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Show HN: Bluetooth USB Peripheral Relay – Bridge Bluetooth Devices to USB

(github.com)
233 points bahaaador | 4 comments | 13 Nov 24 13:24 UTC | HN request time: 0.605s | source

Hi HN! I built Bluetooth USB Peripheral Relay, a tool that lets Bluetooth devices (like keyboards and mice) connect to USB-only hosts using a Raspberry Pi Zero W.

Why? My friend needed a way to use his Bluetooth mouse and keyboard on a PC with Bluetooth disabled due to policy restrictions. This tool acts as a bridge, relaying Bluetooth input over USB. It also lets you use Bluetooth peripherals with older devices that only support USB input.

Tech: Written in Go, optimized for Raspberry Pi Zero W.

I love HN’s community and often lurk here—I’m hoping this project is useful or at least sparks some interesting discussions. Feedback and contributions are welcome!

1. waiquoo ◴[13 Nov 24 13:47 UTC] No.42126044[source]▶
This is awesome! I have some serial devices (RS 232) that I've wished I could make wireless. Are there any similar projects to bluetooth serial comms?
replies(3): >>42126212 #>>42126242 #>>42130005 #
2. wdfx ◴[13 Nov 24 14:06 UTC] No.42126212[source]▶
You can just buy a very cheap module which does this directly, commonly called HC-06 or HC-05

e.g. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33010159305.html?spm=a2g0o.p...

3. HeyLaughingBoy ◴[13 Nov 24 14:11 UTC] No.42126242[source]▶
You can, of course, DIY something easily enough but you can also purchase devices like this off the shelf. Needing to make legacy RS232 devices wirelessly available is a common problem in industry. Search for "wireless RS232 gateway" and you should be able to find a ton of stuff.

If you still want to DIY, an ESP32 (BLE and Wi-Fi capable microcontroller) board, and an RS232 to logic-level breakout board should be all you need. Again, I'm sure if you search, you'll find existing projects doing exactly this.

If it's not actually at RS232 voltage levels and Classic Bluetooth is enough, then something like this will work just fine: https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Bluetooth-Transceiver-Integr...

4. agapon ◴[13 Nov 24 21:07 UTC] No.42130005[source]▶
You may find esp-link interesting: https://github.com/jeelabs/esp-link I've built a WiFi<->RS232 bridge using the firmware, ESP8266 and a UART<->RS232 converter module. All hardware is very cheap.