Simblee Breakout Board Hookup Guide
This Tutorial is Retired!
This tutorial covers concepts or technologies that are no longer current. It's still here for you to read and enjoy, but may not be as useful as our newest tutorials.
SFUptownMaker Introduction
The SparkFun Simblee Breakout Board is a programmable board that allows you to add mobile app functionality via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE, or Bluetooth 4.0) to your embedded projects. Unlike other BLE solutions, the Simblee requires no specialized app development skills to realize the phone-side interface; all the necessary coding is done in the Arduino environment and then uploaded to a browser app on the phone.
If you want to skip directly to writing code, we have another tutorial covering coding concepts that are common to all Simblee products. If you're looking for a sewable solution, checkout out our Simblee LilyPad Board.
Recommended Reading
There are a few topics you may want to be sure you understand before you go any further.
- Bluetooth Basics - While Bluetooth 4.0 is quite different to previous versions of Bluetooth, our Basics tutorial will give you some insight into the methods and goals of Bluetooth in general.
- Serial Communication - You'll want to make sure you understand serial communication, as that will be a major means of debugging your Simblee sketch during development.
- Logic Levels - The Simblee runs at 3.3V. Make sure you understand the difference between 3.3V and 5V logic levels before you start connecting things to the Simblee or you may damage it!