mBot does not show up in the list of bluetooth devices on PC/Mac

[TamAtPlay]

I want to control my mBot by sending commands via bluetooth from my PC. I know that the mBot has built-in bluetooth and it is working. I have installed mbot_firmware Arduino sketch from Makeblock-Libraries, and I can connect to it from my iPhone and control it.

But I do not see the mBot’s bluetooth device showing up on the list of available devices on both Mac and PC. What am I doing wrong?

I want to eventually control the mBot via bluetooth by running a Python script on my computer. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

[Atonbom]

mBot bluetooth connection Windows 10 and Ble

Hi all, I know there are lots of threads about connecting the mBot to the pc via Bluetooth but 2 days in and I still cant’t get it to work. What I tried so far: Installed mBlock5 connected mBot via usb cable updated online firmware disconnected mBot restart both mBot and mBlock5 I have bluetooth enabled on my laptop (I don’t use any kind of dongle) try to connect through bluetooth using mBlock5 What happens is that it keeps searching forever for devices but never finds my mBot Variation I t…

It’s a common problem.

I fixed it using a Nodemcu v3 esp8266. Take a look at my Github for more info. If you have any questions let me know

Atonbom/KimPyRaptor

[tech_support]

Hi TamAtPlay, actually the Bluetooth module on mBot is designed for mobile phones. Mobile phones always come with a standard Bluetooth version while Bluetooth protocols and standards vary across different computers. Only a small portion of computers have the matching version. To ensure users better experiences, we currently don’t support connecting Makeblock products via the computer’s self-contained Bluetooth. So we would recommend our users to connect via USB cable rather than Bluetooth connection. If you really want to control it wireless, you can check out our Bluetooth dongle: https://www.makeblock.com/accessories/bluetooth-dongle

[MurrayElliot]

Agree with both of these answers. Either you need to add the dongle to the PC to make it version-compatible, or add a better bluetooth module to the mbot such as JY-MCU/HC-06, or go the more complex route proposed by Atonbom using WiFi and esp8266

Another approach to the wifi route is described here: ESP8266 Firmware using the https://www.makeblock.com/project/me-wifi module

[TamAtPlay]

Thank you for the response. I have ordered your Bluetooth dongle to test.

[TamAtPlay]

Interesting. I wasn’t aware that there is also a Wifi option. Do you know if you can open a socket connection over TCP using this module? I’ve ordered the Wifi module to check it out.

[MurrayElliot]

I have no specific experience of this, but it would seem so :

ESP8266 NodeMCU TCP Socket Server Arduino Example | Circuits4you.com

[system]

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