How to connect a PC with Matlab to an Android device over USB?

I have Matlab installed on a laboratory control PC. On that computer I am going to program a script that carries out certain tasks, and one of them is to send some orders to an Android device. That device has to send information from its sensors when it receives the order.

If I could use Android Mobile it would be perfect because there I have everything I need, but I cannot connect any of the devices to the internet. My only solution is to communicate both devices via USB, but I can't figure out which protocol/functions I have to use (and I cannot use Simulink as I am using Psychtoolbox to program the experiment).

Do you know how to communicate and send/receive data over USB?

Thank you!

Answer 1

[Sutanu Maiti]

If you have Simulink, then you can use "Simulink Support package for Android Devices" which allows you to transfer sensor data to Simulink model during normal mode simulation:

Communicate with Hardware in Normal Mode Simulation Using Connected I/O - MATLAB & Simulink (mathworks.com)

Or, during external mode simulation:

Communicating with Android™ Devices - MATLAB & Simulink (mathworks.com)

Or, even you can deploy a Simulink model as a stand alone app that uses TCP / UDP blocks to send data back to MATLAB / Simulink:

Working with Android™ Devices Block Library - MATLAB & Simulink (mathworks.com)

[Jose Valenzuela Ruiz]

Hi Sutanu,

Thanks for your quick answer. I knew about this support package and I've already tested it but as I say, using Psychtoolbox I cannot work with Simulink. But I will check your links to see if I can find a way to extract the functions Simulink is using and play with a script using them.

Thanks a lot!