Bluetooth Connection Modifications: Linux

The basic process of making a Bluetooth connection rely upon a MAC address.
Basic usability questions:

• How will a user know the relevant MAC address?
• Will moving from one lab workstation to another, will a CSC 161 student have to edit the program?
• A sticker on each Fluke has a serial number. How could a programmer use the serial number to get a MAC address?

Two Approaches To Simplify Robot Connections on Linux

• RFCOMM

  • Linux allows the placement of a file entry in /etc/bluetooth/rfcomm.conf
  • This entry allows the identification of a default MAC address to be specified for a workstation.
  • With a couple system-administration procedures, a program can connect to the specified robot command with the MyroC command

              rConnect("/dev/rfcomm0");
            

  • Behind the scenes, Linux simplifies the workstation's connection process to

     socket_num = open ("/dev/rfcomm0", O_RDWR | O_NOCTTY);  //open to read and write, as a non-controlling terminal
    

  • Within the Science 3815 lab, each workstation is paired with its own robot, this process is followed for this pairing, and the same MyroC program will work without change when a student moves from workstation to workstation.

• Fluke serial number

  • A Linux utility allows a program to discover all robots that are turned on.
  • When a Fluke serial number is known, MyroC's rConnect can follow this discovery process to locate the given Fluke and its serial number.
  • Although the search process takes some time, a programmer could edit a program with the Fluke serial number to make a connection.

created 29 January 2021 revised 29 January 2021

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