BLE Shield is a nRF8001 BLE controller chip with circuitry that enables BLE feature to Arduino boards.
BLE Shield Library is a software library allows Arduino board to control the BLE Shield, so that it can send/receive data to/from BLE devices such as iPhone.
RBL BLE Shield library version 2.0
Put Nordic_BLE and RBL_BLEShield folders to Arduino libraries folder (e.g. Documents/Arduino/libraries) and load the examples from RBL_BLEShield.
The BLE Shield library provides APIs for your sketch.
The library structure and dependency: YourSketch.ino -> RBL_BLEShield -> Nordic_BLE
Also, you can use Nordic's library directly such as: YourSketch.ino -> Nordic_BLE
Read Nordic's BLE SDK for Arduino for details.
Note: Remove library version 1.0 (if you have) before to use version 2.0, do not use 1.0 and 2.0 libraries at the same time.
The BLEFirmata sketch requires BLE Arduino iOS App to play, you can download it from on Apple App Store.
If you have any difficulty with Arduino Libraries, read this: http://arduino.cc/en/Guide/Libraries
Before calling to ble_begin(), you can make use of ble_set_name("My BLE") to change the name.
Arduino UNO (328p), Leonardo (32u4), MEGA2560, DUE and their compatible.
ChipKit Uno32
Q1: What is BT dual mode? Is the BLE Shield a dual mode device?
A1: Dual mode devices (e.g. iPhone 4S/5) are compatible with both Classic and BLE devices.<br>
BLE Shield is a single mode device only, so it is not compatible with the classic mode BT.
Q2: What is BLE Central role? Can the BLE Shield work in Central role?<br> A2: Central role devices (e.g. iPhone 4S/5) can work as a master in the BLE star network, they can perform scanning and connect to peripheral devices. The BLE Shield can work as peripheral role only, i.e. it can only be connected from other central rol devices.
Q3: Can I get RSSI from the BLE Shield?
A3: The nRF8001 does not provide any function call to get RSSI, so this is not possible. You can get RSSI from the BLE central side, e.g. iPhone 5.
Q4: Can I change the name (BLE Shield) to others?
A4: You can use the API - "ble_set_name(name)" to do that. See examples.
Q5: Can I change the 128-bit UUID with my own one?
A5: You need to use Nordic's nRFgo Studio and open the BLEShield.xml to edit the settings, it will generate some C source files using the .bat file.
You can also set the connection interval, advertising data, etc.
Q6: Can two BLE Shields talk to each other?
A6: Since the BLE Shield cannot run in Central role, so this is not possible.