How to use Bluetooth with ESP32 & NodeMCU in Lua

Question

How can I use the bthci Bluetooth module in Lua language?

I used the NodeMCU Builder to make my firmware(dev-esp32), but there is no checkbox for the Bluetooth. Is it possible to use Bluetooth?

Answer 1

For now (i.e. until BT support is available for the cloud build) you need to build the firmware yourself if you need BT support. I suggest you start with the Docker image specifically built for that as per our documentation at https://nodemcu.readthedocs.io/en/dev-esp32/build/#docker-image.

The actual challenge is to know what BT options you need to turn on in the ESP-IDF - those are specific for your use case. https://github.com/espressif/esp-idf/tree/master/examples/bluetooth contains a number of examples and each one has a list of required flags in its sdkconfig.defaults file e.g. https://github.com/espressif/esp-idf/blob/master/examples/bluetooth/hci/controller_hci_uart/sdkconfig.defaults

Is it possible to use Bluetooth?

Yes, it is. The configuration is more complicated than with other modules as it is so versatile.