Hello,

I've created some vibration patterns I pass to a bluetooth device through the serial port. The problem is that I assume that the device is there, and connect to it in the setup() phase of the code. If I have the device out of range I get an error.

I'm fairly new to Processing, but I was wondering if there's a way of checking if the bluetooth device is in range, and only then connecting to it. Maybe trying to connect until the device comes in range, and avoid the errors if there's no device in sight?

Hope someone can help me with this :/ I was thinking of something in the lines of this:

Code:

import processing.serial.*;

Serial myPort;

void setup() {
  myPort = new Serial(this, "COM4", 230400);
}

void draw() {
  if (myPort.available() == 0) {
    myPort = new Serial(this, "COM4", 230400);
    println("Nothing");
  } else {
    int inByte = myPort.read();
    println(inByte);
  }
} 

But I get an error on this line: (the one inside the draw())

myPort = new Serial(this, "COM4", 230400);

Error inside Serial.<init>()

Starting to wonder if this forum is dead. I'll continue to post my progress, in case someone else might need it.

I can now connect to a bluetooth device when it comes in range, and Processing continues to execute the code if I turn it off or it comes out of range.

The problem is that I can't keep the connection on enough to transmit enough data, because of the way I use the available() function.

I know the connection is gonna happen on COM4, so I start it by seeing if the device is available already. If it isn't, the execution just lags a bit, no problem here.

Code:

import processing.serial.*;

Serial myPort;

// SHAKE information
ShakeParser shake;
vibProfile vib_pattern;

void setup() {
  size(300, 300);
  background(255);

  // SHAKE begin
  shake = new ShakeParser();
  
  myPort = new Serial(this, "COM4", 230400); 

Now, this is the trouble area. In order to have a loop here, I need to check if there's data available on the serial port. If there is, it means that the device is in range, and I upload the vibration pattern to it.

The problem is that if I don't close() or clear() the port at the end of the loop, even if the device isn't in range, the available() function will show data on the port.

That way I have to close() the port at the end the draw() phase, and attempt to connect to the port again, in order to have a valid available() test at the beginning of the next loop.

Code:

void draw() {
  if (myPort.available() == 0) {
    println("SHAKE not in range");
  } else {
    // SHAKE: Activates de motors and the capacitive sensors
    shakeOn();
    
    // SHAKE: Stop vibration if the Capacitive Sensor detects touch
    if ((int)shake.data.cap0.x > 150)
	vibPatStop();
    else 
	vibPatThree();
	
    // SHAKE: upload the vibration pattern  
    fireVibration();
    
    println("SHAKE in range");
  }
  
  myPort.stop();
  myPort = new Serial(this, "COM4", 230400);
}
 

The problem is that I can't get the data to the device quick enough before the close() statement.

Any ideas?