What if you use your smartphone to control a robot and what if you put your programming skills into an Arduino-style IDE and prototype different things via USB and without wires? Yes, you can do it with one small device called Tah.
The Tah board is an open-source Arduino-compatible prototyping platform with built-in Bluetooth module and USB. The Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) module makes easier the connections between a smartphone and microcontroller board, so no wires and additional shields.
The idea to build this prototyping platform most probably is not accidental and both features (Bluetooth and USB) make me think that it is good enough to build applications for Internet of Things and Robotics areas.
It’s interesting to find out how hard is to build the first LED blinking application controllable via smartphone. Based on ATmega 32u4 microcontroller (similar to the Arduino Leonardo) it should be easy to build things using Arduino IDE and programming resources from Arduino. But this is just one side, the microcontroller side, and not the smartphone area. According to designers, the Android and iOS applications allow the makers and hackers to control the GPIO pins, and also the Bluetooth connection and peripherals.
Tah has nice peripherals including 16 analog I/O pins, 12 digital I/O pins (7 PWM), SPI and I2C protocols. All these features make simple the connection of external sensors.
The embedded platform can extend its tentacles with additional shields such as IR transceiver, relay and sensors shields, or UNO Breakout Shield featured to make Tah compatible with Arduino shields.
Arduino has a large community of makers and contributors ready to share their projects and ideas. The community is an important factor in the DIY culture, and this detail make the difference between winners and losers. If, in the coming period, one or more players are not very active in discussion and projects, the Tah project can be forgotten right enough after the crowdfunding campaign.
About the price, $49 is not relatively cheap for an Arduino-style embedded platform, but the price can get rid of the users and focus more on Bluetooth and USB features.
Tah is a niche product for Internet of Things and Robotics applications, but in the same time, it is a platform good enough to combine the Arduino skills with smartphone features.
Short presentation of Tah