After a few weeks of testing, we are ready to release some new features and updates to the ioBridge.com interface. Everything will be live the next time you sign into ioBridge.com.
Here is a list of the key updates and new features:
Drag-and-drop Dashboard
Your dashboard is now customizable. You can move around your widgets to create a dashboard for your specific application or requirements. There are three columns your widgets can be place, where the center column is wider to accommodate charts and larger widgets. To drag a widget, click and hold on the Widget Label Bar and move it where you want it placed. To edit the widget quickly, click on the gear icon.
Drag-and-Drop Dashboard
Data Feed API v2
The Data Feed API has been completely updated. Our API is opening all of the time and we wanted to set the stage with a revamped Data Feed API with a RESTful interface. We added support for SSL and the ioBridge IO-204-PRO. We also added keys for the onboard variables that you can write to offline. Check out the Data Feed API v2 documentation for more information and the complete change list and sample projects.
Module Interface
We cleaned up the Module Interface by adding tabs and adding direct access to your Onboard Rules and Actions. From one interface you can setup the module, control outputs, and configure onboard rules and logic without using multiple sections of the interface.
Automated Setup
Prior to this update, you had to configure the channel settings and then create a widget. It’s easy to miss one of the steps. Now when you create an X10 Widget, for example, the interface automatically configures the channel for X10. This also works for Server-side Actions and Data Logging.
We hope that you put the new features to good use. Let us know how the new features and updates work out for you and keep us updated with anything new we should be doing. Stay tuned…we got more hardware and features that are coming soon…including an API for external plugins.
Rogier Honselaar is a tech consultant in Germany. He wanted to be able to control a cat door remotely and also be notified when his cat came home.
"Gonzo" loves his automated cat door
As with most projects, Rogier started searching the Internet and found some interesting projects. He got the idea to combine some of his favorite projects and make a remotely controlled cat door and alert system for his cat, “Gonzo”.
When the idea was there, the execution was very easy using the IObridge module and components.
Rogier installed a Cat Mate Cat Door in his basement. The cat door opens when the electromagnet senses a magnet in the cat’s collar. By running the sensor and switch over the the ioBridge IO-204, Rogier can be open and close the door remotely. He is also able to monitor when the cat comes in and out of the door. The messages get pushed to Ping.fm via the IO-204 and ioBridge web service. Rogier and his neighbor follows his cat on Twitter @fellnasegonzo to make sure Gonzo is home safe and sound.
Cat Mate Automated Cat Door
Cat Door Switch and Sensor
At ioBridge.com, Rogier created a few control and monitor widgets. With some help from a friend, he controls and reads the widgets via a net-connected Windows Mobile app on his cellphone and can open and close the cat door on his Windows Home Server.
Windows Mobile Cat Door Control App
Windows Home Server Interface
Thanks for sending us the project details – we are happy to share. You combined some very interesting things together and created a very useful project. We wish you and Gonzo well and hope you enjoy the new cat door! Who let the cat out? Meow.
Over 2000 people came to the first annual Maker Faire North Carolina in Durham, NC. There were makers from all over. It was a blast!
We had on display web-enabled robots, toys, and interactive projects created by the ioBridge community. Some of those projects included, an iPhone and Twitter controlled Donkey Kong, X10 controlled lamp, streaming temperature sensor, and a remote controlled dog treat dispenser.
While we were there, we captured some footage of our projects on display and exhibits that we were able to see. There were so many great projects and so little time. We made a quick YouTube video and posted pictures to the ioBridge Flickr group.
Thanks to all of the volunteers, exhibitors, and sponsors who made the Maker Faire NC such a success.
Mobile Monday Amsterdam was held March 29th De Duif, Amsterdam. This talk was centered around The Internet of Things and brought together creative minds, projects, and presentations.
Martijn Pannevis (@PanMan) created the MomoMeter which is a physical meter that takes the pulse of Twitter for certain trending topics and hashtags. The thing gives you visual feedback on your pervasiveness on the real-time web. Martijn’s project uses an ioBridge IO-204, servo controller, and servo. He built a web app that queries the Twitter API and sends relative servo positions to the ioBridge Web API which moves the meter needle accordingly. Martijn Pannevis explains how to build your own internet of things thing with his presentation. (Photos by Filip Bunkens)
Any good SkyNet starts with a robot. Well, we are in luck…User “badcat89″ posted in our forum about a Web-enabled, Wireless Robot that is controlled via a web interface. We can imagine a swarm of robots controlled by data received from the web.
Web Powered Robot
The robot uses a pair of serial bluetooth adapters to form a wireless link with the ioBridge IO-204. The serial levels of the IO-204 are TTL and a circuit using the MAX-232 was required to allow the serial interface work properly. On the robot is a set of serial servo drivers that control the steering and speed.
IO-204 and Serial Bluetooth Adpater
The interface is standard web page using an embedded ioBridge.com serial widget to make the connection to the IO-204 base station module. You can control the direction and throttle by clicking on the itnerface and using the up and down arrow keys on your keyboard. The interface generates serial strings that the serial servo drivers react to when received. You can see the strings and the serial widget in the debug part of the web interface.
Web-based Robot Controls
Here is a YouTube video of the web powered robot in action -- looks like a lot of fun to drive. One step closer…
Eric Edwards of EJESolar.com created a system that takes solar energy and heats water for his home. He uses Sun Strip Solar panels to heat the water. With a single solar panel Eric is able to heat a 60 gallon tank to temperatures beyond 160°F. He uses the ioBridge IO-204 to data log and actively monitors the water heating system by getting alerts and updates on his mobile phone.
Water Tank and ioBridge IO-204
ioBridge IO-204 with Temperature Sensors
Eric monitors and data logs the temperatures of the the hot water storage tank, the collectors, and the outside temperature in real-time using the ioBridge IO-204 and temperature sensors. This data allows Eric to calculate BTUs collected per day and translate into a dollar figure to track savings. He has surrounded himself with the data to make sure there is no system damage, freezing, etc., by creating a web site to view the data, setting ioBridge message alerts, and using a Google Gadget to display the temperatures collected by the IO-204.
Visit EJESolar.com to see a live view of the data collected by the solar hot water system as well as some more details behind this solar hot water heating system. Ingenious!
Screen Shot of Solar Array and Collected Data (EJESolar.com)
Thomas W. Lewis produced two excellent projects to remotely control his HVAC system and monitor his home power usage.
He wanted to turn off his HVAC system completely before leaving for an extended period of time, like going on vacation, and then turn it back on just before he gets to his house. Thomas found the controls wires on the thermostat and uses a relay to turn on or off the thermostat. He made it remote controllable with the ioBridge IO-204 module and control widgets placed on a mobile phone.
HVAC and Thermostat Control with the ioBridge IO-204
In additional to remotely being able to shut down his HVAC system, Thomas also monitors his temperature and whole house power using the analog inputs of the IO-204. He used AC clamps around the house power mains to get a power utilization relative to the current through the wires.
Power Monitoring for the Whole House
More details and photos are available on Thomas’ Smart Grid section of his blog.
LaserPup is burning up the Internet. Joe of laserpup.com has created an interactive, Internet controlled and monitored pet toy, for his fluffy dog Skyler. Joe can log into an “iPhone friendly web app” that allows him to watch his dog from work, click a button to sound off a buzzer, and play with the dog using a laser pointer by clicking around his web interface. The system uses a couple of servos for x and y axis movement of the laser pointer and a few ioBridge widgets to make things work in the web app. Some dogs and cats love the laser pointer, chasing the light source all around -- it’s healthy, fun exercise for pets in moderation.
When we first heard of the project, we thought this has something to do with dogs doing epic battles with lasers (nice Star Trek and ‘Skyborg’ reference, btw), but this is a very practical project. On the laserpup.com you will find a video, instructions, screen captures, and all of the de-tails to make your own Internet controlled pet toy for dogs and cats (I have to believe they will love it too). Awesome project Joe and thanks for sharing LaserPup with all of us. This YouTube video, enhanced with some Daft Punk, says the rest.
Polymythic released another amazing project using his favorite microcontroller (the Arduino) and the ioBridge IO-204 driving the interface. The context for Steve’s latest project is “How do I get the Arduino and ioBridge to work together?” and “My friend wants to shot Airsoft targets in his house”. When you combine those two thoughts you end up with an automated, in-house Airsoft target range. He loads up a target program using a web page (via his iPod Touch) which sends command via the IO-204 to the Arduino which in turn controls servos that have target faces on them. By the looks of the Wolfenstein perspective in the video, the system looks fun to play with.
The interaction between the Arduino and the ioBridge IO-204 is done by using the PWM output of the ioBridge servo module to a PWM input on the Arduino. The interface is a web page of widgets that when clicked, sends a specific PWM output value. When you click a button, “800″, the ioBridge servo board sends “800″ to the Arduino and the Arduino executes a function in a look up table. The Arduino also triggers an output pin that is sent back to the ioBridge module to tell the ioBridge module it’s ready for another command. Very clever.
Check out the “Arduino/ioBridge Airsoft Target Range” blog post on Steve’s Polymythic Blog for a full write up on the project, Arduino source code, and a full-length instructional video — the whole shooting match. You can also find a few posts on his blog about weaving and bow making and the original Serv O’Beer project.
Posted in Source Code by iobridge
December 20, 2008
The iPod Touch and iPhone have an accelerometer that adjusts the screen orientation (among other things). You can tap into the orientation and execute widgets depending on the orientation of the device by using a simple HTML file with some Javascript. Put an HTML file on a web server that you can get to on your iPod Touch or iPhone.
Part of the Apple Web Kit is the command “onorientationchange”. We will use that to detect the orientation change and call a script called “updateOrientation()”.
Add the following command to the BODY tag:
1
onorientationchange="updateOrientation();"
Place the following function in the HEAD of the document and call certain widgets at the specific orientation angles of 0°, -90°, and 90°. You can call any type of widget adjusting the position of a servo, controlling a digital output, or setting the state of an X10 widget.
