go-row

README

go-row

Go-row is a Bluetooth LE bridge, written in Go, to convert a Concept2 PM5 rower into a Bluetooth Cycle Power and Running Speed services.

This lets you to use a Concept2 rower in cycling/runnning games such a Zwift.

Good to know...

• Runs on Debian, Ubuntu, Raspbian... etc.
• Runs perfectly on a Raspberry Pi Zero W

But specifically..

• As mentioned, works great on a Raspberry Pi Zero W
• Requires Bluetooth 4.1+ chipsets (allowing clients and servers to run simultaneously)

Quick Start

Assuming a clean install of Raspbian on an Raspberry Pi Zero W...

apt-get install golang
go get "github.com/mrverrall/go-row"
sudo ~/go/bin/go-row

Cycling cadance is set to 3x the rowing SPM and running cadance 6x.

Need more info?

Obtaining and Building

To compile go-row into an executable the Go compliler is required, to install on Raspbian do,

sudo apt-get install golang

Use 'go get' to download go-row and all it's dependancies,

go get "github.com/mrverrall/go-row"

This also builds go-row so you can now run it like so,

sudo ~/go/bin/go-row

First Row

Ensure your BT device meets minimum version (4.1). Did I mention Raspberry Pis with built in Bluetooth chipsets are fine?

sudo hciconfig hci0 up
hciconfig -a

The returned output includes your HCI version, similar to:

hci0:   Type: Primary  Bus: UART
        ...
        HCI Version: 4.1 (0x7)  Revision: 0x168
        ...

Go-row needs control of your bluetooth hardware. This can be done by either running with with sudo or assigning the capabilities to the go-row executable like so,

sudo setcap 'cap_net_raw,cap_net_admin=eip' ./go-row

Now you are ready to run (or cycle)!

./go-row

Connecting to your Rower and Game

While go-row is running select 'connect' from the main PM5 menu, connection is then automatic.

Once connected to a PM5 go-row will advertise the cycle and running services over bluetooth. Within your game/app select the 'go-row' device.

Row!

Installing as a service

It's easy to run go-row automatically on boot. This is ideal if you want a 'plug and play' setup without needing your device (like a Raspberry Pi Zero W) plugged into anything but power. In Raspbian this is acheived with systemd service.

An example systemd service file is included in this repository.

To install as a boot service with systemd, edit the "ExecStart" path in the service file to the location your compiled go-row executable.

Copy your service file to '/var/lib/systemd/system/go-row.service'. then,

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable go-row.service
sudo systemctl start go-row.service

Check your service is ruuning with,

sudo systemctl status go-row.service