URI-Beacons are handy when there is a need to advertise a small amount of information (usually a URL) to any nearby device. They’re really easy to set up: the code is fully available on the mbed website, so all you’ll need to do is tell the beacon what to broadcast. The canonical source for this example lives at https://github.com/ARMmbed/mbed-os-example-ble/tree/master/BLE_URIBeacon
URI-Beacons are handy when there is a need to advertise a small amount of information (usually a URL) to any nearby device. They’re really easy to set up: the code is fully available on the mbed website, so all you’ll need to do is tell the beacon what to broadcast.
Technical details are better presented here, which happens to be the mbed-classic equivalent of this example. Please also refer to Google's URIBeacon project.
What You’ll Need
To get this going, you’ll need:
- To see URIBeacons get the *Physical Web* app installed on your phone:
- One of the BLE platforms listed in the README.md of this repository, for example a Nordic DK board.
Build Instructions
Building with mbed CLI
If you'd like to use mbed CLI to build this, then you should refer to the main readme. The instructions here relate to using the developer.mbed.org Online Compiler
In order to build this example in the mbed Online Compiler, first import the example using the ‘Import’ button on the right hand side.
Next, select a platform to build for. This must either be a platform that supports BLE, for example the NRF51-DK, or one of the following:
List of platforms supporting Bluetooth Low Energy
Or you must also add a piece of hardware and the supporting library that includes a Bluetooth Low Energy driver for that hardware, for example the K64F or NUCLEO_F401RE with the X-NUCLEO-IDB05A1
Once you have selected your platform, compile the example and drag and drop the resulting binary onto your board.
For general instructions on using the mbed Online Compiler, please see the mbed Handbook
Checking for Success
- Build the application and install it on your board as explained in the building instructions.
- Open the *Physical Web* application on your phone. It will start to search for nearby beacons.
figure 1 Start of the *Physical Web* application version 0.1.856 on Android
- When the beacon starts up, the Configuration Service runs for 60 seconds. During this time it is possible to change the URL advertised by the beacon. It is also important to note that during these 60 seconds, your device will not advertise any URL.
figure 2 How to open the beacon configuration view using the *Physical Web* application version 0.1.856 on Android
- Edit the URL advertised by your beacon.
figure 3 How to edit the URL advertised by your beacon using the *Physical Web* application version 0.1.856 on Android
- Save the URL which will be advertised by your beacon.
figure 4 How to save your beacon configuration and start advertising URL using the *Physical Web* application version 0.1.856 on Android.
- Find your device; it should advertise the URL you have set.
figure 5 Display of URL advertised by your beacon using the *Physical Web* application version 0.1.856 on Android.
Please note that the URIBeacon spec requires the URIBeacon app to remain in config mode for the first 60 seconds before switching to being a beacon. So if you're using a physical-web app, you'll only see the beacon after this period; if you're using one of the generic apps for BLE scanning, you should see a configurable beacon being advertised for the first 60 seconds.
You'll find links on Google's project page to client apps to test URIBeacon. Here's a link that should get you an Android App; please browse to `uribeacon-sample-release.apk`. But you should begin with the links to android apps mentioned above.
readme.md@0:45a261c84d32, 2016-07-26 (annotated)
- Committer:
- Vincent Coubard
- Date:
- Tue Jul 26 14:52:13 2016 +0100
- Revision:
- 0:45a261c84d32
- Child:
- 2:e075005e17d0
Update example at tag mbed-os-5.0.1-rc1
Who changed what in which revision?
User | Revision | Line number | New contents of line |
---|---|---|---|
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 1 | URI-Beacons are handy when there is a need to advertise a small amount of |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 2 | information (usually a URL) to any nearby device. They’re really easy to set |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 3 | up: the code is fully available on the mbed website, so all you’ll need to do |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 4 | is tell the beacon what to broadcast. |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 5 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 6 | Technical details are better presented [here](https://developer.mbed.org/teams/Bluetooth-Low-Energy/code/BLE_URIBeacon/), |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 7 | which happens to be the mbed-classic equivalent of this example. Please also refer to [Google's URIBeacon project](https://github.com/google/uribeacon). |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 8 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 9 | What You’ll Need |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 10 | ================ |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 11 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 12 | To get this going, you’ll need: |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 13 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 14 | - To see URIBeacons get the *Physical Web* app installed on your phone: |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 15 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 16 | - [Android version](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=physical_web.org.physicalweb) |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 17 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 18 | - [iOS version](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/physical-web/id927653608?mt=8) |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 19 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 20 | - One of the BLE platforms listed in the README.md of this repository, for example a |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 21 | Nordic DK board. |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 22 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 23 | Build Instructions |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 24 | ================== |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 25 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 26 | After cloning the parent repository, switch to the subfolder BLE_URIBeacon, and |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 27 | execute the following: |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 28 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 29 | ```Shell |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 30 | mbed compile -t <toolchain> -m <target> |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 31 | ``` |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 32 | Assuming that you're building for the nRF51 DK platform, available targets is |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 33 | `NRF51_DK`. |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 34 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 35 | The other targets you can use are described in the main README.md for this repository. |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 36 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 37 | The resulting binaries would be under `.build/<target_name>/<toolchain>/`. |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 38 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 39 | Under that folder, the file called `ble-uribeacon.hex` is the one which |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 40 | can be flashed to the target using mbed's DAP over USB; the parent README or the |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 41 | documentation for your yotta target will explain how to choose between the available |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 42 | binaries and hex files. |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 43 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 44 | Checking for Success |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 45 | ==================== |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 46 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 47 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 48 | 1. Build the application and install it on your board as explained in the building instructions. |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 49 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 50 | 1. Open the *Physical Web* application on your phone. It will start to search for nearby beacons. |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 51 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 52 | ![](img/app_start.png) |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 53 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 54 | **figure 1** Start of the *Physical Web* application version 0.1.856 on Android |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 55 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 56 | 1. When the beacon starts up, the Configuration Service runs for 60 seconds. |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 57 | During this time it is possible to change the URL advertised by the beacon. |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 58 | It is also important to note that during these 60 seconds, your device will not advertise any URL. |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 59 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 60 | ![](img/open_configuration.png) |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 61 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 62 | **figure 2** How to open the beacon configuration view using the *Physical Web* application version 0.1.856 on Android |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 63 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 64 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 65 | 1. Edit the URL advertised by your beacon. |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 66 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 67 | ![](img/edit_url.png) |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 68 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 69 | **figure 3** How to edit the URL advertised by your beacon using the *Physical Web* application version 0.1.856 on Android |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 70 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 71 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 72 | 1. Save the URL which will be advertised by your beacon. |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 73 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 74 | ![](img/save_url.png) |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 75 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 76 | **figure 4** How to save your beacon configuration and start advertising URL using the *Physical Web* application version 0.1.856 on Android. |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 77 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 78 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 79 | 1. Find your device; it should advertise the URL you have set. |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 80 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 81 | ![](img/result.png) |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 82 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 83 | **figure 5** Display of URL advertised by your beacon using the *Physical Web* application version 0.1.856 on Android. |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 84 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 85 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 86 | **Please note that the URIBeacon spec requires the URIBeacon app to remain in |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 87 | config mode for the first 60 seconds before switching to being a beacon. So if |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 88 | you're using a physical-web app, you'll only see the beacon after this period; |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 89 | if you're using one of the generic apps for BLE scanning, you should see a |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 90 | configurable beacon being advertised for the first 60 seconds.** |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 91 | |
Vincent Coubard |
0:45a261c84d32 | 92 | You'll find [links](https://github.com/google/uribeacon/tree/uribeacon-final#contents) on Google's project page to client apps to test URIBeacon. Here's a link that should get you an [Android App](https://github.com/google/uribeacon/releases/tag/v1.2); please browse to `uribeacon-sample-release.apk`. But you should begin with the links to android apps mentioned above. |