1.
Android Communications with Arduino

2.
Two Aspects
Arduino:
● Receiving
commands
● Switching pins
on/off
Android:
● Send commands

3.
Arduino Equipment
● Arduino card(s)
● Arduino WiFi shield(s)
● USB a-b cable(s)
o for power and program uploads

4.
Android Equipment
● Android tablet/phone
● Android stock USB cable
o for program uploads

5.
Arduino Software
● Arduino IDE
o version 1.0.5
o for Windows, Mac, and Linux

6.
Android Software I
There is a choice to be made here:
● Android Developer Tools (ADT)
o more accessible to beginners
o older
● Android Studio
o more powerful
o unstable

7.
Android Software II
● Portable Wi-Fi hotspot Free
o Creates wireless hotspot
 Local, no satellite
o an app for the Android device
o by Core Technology
o available on Google Play

8.
Arduino Programming
● C syntax
● Very limited
● Extended with C++
libraries

9.
Android Programming
● Java programming language
● Relatively simple
● Intimidating for beginners

10.
Android: It’s just Java
● Android is just an
interface.
● This code can be
used wherever
Java is supported.

11.
Network
● This is not programmed
● The Android device is the router
● The Arduino cards are assigned IP
addresses
● Everything over a hotspot
o Portable Wi-Fi hotspot Free

12.
Hotspot Pros
● Simple
● Leave the job up to another app

13.
Hotspot Cons
● Credentials are hard-coded for Arduino
cards
o change source code for new networks
● Not as reliable as other protocols
● Extremely roundabout
● Dependent on another app

14.
UDP
● User Datagram
Protocol
● One-way
communication
● Used for sending
commands

15.
Network: The Right Way
● Bluetooth
● mDNS - multicast Domain Name System
o Used by Google Chromecast

16.
Final Arduino to App Logic
1. Start Portable Wi-Fi hotspot Free on host
Android
2. Turn on Arduino boards
3. Turn on Android app
4. Wait for Arduino boards to connect
5. Send commands

17.
Final Thoughts
● Arduino boards are simple to program
● Android programming is the hard part
● The networking portion can be vastly
improved

18.
Fork it on GitHub!
The projects can be found here:
● Arduino code -
https://github.com/pori/arduino-udp-client
● Android code -
https://github.com/pori/ArduinoControllerExa
mple

19.
Useful Resources
● Arduino website for downloads and tutorials - http://arduino.cc/
● Android development (choose one):
o Android Developer Tools - http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
o Android Studio - https://developer.android.com/sdk/installing/studio.html
● Android source code - https://github.com/pori/ArduinoControllerExample
● Arduino source code - https://github.com/pori/arduino-udp-client