DroidPad | Create Customizable Control Interfaces For Bluetooth Low Energy & More

Tools & Scripts
, , ,
1

GitHub License Jetpack Compose Badge GitHub Release

Create Customizable Control Interfaces for Bluetooth Low Energy, WebSocket, MQTT, TCP, and UDP Protocols with Simple Drag-and-Drop Functionality.

Key Features:

  1. Drag-and-Drop Control Pad Creation
    Design your control pads by dragging and dropping components like buttons, sliders, switches, Joystick and D-PAD.
  2. Multi-Protocol Support and Seamless Server Connections
    Easily configure your control pad to support network protocols such as Bluetooth LE, WebSocket, MQTT, TCP, and UDP. Once connected, you can interact with the control pad’s components—including buttons, sliders, switches, joysticks, and D-PADs—to send real-time commands directly to the connected server or BLE client, where these commands can be processed.
  3. Switch Connection Type Anytime
    You can change the connection type of a control pad at any time without creating a duplicate for a different connection.

How It Works (4 steps)

Step 1: Create a Control Pad

Start by creating a new control pad. Provide a unique name to identify your control pad.

Step 2: Design Your Control Pad

After creating the control pad, click on the Build icon and use the drag-and-drop interface to add components like switches, buttons, and sliders etc.

Assign a unique ID to each component. This ID will be sent to the server during interactions.

Step 3: Configure Connection Settings

Tap 'Settings, choose a connection type (TCP, Bluetooth LE, UDP, WebSocket, or MQTT), enter the server address and port. You can switch between connection types anytime

Step 4: Connect and Interact

a. Click on the Play icon to start interacting with your control pad.
b. Tap the Connect button in the bottom-right corner to establish a connection with the server.

Reading Interactions

When users interact with the control pad, JSON-formatted messages are generated based on the type of component used. These JSON messages enable receivers to understand and process interactions sent from the control pad. Below are the formats and details for each interaction:

Switch

Toggling a switch generates the following JSON:

{
  "id": "the id you specified",
  "type": "SWITCH",
  "state": true
}

For Bluetooth LE connections, toggling a switch generates a CSV message in the format: <id>,<state>.

  • The state field indicates whether the switch is on (true) or off (false).

Button

Pressing or releasing a button generates this JSON:

{
  "id": "the id you specified",
  "type": "BUTTON",
  "state": "PRESS"
}

For Bluetooth LE connections, pressing or releasing a button generates a CSV message in the format: <id>,<state>.

  • The state field can have following values:
    • “PRESS”: When the button is being pressed (finger on the button).
    • “RELEASE”: When the button is released (finger lifted off after pressing).
    • “CLICK”: Indicates tap gesture

DPAD (Directional Pad)

Pressing or releasing a button on DPAD generates this JSON:

{
  "id": "the id you specified",
  "type": "DPAD",
  "button": "RIGHT",
  "state": "CLICK"
}

For Bluetooth LE connections, pressing or releasing a button on DPAD generates a CSV message in the format: <id>,<button>,<state>.

  • The state field can have following values:
    • “PRESS”: When the button is being pressed (finger on the button).
    • “RELEASE”: When the button is released (finger lifted off after pressing).
    • “CLICK”: Indicates tap gesture
  • The button field can be “LEFT”,“RIGHT”,“UP” or “DOWN”

JoyStick

Moving joystick handle generates this JSON:

{
  "id": "the id you specified",
  "type": "JOYSTICK",
  "x": 0.71150637,
  "y": -0.13367589
}

For Bluetooth LE <id>,<x>,<y>

Note : Joystick is not rotatable in the Builder Screen

The values of x and y range:

  • From -1.0 to 1.0 for both axes.
  • Positive x values indicate movement to the right, and negative values indicate movement to the left.
  • Positive y values indicate upward movement, and negative values indicate downward movement.

Slider

Dragging the slider thumb generates the following JSON:

{
  "id": "the id you specified",
  "type": "SLIDER",
  "value": 1.4
}

For Bluetooth LE connections, dragging the slider thumb generates a CSV message in the format: <id>,<value>.

  • The value field represents the current position of the slider.
  • The value is always within the range of the minimum and maximum values specified during the slider’s configuration.

Important Note for Bluetooth Low Energy

A long Bluetooth device name can cause advertisement failure. To avoid this issue, use a shorter name. In your device’s Bluetooth settings, change the Bluetooth device name to five or fewer characters, such as dev.

For devices running Android 12 or higher, you also need to ensure that your app has the necessary Bluetooth permissions. To do this, go to the app’s system settings and grant the required Nearby Devices permission. Without this permission, the app cannot advertise Bluetooth services.

Testing the connection

You can test the connections with Websocket,TCP, UDP servers and BLE client provided in

https://github.com/umer0586/droidpad-python-examples

Projects

  1. Transform Arduino Uno R4 WiFi into a WiFi-controlled motor system using the DroidPad https://github.com/Klixxy/ArduTank by Klixxy

TODO

  1. Bluetooth classic support
  2. Attaching sensors to control pads
  3. TouchPad

GitHub:

3 Likes