Simple (?) Bluetooth/Relay/Android App project

[hoxton_hockler]

Hi to the forum!

I have an idea for a project which, without going into full functionality, consists of a low voltage solenoid with position indicator (i.e. 1 digital output, 2 digital inputs) controlled by an Android app via Bluetooth. I'm not expecting anyone to design it for me but a few pointers in the right direction would be fantastic. I'm after low cost and small physical size so although I know I can do it with Arduino kit I'd prefer something lower level and cheaper and I'm happy to put time into learning stuff and, where necessary, evaluation kits.

So although I want a simple, cheap and small end product I'm happy to put the leg work in up front.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

 

[Alec_t]

Welcome to EP!
We will need more info before we can even begin to give you pointers.
For example, what is "low voltage", what is the solenoid current draw, what is "a position indicator with 1 digital output, 2 digital inputs", "low cost", "small size"?

 

[hoxton_hockler]

"low voltage" is the lowest I can get away with and still find a solenoid that works - just wanted to make the point that it won't be 240Vac or something! Preferably 5V from a USB connector but exactly how big will be part of development. Solenoid operation will be very occasional. I might even be able to drive directly, this I don't know yet, but if I start with a relay I keep my options open.

What I meant by "1 do and 2 di" was the total requirement: one output for the solenoid and two inputs for position indication i.e. open or closed.

low cost and small size are overall goals. As I said above, I expect you can use microcontroller development boards to do this stuff but since the operation itself is so simple and wont change I'm expecting I must be able to use dedicated bits of kit.

Like I say, I'm not expecting to breeze in here and get people to design circuits for me but if anyone has done something similar with a simple Bluetooth module with a few I/O and can share knowledge then it will be appreciated.

 

[zigbluebeetooth]

Hey Hoxton,

Did you get your issues solved? Give me a call if you'd like to talk more about your project. I did a zigbee project similar to what you are talking about but I have done some bluetooth work also:

http://wtsi-electronics.com/electronic-product-design/engineering-solutions.html