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Arduino and iOS
Are there any iOS apps that can program an Arduino or Arduino based micro-controller directly.
I've seen this one here but I don't know enough about the platform to make an informed decision.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app-bundle/arduino-pack/id1288652226
and one more thing does it matter if it's an actual Arduino
or if it's an Arduino copy sharing the same chipset?
Obviously because the latter is much, much more affordable.
Thank you in advance.
Comments
Is Sketch on iOS
I couldn't find an iOS app for Arduino called "Sketch" however I did find Blexar.
It communicates with an Arduino using Bluetooth.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/blexar/id1439459314
That's not a real simple question to answer.
(tldr; No, this isn't an app to write programs for Arduino compatible boards. It will not free you from the need to use a desktop to upload sketches. However it does have some really useful functionality. There could be lots of technical errors in the details below, but I think directionally it's close.)
I suggest taking a thorough look at the manual. It describes several things that need to be considered, and also makes it clear that a computer is needed to get a compatible sketch up and running on the board in order to make use of the app.
I don't think there are any Arduino compatible programming apps. I'm pretty sure I would have come across one if there was. The Arduino app is a compiler in addition to an editor and file uploader, so there's a lot more to it than just editing and uploading files.
Based on the App Store description, those Apps look really fun and useful, but they either do simple one-off tasks or interact with a sketch (Arduino term for program) running on the device. There are IAPs to help with generating sketches, but as far as I can tell those are only programming aids. I think you would still need to incorporate those into a sketch and compile/upload with the Arduino app.
There's one notable exception. One of the IAPs can generate code to control pins, and you can load that onto a widget. So, for instance, if you wanted to turn a pin on or off from a widget, it looks like you could do that without writing any code.
However, you do need to have the Arduino app running on a desktop in order to include the needed libraries in a sketch, that you need to load on the device in order to do anything with the app.
The App Store description lists the board types supported. There are several, so no, an actual Arduino brand isn't needed. However, a board with some sort of connectivity such as WiFi, Bluetooth, or ethernet onboard or added with a shield is needed. It doesn't look to me like you could just hook up with USB and talk to the board. I could be wrong though.
A possible exception to not being able to program from iOS is micro Python. Some boards let you upload and run Python scripts through the USB port. This is different than compiling a program. If there's an app that can see the device like a USB drive and upload to it then maybe ... I've never looked into that.
Only a few boards are listed as compatible with micro Python. There could be others, I don't know. At any rate, you still need a computer to upload the Python code. Once you do, you can call it.
Awesome.
This is exactly what I needed to know.
Basically I need a desktop.
That's all good.
I've seen Arduino projects that use the MCP 4725 DAC and
I was wondering if more than one can be used with an Arduino Uno
and another thing I was wondering, is the Arduino Uno capable
of 16bit or 24bit audio?
The MCP 4725 is 12-bit.
I bet you could program an arduino (or Teensy etc) from a Raspberry Pi. Much cheaper than a full desktop if you don’t want to buy one.
This much I did figure out but I haven't come across anything that has 16bit capabilities.
That's a good suggestion, I'll look into it.
You were bang on.
Here's a link describing how to program an Arduino from a Raspberry Pi.
https://www.maketecheasier.com/program-arduino-with-raspberry-pi/
I think you're barking up the wrong tree trying to do high quality audio with Arduino, or even ESP boards. If you're just wanting to output simple waves and can find a higher quality compatible DAC, I guess. But if you want to do any DSP, I think you'll have neither the the processing power nor the memory for sketch space.
Not my area of expertise though. I'm just makin' shit up now. 😂
Yes, that should be possible.
https://www.raspberrypi-spy.co.uk/2020/12/install-arduino-ide-on-raspberry-pi/
I'm asking about the audio side of things because
I've seen Arduino based synth projects at 8bit and
I was simply wondering if that can be upped to 16bit or 24bit.
It's not a biggy as I already know what I need the Arduino for.
Isn't that what creatives do for a living??? 😁
You may want to look at the Pico RP2040 boards. The Arduino support for this board is excellent and they are dirt cheap. It supports I2S audio codecs - 16 bit stereo for sure, not sure if it will do 24 bit audio.
I’ve built a few projects with the Pico and it’s pretty good at basic audio. It does not have the dsp instructions that the Teensy boards have so can’t handle really heavy audio processing. I built a drum sample player with the Pico and it had no problem mixing and scaling eight channels of 16 bit stereo audio. The Adafruit tinyUSB stack is supported so you can do USB MIDI as well. It’s my new go to for simple audio projects.
Creatives ... and chat bots. 😉
I had a quick look at this and it looks very interesting.
Thank you good to know.
I think I'm going to go for the Arduino+MCP 4725 combination
first before I get into the DSP side of things.
That'll give me enough to start with for sure.
Yeah,... agreed. 😉
When you want to try some serious DSP take a look at the Teensy 4 and 4.1. I wrote a test sketch to see what it could do. Poly synth with 4 antialiased oscillators, a 4 pole moog type filter, Adsr env gen and a VCA per voice and kept adding voices - It finally ran out of cpu at 16 voices. I think I had a reverb on the mixed voices as well. You can add up to 16mbytes of expansion ram on the bottom of the 4.1 for long delays etc.
Teensy 4 is a beast!
This sounds very, very interesting.
I’ve just had a quick look for other Teensy based projects and it’s looking good.
Thank you for this.
Yes Teensy 4.1 is very good, am running a headless Dirtywave M8c tracker/synth on mine and it sounds great.
Don't want to hijack the thread, but I wonder if the same sorts of people thinking of Arduino synth programming might be interested in programming the Korg NTS-1. It's not as down and dirty as building something from ground up with an Arduino, so maybe not as much fun that way. But certainly gives lots of opportunity for audio programming. I think a fair amount of people are aware of the nifty little NTS-1, but fewer are aware of how programmable it is.
NTS-1 gives you the hardware for a capable basic synth, and is programmable using the open source Logue-SDK. Lots of projects have been built with in, people are even making money selling their creations. The github repository readme says it "contains all the files and tools needed to build custom oscillators and effects", but creative people have done more, like sequencers. I think @brambos wrote a little drum machine for it a couple years ago.
Here are some links:
https://korginc.github.io/logue-sdk/
https://www.korg.com/us/products/dj/nts_1/index.php
search youtube for 'Proba-B OSC for Korg NTS-1' a probability based sequencer by user Tweeeak!, who has a few other interesting nts-1 projects on his youtube channel
or just search youtube for 'nts-1 custom oscillator' or 'custom effect'
I have an NTS-1 loaded up with custom oscillators and effects already.
I’m currently prototyping a custom stand for it with two eurorack filters.
Thanks for the suggestion though.
Sure, no problem, plenty of interested reading this thread, I'm sure. Seems like some coding for NTS-1 would be good way for people to start (even if more barebones like Arduino is eventual goal), big community, standardized hardware and interface, excellent API, lots of relevant sample code to learn from and build on. . . .
I’d check out adafruit (the company). They sell all sorts of electronic DIY. I’m sure they’ll have some sort of specs for audio electronics.
If you’re going to go down the make your own synth(s) route I can recommend two maker sites.
https://www.electro-smith.com and their daisy seed
And
https://www.synthux.academy
Which had a dev board from layout prototyping a discord channel and podcasts
Read about HAIRLESS MIDI desktop program the other day that allows link ups between certain devices.
The thing about the NTS-1 and I was looking again the other day to see how far things might have come is that the hardware modifications are a big jump in knowledge up from just owning one
Software, forget it – programming is impossible
But hardware is achievable, except there’s no useful tutorial or entry-level documentation about how to for example make a full control panel of pots or encoders so that I’m not forever jumping into a completely alien value every time I move from eg VCO to VCF and move the encoder a tiny bit – that should be easy but we need to be told how
Absolutely zero chance that Apple would allow a programming environment for Arduino on its platform.
Agreed.
The advantage of using the NTS-1 is that you can get
stuck in straight away and hear results almost as fast.
The Korg SDK is freely available and that speaks volumes for the DIY audio community.
The other thing is the availability of freebies such as the ones from Tweeeeeak
that one can learn from that you mentioned earlier.
I’ve already uploaded the Plaits version for Korg which is interesting in itself
but when one takes into account that even Behringer are now selling modules
with Plaits embedded then the Korg NTS-1 is a no brainer considering it’s price.
Even if one was to keep it as a macro oscillator it’s still a win, win.
I’m going to be looking at them for physical midi controllers for sure.
Yeah, ElectroSmith Daisy seed has 24bit 96kHz and 2 x CV outputs straight out of the box.
Have you come across Axolotl Core and Zrna Akso?
Both seem very interesting.
Axolotl Core version is now discontinued but rumours abound that a version two is on its way.
The Zrna Akso which is based on the Axolotl Core seems brilliant.
I think the Zrna is 40x faster than the original Axolotl.
For a coder I don’t think it’s actually that difficult.
For the layperson definitely.
Do you have dRambo?
If so try this
https://patchstorage.com/korg-nts-1-preset-utility/
Even though the NTS-1 doesn’t save presets you can use
a third party app to control it using cc messages that’s what I do.
There was a recent release “MMM” a free app that can send cc messages which you could use as well.
Anything that sends cc messages.
Look up NTS-1 Midi implementation and you’ll get the complete list.
The other cool thing about using cc messages is that you can transfer all
of the editing to the iPad and/or a midi controller.
Why not? The Arduino app runs on MacOS without any problem. Arduino is no threat to iOS.
It's more likely that there's no interest in porting it to iOS. I for one would not enjoy writing Arduino code on an iPad. That and that they might use some GPL licensed code, which isn't allowed on the App Store.
But I don't see any idealogical / anticompetitive reason why Apple would object.
I want to add extra actual knobs that the main board can read – like they’ve done with some of the demo arduino-type projects
(btw I’ve got the NTS-1 midi implementation chart somewhere – it’s impressively comprehensive)