

Send raw information to external port

Just wondering if it is possible to send raw information(1 0/on off, whatever) to say the audio port or the USB port. I would assume USB would be easier to code for, but the audio port would be preferred if possible. The obvious application of this would be for custom external peripherals which would be fun to mess with. If anyones got any info or a link to some docs that would help immensely.
Thanks.
Using Audio to communicate is entirely possible. It has been done for decades over telephone lines. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modulation
USB on the other hand is a bit problematic, there's no host support on most android devices (there exist hacks for some) so there's no real way of connecting a USB peripheral to the phone.
Your best shot would be bluetooth I believe. I'm not entirely sure but you should be able to set up a serial connection over bluetooth.
Fulkerson said:
Using Audio to communicate is entirely possible. It has been done for decades over telephone lines. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modulation
USB on the other hand is a bit problematic, there's no host support on most android devices (there exist hacks for some) so there's no real way of connecting a USB peripheral to the phone.
Your best shot would be bluetooth I believe. I'm not entirely sure but you should be able to set up a serial connection over bluetooth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If Audio is possible then I think that would be the best bet. I just found this bag of IR LEDs laying around from when i was messing with wiimote hacks, so i thought hacking up a little light coming from some port on the device, i could make a remote app for it.
Found some good information for anyone else wanting to make use of the audio port.
http://perceptumvolo.blogspot.com/2010/01/demodulator-updated.html
Using audio is definitely very cool, but for real world use it is too intrusive. You can't listen to music at the same time and all notifications will screw things up. Bluetooth just works and was invented for this purpose.

What are you doing with your extra Android devices?

I have a MyTouch 3G that I rooted and run Cyanogen on.
I recently got a new G2 (hate that its not perma-rooted yet) and have my SIM card in it.
So... what cool things can I do with my old MyTouch without cellular data connection (besides the obvious mp3 player, gaming device, etc)? Its a small computer with usb, bluetooth, wifi, gps, and a camera.
Some ideas:
Is it possible to make it a bluetooth receiver for music? If so, I could have it permanently hooked up to a car stereo via 3.5mm cable and then other things could connect to it via bluetooth. This would be useful for my parent's RV which has an aux input but no bluetooth.
Can turn it into a security device and stream video?... either stream it to another computer on the network which runs a webserver, or run a webserver on the android device itself?
Can you turn it into a USB trackpad to plug into any computer?
I know you can plug the phone into a computer and it appears as external storage, but can you plug external storage into the phone? Could I buy a huge 1Tb+ external hard drive and let this thing be a fileserver (or anything a SheevaPlug / PogoPlug can do?)
Can it become a wireless repeater?
Is anybody doing any of these things now?
What are you doing with your old device?
I expect ROMs out there geared towards a single purpose as more and more people get Android devices then upgrade to newer Android devices.
USB Host mode - http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/7609-qusb-host-enabled-kernel-for-the-g1dream/
If only someone would come up with a more ready-to-go solution...
Nothing under his g1 folder.
This fails...
wget ww2.cs.fsu.edu/~mitchell/android/g1/g1-cm-kern-2.6.34-ehci-v1.patch
Another set of patches - http://www.cs.fsu.edu/~baker/devices/projects/framik/USB-host/

[Q] Wired Remote/Control Panel?

I've got a question I have not been able to find a definitive answer to.
Everyday other day on a blog I read I am seeing someone has created a robot controlled via an application running on a iPhone/Android, using either Bluetooth or Wifi.
But my question is, can an android device function as a wired remote via the usb port?
Is there any IO class for the USB port that can be used to turn on various things and read back various sensor information given the propper platform?
Am I seeking USB Host mode or is that something else?
My goal is to have an android device running an application monitoring various sensors and controlling various other hardware devices with a nice touch screen interface if possible. Since the phone would be located with the control hardware using Bluetooth for this seems silly if I am able to use USB and a cable from the Android Device to the Control Hardware, essentially making the android device the brains.
thanks in advance guys!
Nobody has any feedback on this?

[Q] Serial Output on Android Phone

Hello! I am new to this forum, I figured you guys may be able to provide some input on a project I want to undertake.
I would like to use an Android phone (Probably an unlocked Chinese model running 2.2) as the brains for a remote control project. Since the phone has a GPS, Camera, and GSM connectivity all built in (and low power consumption) it seems it would be the perfect solution. To control the device, I was hoping connect a serial/usb servo controller (Pololu Micro Maestro) to the phone. However, I am having trouble finding any information on the viability of connecting a serial device to the phone – can this be *reasonably* done?
I appreciate any information you can provide!
try a google search for bluetooth to serial adapter. that will be the quickest/easiest/most likely to be workable hack.
next up would involve USB-Serial adapter(choppin wires to attach your necessary connector), generics are dirt cheap, but you would need kernel support. drivers/usb/serial/ is most likely where you would be looking, most of the generics use prolific chips. quick check would be to lsusb in a terminal and see if something pops up.
yea id go with bluetooth - serial adapter.
That is a good idea... I will do some checking. Thank you!

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