MMM-OralB / Bluetooth equipped toothbrush integration

[Fistandantilus]

I have just written an additional request to PG asking for support. Lets see if I get an answer…

[SvenSommer]

I’m still hoping some genius starts to hack the protocol. This is the tricky part. Once this is done, building a module for the MM-framework is a walk in the park.

[uhorn]

Hi everybody,

i’m a developer too and also very interested in solving this use case. At the moment i consider to build up my own magic mirror, but it depends on some useful features i want to have a real benefit from it.

Actually i want to simply get the “start” and the “stop” signal from the brush to display a timer, which is stopped on “stop” and resumed on “start”.

Other features are more unnecessary sugar in my opinion. I’m using electric toothbrushes from Braun/Oral-B since about 20 years from now. I never changed the brush mode (if i had to, i could feel the mode. they are very various) and i’m ignoring the segmented Ring, the motivation Smiley and the star rating consequent 2 times a day.

2 years ago my toothbrush gone broken so i’ve got a new one. At this point i noticed, that both “Smart Guides” (that’s the shipped displays with Oral-B brushes) getting “start” signal from one brush.
This means there a no “pairings” or “syncs” between the smart guide and the brush. (maybe some days my neighbor will trigger this… :D )
Also my new brush is the first one advertising bluetooth integration. This leads to my assumption that “Smart Guides” not using bluetooth in anyway.

I’m not really experienced or well educated in electronic components, but maybe there is something like a proprietary radio antenna, waiting for a simple signal.
Maybe it’s possible to build up the same radio trigger with an antenna like the “Smart Guide” is using?

Any ideas if this would be possible?

Greetings

[CedericPrivat]

Someone on the Home Assistant Forum seems to have the code figured out:
https://community.home-assistant.io/t/oral-b-bluetooth-connected-toothbrush/35595/10

Is it now possible, to display the same information like the app does?

[lavolp3]

Guys, I would like to relive this topic. Using the project from the home assistant guy( who even referenced us :-) ) and our combined effort we should be able to reach something, shouldn’t we?

@SvenSommer are you still listening? :-) I’ve looked through your repository but have not found a final implementation of a timer. There is still no server-client communication, or have I overseen something?

The problem is still that every toothbrush version may behave a bit differently but having at least a timer on the mirror and maybe even a bit more (battery status) after that would be a big win.

So while I’m trying to understand this code https://github.com/rfaelens/domotica/blob/master/mqtt-toothbrush.py which should present at least part of the solution, I’m happy for everyone who joins the effort to make toothbrushing great again!!

[lavolp3]

Exciting times!!

I have been able to move a bit further on this (I think)
With the help of this linkedin post (which funnily enough referenced this forum) and above mentioned post in the home-assistant forum I was able to dive a bit deeper into noble and the BLE interaction.
The current status:

• I can read out battery status!! (with the help of this gitlab snippet (yeay!)
• I receive data when turning the brush on and off (and on again) and am able to filter this data. However I’m completely new to noble, the BLE services system and apparently need to learn a lot.
• I am using the npm module @abandonware/noble since the original noble has not been maintained for a few years.
• For some odd reason, I needed to put my js file into the noble folder and work from there. Still need to try working in the oral-b main folder

Here’s what I have learned:

According to the linkedin post (and I could validate that) the “manufacturerData” is NOT a fixed brush-specific value BUT CONTAINS ACTUALLY USEFUL INFORMATION. And it changes. Some of the brush information is written into this entry. You can get the status of the brush and the running time from this.
The question of course is if this is really needed.

From my point of view you only need a reliable signal when turning on and off the brush. I’m not sure if I have that already, @SvenSommer might have been already further than I am now, but it is still exciting.
It is still a problem for me to properly talk to the brush :-D . I would like to have a constant flow of information (at least receive the “manufacturedata” every second or so) when the brush is active, and currently I don’t know how to do that. Guess I need to trigger this somehow with noble.

TODOs:

• Implement a timer into the module and check if the current setup works well enough.
• Find more characteristics to use as data source
• Find out how to constantly trigger the brush to send its manufacturedata.

And finally here’s my code:

var async = require('async');
var noble = require('@abandonware/noble');

//var OralB_manufacturerData = 'dc0003220c0328000001010004';
process.env['NOBLE_HCI_DEVICE_ID'] = 0

noble.on('stateChange', function(state) {
    console.log('Changed state to:' + noble.state);
    if (state === 'poweredOn') {
        noble.startScanning([], true);
    } else  {
        console.log('changed state to: ' + noble.state);
        noble.stopScanning();
    }
});


console.log('Searching for OralB Toothbrushes');

noble.on('discover', function(peripheral) {
  var ad = peripheral.advertisement || "";
  if (ad.localName == "Oral-B Toothbrush") {
    //console.log('Found device with local name: ' + ad.localName);
    //console.log('advertising the following service uuid\'s: ' + ad.serviceUuids);
    //console.log("ID: "+peripheral.id);
    //console.log("Advertisement: "+ad);
    if (ad.manufacturerData) {
        console.log(ad.manufacturerData.toString('hex'));
        //console.log('Found OralB Toothbrush with ID: ' + peripheral.id);
        noble.stopScanning();
        peripheral.connect(function(error) {
          if (error) {
            console.log("Error connecting to peripheral: " +error)
          } else {
            console.log('Connected to peripheral: ' + peripheral.uuid);
            peripheral.discoverServices([], function(error, services) {
              console.log("Discovering services...")
              if (error) {
                  console.log("ERROR while discovering peripherals: " + error);
              } else {
                  /*console.log('discovered the following services:');
                  for (var i in services) {
                      console.log('  ' + i + ' uuid: ' + services[i].uuid);
                  }*/
                  discoverChars(services[3]);
                  /*setTimeout(() => {
                    noble.startScanning([], true);
                  }, 1000);*/

              }
              //peripheral.disconnect();
            });
          }
        });

        peripheral.on('disconnect', function() {
          //process.exit(0);
          console.log("Peripheral disconnected. Scanning again!");
          noble.startScanning();
        });
    }
  };
});


function discoverChars(service) {
  service.discoverCharacteristics(null, function(error, characteristics) {
    //console.log(characteristics);
    for (var i in characteristics) {
      var charUUID = characteristics[i].uuid;
      //console.log("UUID: "+charUUID);
      if (characteristics[i].uuid == "a0f0ff0550474d5382084f72616c2d42") {
        characteristics[i].subscribe(function(error){
            if(error !== null) console.log("error", error);
        });
        characteristics[i].on('data', function(data, isNotification){
            valueInt = data.readInt8(0);
            //console.log("Battery: "+valueInt+"%")
        });
        characteristics[i].read(function(error, data) {
            if (data) {
              valueInt = data.readInt8(0);
              console.log("Battery: "+valueInt+"%")
            }
        });
      }
    }
  });
}

[SvenSommer]

@lavolp3 Thanks for your post. I will have a look into this, hopefully in the next week! I’m still convinced we should build this module.

[lavolp3]

@SvenSommer Thanks Sven and good you’re back on this :-)

I have one question on noble I can’t figure out.
with noble.on('discover') I can exchange information on discovery, so as soon as the brush sends a certain signal. All good.
But how can I trigger the brush to send its manufacturedata, let’s say, every 2 seconds?
Or is that not possible at all?

[lavolp3]

A small heads-up: Still not getting to terms with noble.

But as I had some connection problems today, I used bluetoothctl again to connect to my brush.
And found out that scanning with bluetoothctl gets a constant output of the manufacturerData of the brush.

With bluetoothctl it would be able to get information on

• running time
• mode (on/off)
• quadrant
  in an interval of like 10 seconds

[timodejong95]

Hey guys,

I have tracked this topic for a while and I have created an own module for bluetooth devices based on (https://github.com/Hypfer/Cybele). Currently only Oral B toothbrush is supported: https://github.com/timodejong95/MMM-BluetoothDevices

I am still testing it but it seems to work stable’ish. Although I cannot test it with an actual mirror because that is still work in progress. If you want to check it out and test be my guest. If you have any improvements or tips let me know!

Hope this helps out.

[lavolp3]

@timodejong95 GREAT!!
I’ll try it out now.
One comment to the readme.
You have given the config entry in JSON style (with hyphens around the keys).
Config entries are in JS style.
I guess devices should also be an array of JS objects?

Then it should be like this:

    {
      module: "MMM-BluetoothDevices",
      position: "bottom_bar",
      config: {
        devices: [
          { type: "OralBToothbrush", name: "OralB", mac: "" }
        ]
      }
    },

[lavolp3]

@lavolp3 Also mentioning in the Readme that npm install is necessary would be helpful

[lavolp3]

OK I have a first error message

[15:04:46.174] [ERROR]  15:04:46 <error> (node:1454) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Error: No such interface found
    at /home/pi/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-BluetoothDevices/node_modules/dbus-native/lib/introspect.js:31:23
    at Parser.<anonymous> (/home/pi/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-BluetoothDevices/node_modules/xml2js/lib/parser.js:304:18)
    at Parser.emit (events.js:182:13)
    at SAXParser.onclosetag (/home/pi/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-BluetoothDevices/node_modules/xml2js/lib/parser.js:262:26)
    at emit (/home/pi/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-BluetoothDevices/node_modules/sax/lib/sax.js:624:35)
    at emitNode (/home/pi/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-BluetoothDevices/node_modules/sax/lib/sax.js:629:5)
    at closeTag (/home/pi/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-BluetoothDevices/node_modules/sax/lib/sax.js:889:7)
    at SAXParser.write (/home/pi/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-BluetoothDevices/node_modules/sax/lib/sax.js:1436:13)
    at Parser.exports.Parser.Parser.parseString (/home/pi/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-BluetoothDevices/node_modules/xml2js/lib/parser.js:323:31)
    at Parser.parseString (/home/pi/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-BluetoothDevices/node_modules/xml2js/lib/parser.js:5:59) (/home/pi/MagicMirror/internal/process/warning.js:18 writeOut)

no Toothbrush activated yet. Only started the mirror with npm start dev.
Running on a RasPi 3b w/ on-board bluetooth

[timodejong95]

Ooh good one, I have some time tonight, will update the docs.

Hmm you running on raspberry pi do you got bluetooth enabled? Can you find the toothbrush if you use the GUI bluetooth?

If you got the time could we skype or call, it’s faster to tackle issueus, PM me about that.

[lavolp3]

@timodejong95 that’s rather difficult for me juggling with family, (home) office and several other things I have to say. Will think about this and let you know.

I have worked successfully with bluetoothctl and noble (npm).
Both were able to connect to the brush.
With bluetoothctl I got a constant stream of the manufacturer data that contains some info. (see above)
I used that straight from the console.

[lavolp3]

@timodejong95 OK I have identified the source of the error.
It originated from the connectDevice function on Dongle.js
I had a wrong mac address for the brush which leads to an unresolved promise.
Good luck finding the promise :smiling_face_with_open_mouth_smiling_eyes:
(I love/hate promises…)

Correcting the mac address I get new unresolved rejection errors.

[11:54:35.940] [LOG]    11:54:35 <log> Retrying Dirks OralB 2/3 (/home/pi/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-BluetoothDevices/src/Device.js:42 Promise)
[11:54:35.964] [ERROR]  11:54:35 <error> (node:23373) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Software caused connection abort (/home/pi/MagicMirror/internal/process/warning.js:18 writeOut)
[11:54:35.970] [ERROR]  11:54:35 <error> (node:23373) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Unhandled promise rejection. This error originated either by throwing inside of an async function without a catch block, or by rejecting a promise which was not handled with .catch(). (rejection id: 1) (/home/pi/MagicMirror/internal/process/warning.js:18 writeOut)
[11:54:35.975] [ERROR]  11:54:35 <error> (node:23373) [DEP0018] DeprecationWarning: Unhandled promise rejections are deprecated. In the future, promise rejections that are not handled will terminate the Node.js process with a non-zero exit code. (/home/pi/MagicMirror/internal/process/warning.js:18 writeOut)
[11:55:16.260] [LOG]    11:55:16 <log> Retrying Dirks OralB 3/3 (/home/pi/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-BluetoothDevices/src/Device.js:42 Promise)
[11:55:16.275] [ERROR]  11:55:16 <error> (node:23373) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Software caused connection abort (/home/pi/MagicMirror/internal/process/warning.js:18 writeOut)
[11:55:16.279] [ERROR]  11:55:16 <error> (node:23373) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Unhandled promise rejection. This error originated either by throwing inside of an async function without a catch block, or by rejecting a promise which was not handled with .catch(). (rejection id: 2) (/home/pi/MagicMirror/internal/process/warning.js:18 writeOut)
[11:55:56.582] [ERROR]  11:55:56 <error> (node:23373) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Error: Couldn't connect to Dirks OralB after 4 tries.
    at Promise (/home/pi/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-BluetoothDevices/src/Device.js:46:16)
    at new Promise (<anonymous>)
    at tryConnect (/home/pi/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-BluetoothDevices/src/Device.js:40:14)
    at Object.iFace.Connect (/home/pi/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-BluetoothDevices/src/Device.js:56:13)
    at EventEmitter.<anonymous> (/home/pi/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-BluetoothDevices/node_modules/dbus-native/lib/bus.js:140:19)
    at EventEmitter.emit (events.js:187:15)
    at /home/pi/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-BluetoothDevices/node_modules/dbus-native/index.js:106:14
    at Socket.<anonymous> (/home/pi/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-BluetoothDevices/node_modules/dbus-native/lib/message.js:55:9)
    at Socket.emit (events.js:182:13)
    at emitReadable_ (_stream_readable.js:540:12) (/home/pi/MagicMirror/internal/process/warning.js:18 writeOut)
[11:55:56.588] [ERROR]  11:55:56 <error> (node:23373) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Unhandled promise rejection. This error originated either by throwing inside of an async function without a catch block, or by rejecting a promise which was not handled with .catch(). (rejection id: 3) (/home/pi/MagicMirror/internal/process/warning.js:18 writeOut)
[11:55:56.593] [ERROR]  11:55:56 <error> (node:23373) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Software caused connection abort (/home/pi/MagicMirror/internal/process/warning.js:18 writeOut)
[11:55:56.599] [ERROR]  11:55:56 <error> (node:23373) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Unhandled promise rejection. This error originated either by throwing inside of an async function without a catch block, or by rejecting a promise which was not handled with .catch(). (rejection id: 4) (/home/pi/MagicMirror/internal/process/warning.js:18 writeOut)

So… Software caused connection abort. Don’t know what that means unfortunately. Guess I need to learn a bit more about the connection process. But I get the feeling that this module is a bit too complex for just using with my toothbrush.
Let me know if you know my problem.

[timodejong95]

@lavolp3 Check, I will update the docs, with more info soon.

Yeah promises could be really nice if implemented correctly, now debugging is a pain because the error logs are not as useful. I will make this better in the coming week.

When you hit the web interfase the node_helper is triggered, do you then have your brush on? Because when you start up the first time, alle the devices should be on and ready to connect.

[timodejong95]

I have tweaked the code a bit towards better exception handling, this might be helpful for you

[djerik]

Works great with my Oral B 9000!

Notes:

• I had to change the git clone to https instead of git clone git@github.com:timodejong95/MMM-BluetoothDevices.git
• Copying the file MMM.conf requires administrative rights
• I used bluetoothctl to find the MAC of the toothbrush

[timodejong95]

@djerik Nice! Good to hear, and thanks for the feedback I will update the readme where needed!