Hi

I want to get notifications from my iphone and blink and LED. Apple has introduced the ANCS https://developer.apple.com/library/ios ... ation.html
service which enables you to use the BLE to get the data.
1) What I wanted to know if the BLE shield can access this service out of the box?
2) Do I just have to pair the BLE to my iphone and then will start getting the data?
3) What else do I need to purchase so I can get started with it straight away?

Regards
Mehul

Hello Mehul,
I'm currently working on an ANCS firmware for the BLE-Shield v2.0.0 which can be flashed using the USB mini port on the shield.
You don't need to buy anything else.
It will work out of the box

Cheers,
Michael.

Hi Michael,

Do you know how long will it take to build the firmware? When should I purchase the shield?

Would it work if I used this : https://github.com/slackhappy/ble112/tree/master/ancs
Regards

Mehul

Hi,
I have no definitive delivery date yet, but I think I will finish it after the easter days.
The firmware I'm currently working on is derived from John Gallagher's ANCS implementation.

I optimized it and currently wrapping the functionality into an Arduino Library.
Moreover the firmware will be updatable on the BLE-Shield v2.0.0

You can buy the Shield whenever you want since I think it will take some time to get it to your door.

Cheers,
Michael.

Hi Michael,

How are you going with the firmware for ANCS and BLE. I have got good progress with BLE113 talking to ANCS and getting attribute data. If you want I can share the bgsript with you.

However I am stuck on a problem receiving notifications greater than 20 bytes as the MTU restricts it. Have you come accross such problem?

Regards

Mehul

Hi Mehul,
well my current efforts are available at github: https://github.com/michaelkroll/BLE-Shi ... 2.0.0-ANCS
I can receive all notifications on the Arduino yet but I was not yet able to get the details of a particular message.
Will start to work on it now and we can share our experiences on that. What does your code look like?
Of course I'd like to take a look into it.

Cheers,
Michael.

Hi Michael,

First of all, thank you very much for releasing such an interesting tool.

I purchased a BLE Shiled v2.0.0 from Seeed Studio several days ago and started playing with it. Since I'm interested in ANCS, I tried as follows.

1. Upload the firmware (BLE-Shield-ANCS-firmware-2.0.0-BLE-SDK1.2.2-b100.hex) to the board (was success)
2. Upload examples/ANCS to the board
3. Open a Serial Monitor
4. Find the board at Settings/Bluetooth/Devices
5. Click and pair with the board

It seems that my iPhone 4S has been connected successfully (as shown in the attached image) but got no notifications. Do I have to configure more to get ANCS work?

Could you please let me know if you find anything strange with my steps?

Best,
Shigeru

Hello Shigeru,
thank you very much for the feedback on the alpha version of the BLE-Shield's ANCS firmware and Arduino library.
The current version of the ANCS Library is in alpha state and does not more than you mentioned yet.

It is connectable and the Ardino receives the notifications, but there are no details read yet.
I will implement this during the next few weeks and since you already tested the current status of the implementation I would like to invite you to do more testing on this and give me feedback.

Can we discuss the ongoing progress here on the forum?
I will catch up on the ANCS firmware starting today, hoping to get it finished asap.

Cheers,
Michael.