Using iPhone serial connection (pins 12 and 13)

Question

Ok, so I've never done anything with serial connections before. But...

I just got an Arduino that I am trying to use to remotely launch model rockets. I have a 5 volt relay that I can control with the Arduino's digital out.

Now, I want connect my iPhone's Tx to the Arduino's Rx and vice-versa. I would buy the iPhone breakout board from spark fun so I could connect it to the Arduino. (http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10645) I was thinking something along the lines of: when the phone gets a text or a call from a certain number, or maybe even just a bluetooth signal, it would tell the Arduino. But those are just ideas.

How can I actually send a signal from my iPhone? Are there xCode libraries to do this? My phone is jailbroken, so I am open to other non-apple ways for sending signals. But I am a novice programmer.

Thank you.

P.S. I'm new to Stack Overflow, and I would appreciate if you could help me. The first time I posted a question someone told me it wasn't on the right site. So please bear with me.

EDIT #1: Haha, I just read over this and it sounds like a cell phone bomb from a terrorist movie. I swear that's not what I'm doing. Just look at my avatar.

EDIT #2: I also have a Bluetooth dongle for the Arduino. But I honestly have no idea how to interface that with anything, it was $10 from China, so I thought I would buy it to keep my options open. But, regardless, it would be really cool to plug an iPhone into an Arduino.

Answer 1

You could buy a Redpark Serial Cable for iOS to connect the iPhone to your Arduino board over RS-232.

This book also seems to be helpful: iOS Sensor Apps with Arduino

EDIT: Redpark FAQ: http://redpark.com/c2db9_FAQs.html

There is a SDK available for this serial cable.

You will have trouble writing communication software when trying to connect directly to the dock connector! The External Accessory Framework wont help you here unless your Arduino board has a special decoding chip for dock connector communication.

Have fun!