hi

I taught a class back in January using 40 of the BT modules from the first batch.

A few notes:

– Negotiating the serial connection is tricky. Works best on the Mac; Windows has big problems finding a high-numbered serial port.

– We had many units going at once in the same room, so interaction is not an issue. You have to run a setup script to change the name and passcode of the individual module(s) though.

– One group of students did get two or three modules working on one computer. The biggest problem will be how Max deals with the multiple ports. The BT is not an ideal solution, since, as I understand it, the MAC was making virtual com ports for each connection, which are not very efficient. The BT does not come with any driver software, so your computer takes care of that in a very inefficient high-level way.

Having said the above, all 40 or so of my beginner students created embodied computing works that fed data wirelessly to Max and other software, so it’s not that hard to get them working.
Arduino is a hacker’s platform though with no official support other than the community forum, so don;t expect to have the same experience as you would buying a Teleo or an ICube. You will have to work for it.

Daniel