TM470 Project - time to reveal a bit about it

My project has an element to it that involves some electronics, and I've been informed by my tutor that the building of this hardware part cannot be considered as part of the TM470 project. In other words, I can't get any marks for that part, and as such it doesn't officially form part of my project. It's a shame really, because it's an integral part of my system, and without it there is no project. But those are the rules, so I will have to abide by them.

On the plus side, since this part is not marked, and doesn't form part of the official project, I see no reason at all why I can't write about it here, so from time to time, I intend to write about my progress in this area.

Today I made some positive steps with what I will refer to as my 'bluetooth transmitter'. At this stage, it's just a prototype, and it will eventually be miniaturised somewhat, but the basic idea is the same.

The transmitter unit is based on the Arduino and a cheap bluetooth module from off ebay. The idea is that it takes readings from a wheel/disc and transmits that to the receiver unit which forms another part of my system. I won't say any more about the rest of the system at this stage , as I'm not sure whether that would contravene some of the OU rules.

Here are a few pictures of what I have so far...

bluetooth transmitter on breadboard

hooked up to the Arduino

test rig

sensor and magnet (and rolled up train ticket)

Right now, I have a simple prototype with data being exchanged successfully between a Java program on the PC and the Arduino. More to come later...