Communicate with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) with Matlab

Hi everybody !

I am wondering if it is possible to "communicate" with BLE devices with Matlab (moreover with the Instrument Control Toolbox).

In facts, I would like to get raw data from sensors such as wireless heart rate sensor (typically Polar H7), IMU, accelerometers, temperature sensors ... which often includes filters or fusion algorithm.

Oh and I use R2012b !

Thanks in advance,

Jeanne

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

No, it was not supported in that release. See http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/239864-is-bluetooth-low-energy-ble-supported-in-instrument-control-toolbox-how-to-read-broadcasts-withou

[Jeanne P]

Is it supported in any other release ? I guess no.

I am able to connect Windows 10 computers to the BLE device. Would it be possible to communicate with them with a code without using the Instrument Control Toolbox?

And according to you (in http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/239864-is-bluetooth-low-energy-ble-supported-in-instrument-control-toolbox-how-to-read-broadcasts-withou), I could use the Bluefruit LE Friend to communicate with the BLE Device as it was a simple USB Device ?

Thanks for your answer and time !

[Walter Roberson]

The comments in https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/52481-sphero-connectivity-package imply that Bluetooth Low Energy is still not supported in R2016b.

I do not know for sure if the Bluefruit LE Friend will work, but it looks plausible.

[Xiaoxuan Hu]

could you please tell me how you connect Windows 10 computers to the BLE device? I'm current working on this problem, but not succeed.Thanks in advance.

[Walter Roberson]

These days I see https://www.mathworks.com/help/comm/examples/bluetooth-low-energy-receiver.html but that appears to be for analyzing at the signal level ! https://www.mathworks.com/help/comm/bluetooth.html?s_tid=CRUX_lftnav

On the other hand, as of R2019b:

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/bluetooth-low-energy-communication.html

Answer 2

[Joris Brouwer]

Hi, I have been struggling with similar questions as well. My general solution nowadays is to find a hardware developer kit for Bluetooth chips with integrated antennas that support the right Bluetooth profiles and the use of AT commands over a serial USB connections. This way I have found A2DP and GATT suppporting dev kits (different kit for each profile though). Not sure about the performance of this solution speed wise, but with the GATT profile I have been able to connect to typical sportswear gadgets on my Windows 10 PC using U-Blox dev kits and do a bit of back and forth communicating. Do certify that the dev kit has support for the AT commands, only a few dev kits have this feature.

[Walter Roberson]

As of R2019b: https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/bluetooth-low-energy-communication.html

[Joris Brouwer]

I literally found that out an hour later, seems to work like a charm. Tested it with a dongel I had laying around and got it working directly, nice job.