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Arduino >>> iOS
Is there a way I can generate a voltage (or audio) on a arduino, and send it to iphone/ipad?
Maybe using wifi/BT, although I would prefer cable (to also work offline).
And I know I could use MIDI via BT but that's not what I would prefer.
Example scenario: a handful of piezos, glued to tables, or tins or whatever (say 4 signals) and then sending the signals to Drambo for that Impaktor^2 patch. I could perhaps EQ 4 signals into one mono audio, and decode in drambo, if I could just get it there. Arduino could act as a mixing board.
Has to be arduino, cause although I've known and read about arduino forever, I never worked with it hands on, and my sudden interest only comes from my kid studying it this semester and asking for some help.
The connection to iOS is not her project, that is entirely me thinking how to also have my fun over the process.
Any advice for fun projects for her to do also much appreciated (but she wants to do something with photography, only not surveilance cameras or motion detection--someone's already doing that).
Anyway, back to the musical topic: regarding sending a CV (or audio) to iOS... is that even possible?
All feedback appreciated, and cheers everyone
Comments
I’ve done a couple projects like that. If you use a Teensy it can easily be configured as a USB audio or MIDI device. The Raspberry Pi Pico can do USB midi but I’m not sure about USB audio. BLE MIDI works on the ESP32 as does WIFI using RTPMIDI, OSC etc.
If you stick to standard protocols like MIDI and OSC you can do a lot. What’s not easy with Apple is serial or any custom communication protocol. You have licence the hardware and do a lot of software development for that.
There are hardware differences between the different Arduinos. The Arduino Leonardo has USB HID (Human Interface Device) and MIDI support.
If you have an Arduino Nano, you or your kid could build a "Wee O3" - and emulation of the Korg Minipops 7 drum machine:
https://github.com/mark-orion/The-Wee-O3
I think what you're describing you want to do is to send Control Voltage (CV) signals to iOS. I don't think that's something you can do directly. I think you need an interface such as the Expert Sleepers modules. That's an area I know nothing about.
It would be far easier to work with MIDI. There are plenty of libraries available to work with to convert electrical signals such as a piezo sensor, encoder knobs, pots, and faders to midi. Getting the midi to the iOS device is easier than trying to work with CV output. Drambo can convert the midi to CV, so that's no problem.
Sorry, that's pretty vague. I'm unable to take the time today for a proper answer.
There are some threads covering working with CV over on the Drambo Forum (http://forum.beepstreet.com) that should help with the interface issues, if you can find them. That forum's search function sucks though. You'll get better results with Google if you follow the search terms with **site:forum.beepstreet.com".
Sending audio from Arduino requires work and an interface for the iOS device too. IMO sticking to midi will make things easier.
Do you have a preference for the type of cable? For example, outputting raw voltage to a headphone plug, and connecting that to a 3.55->USB-C (or Lightning) could make it quite a bit easier to get that signal into the iPhone/iPad than with pure USB in terms of the code to get up and running. I once had to make a modem for an arduino that communicated with an iPhone, long story, and that aproach worked really well. I imagine this could be repurposed to suit raw audio and/or CV.
I haven't worked with an Arduino in a while, wish I could give you better specifics...but to answer your question: it is definitely possible.
Edit: I should say a TRRS plug, specifically! The Apple adapters should be able to utilize the "mic input" line on those plugs. You likely don't have to wire the L/R outputs in the plug.
When I was researching Arduino and CV voltages last year I came across a project that had CV voltage input.
I've just had a look at this site which describes clamping down eurorack voltages to voltages acceptable for Arduino.
https://sebastian-murgul.com/hardware/modular-synthesizer/eurorack-voltages-and-arduino/
this one from Reddit
https://www.reddit.com/r/synthdiy/comments/hpzyuz/what_do_i_need_to_make_an_arduino_input_pin/
which led to this which is the Mutable Instruments Grids manual which uses Arduino.
https://pichenettes.github.io/mutable-instruments-documentation/modules/grids/downloads/grids_v02.pdf
This is from the Arduino Library in regards to code for cv voltages both in and out I do believe
https://docs.arduino.cc/libraries/controlvoltage/
and this thread is from AEModular.com
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/451/arduino-cv-out-examples
which has examples that work on Arduino UNO and Nano.
However I think the OP is looking to build something...
and the Expert Sleepers Eurorack modules do make CV voltages in and out much, much easier.
I phaffed around with various modules etc and then got the Expert Sleepers ES-3
which sorted out a lot of my cv voltage output issues and is very accurate when using 1v/Oct,
I designed an oscillator tuner which tunes every note from midi note C-1 to midi note C8 in dRambo using it.
It's perfect for my uses when connecting dRambo up with my Eurorack modules.
Anyways that's a bit off topic there, sorry @pedro .
Wow guys, thanks so much for all the feedback, this forum never fails to deliver!
So much to digest, but great ideas so far. If I had sort of an idea, now I have more ideas than I can shake a stick at.
I'm gonna need sometime to go over all the comments, but I'll get back to answer individually (or pose more questions), once I have a grasp.
Very much appreciated, guys. You're the best 🙏
Yeah, I realize that MIDI (haven't thought of OSC) is the way to go.
Yeah that would be fun, but more as a project for me. She's still thinking of somehow incorporating photography.
Yeah, MIDI will have to do. Wanna keep this a cheap project, just for learning purposes, but I'm having second thoughts if I want to enter this rabbit hole
I haven't thought of using the microphone input! This means I could encode 2 mono signals into stereo L/R and then use them separately in drambo. Two is plenty for initial experiments (I can use a joystick for instance, or two piezos for hand drumming).
Of course a Y-cable soldered to two piezos would probably work as well.
Noted!
Hey, thanks for all the links, very interesting and informative, but I'm not really to go the eurorack route just yet... If I ever do I'll know who to ask for advice
No problem.
If she wants to do something with image processing, then that's going to be difficult with a simple Arduino. But maybe the Arduino could be fun to assist with photography. Some things that come to my mind:
Trigger a flash (yes, the one with the xenon tube from the good old days...) when a certain event happens (lound bang, light barrier etc.). This is great to make high speed stills to capture the bursting balloon or the drop of milk hitting a surface. She could implement an adjustable delay so you find the best timing for the best picture.
Or to stay on the simpler side: Use the Arduino as a timer for time lapse photography.
I hope something will be found that she enjoys.
The idea would be create time lapse or a lightning detector or something. Just to begin her camera is only operatable via IR or wifi. Then there’s the codes for the camera. It’s starting to sound like too much work…
But we’ll see.
Thanks for all the help!
Wow, all this knowledge and no one gets to the answer? Sigh…this is why I personally hate reading manuals.
Okay, let’s see. I’ll do my best to explain the process for you.
The easiest way to do this is via Bluetooth. You want a BLE Bluetooth receiver
HM-10, using BLE 4.0 technology
You want to pair the phone to the Arduino using Bluetooth. There are many iOS apps that can do this. Here’s one of the top ones
https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/bluetooth-for-arduino/id1505096526
https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/arduino-iot-cloud-remote/id1514358431
Use this one for cloud IOT stuff
Pro tip: Connect the TX of the Bluetooth module to the RX (I think it’s port 2) of the Arduino, and the RX of the Bluetooth Module to the TX of the Arduino.
When you get it paired, it’s just as simple as the Arduino recognizing that the app is paired to the phone, and you can do whatever you want.
I was literally studying a Mechatronics course with MAGNA and the University of Toronto on these concepts earlier this summer. And I’ve been working with Automated Systems and robots for almost 10 years.
Send me a DM if you have any questions that can’t be answered on the forum, or you feel might be too out of scope for the forum. But for now, let’s keep posting here so others can learn from the knowledge.
And before anyone thinks I’m full of crap, here’s my LinkedIn Profile.
http://linkedin.com/in/samogbonda
EDIT: here’s a picture proof that I’m actually doing what I’m writing
Why do I say the easier way is via Bluetooth? Because Apple doesn’t play nice with external devices. You must buy their dongle, and meet certain specs, and in one update, it breaks.
But they have to follow the Bluetooth rule, else all their devices will fail to work properly.
Bluetooth is different from wifi. It doesn’t require internet activity to work. It is like an invisible wire that follows you everywhere you go, and can connect to a wide variety of devices.
Yes, it does have its limitations when it comes to transferring high amounts of data. But a CV isn’t even 1/100 of its potential that it can carry. So, send all the CV’s you want via Bluetooth.
And use an app like Midimitr or Midiwrench to see those MIDI data on the iPhone.
2 years ago, I've played with these nice MLX90640 thermal cameras on a Pi Zero.
Low resolution (only 32x24 pixels) but good enough for simple thermal stuff like detecting a hand independent from visible light (and in total darkness) and sending MIDI CC from the detected position(s), modulated by temperature, spot size etc.
Live processing of such a small image shouldn't be a problem even on the Arduino, and here's a starter if you're interested:
https://github.com/sparkfun/SparkFun_MLX90640_Arduino_Example