Smart-Vegetable Garden (Panasonic)  

Four leaf vegetables can be grown in one so-called “Smart Vegetable Garden” (which is sized at 100x50x30cm) at the same time, with Panasonic claiming that owners can expect to harvest them in about 40 days – 30% less than using conventional methods. Apart from saving time, the device also integrates a cloud-based management system to track growth, for example by automatically screening the level of water and nutrients, or the temperature.

You have to admit, that is pretty cool.  I’m not sure if I’m down with the almost $8k price tag, but monitoring and tracking the growth from the internet is a pretty sweet.

Connected Cars (Mercedes, Audi, Ford) 

As each year passes, the connected car makes more of a noise at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. This year several car manufacturers were touting new features, including Mercedes-Benz, Ford and Audi. The term “connected car” refers to the integration of smartphone apps and content into the car. Typically this is done via the car’s dashboard, enabling you to listen to online music, access Web data, stream video to the car’s passengers and more. In this post we’ll look at three such systems: Ford Sync, Mercedes-Benz mbrace2 and Audi Connect.

My favorite out of these is the Ford integration with the new Focus Electric.  If I had an electric car, I’d want all that information on tap.  Check out the demo from CES.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=86Yj2WQL3n8

Health Monitoring (MyBasis)

The world’s first connected health and heart rate monitor wearable on the wrist. A multi-sensor band collects data like heart rate, calories burned, physical activity and sleep patterns and links to a personal online dashboard.

There have been a few other competitors in this space but this is the first one I’ve seen that collects heart rate.  I’m a bit skeptical on how good it can be, because in my own experience the only way to get a consistent heart rate reading is by wearing one of those uncomfortable chest straps.  If they can do it well it could be a product I’d be personally interested in.

Twittering Tree (Ericsson)

 …a tweeting tree that was equipped with sensors to automatically send out Twitter messages when its leaves were stroked. But most impressive was the live demonstration of “capacitive coupling,” which transferred a digital photograph electronically through Vestberg’s body, from the phone in his left hand to the workstation he was touching with his right.  (From Mashable)

Internet connected demos like tweeting trees, toasters and Donkey Kong toys are becoming quite the trend of the showroom floors / demo pits. (Warning:  Shameless plug on our own blog) Crowd pleasing internet-enabled, inanimate objects are so much easier to do these days with things like ioBridge.

“Soon, I will be able connect to the robots in my home, and MyRobots will provide me with their current status such as if all is well, they have a problem or even if they require maintenance. MyRobots will inform me in real-time of any action I need to take, thus facilitating the coexistence and communication between mankind and these increasingly intelligent machines.” -Mario Tremblay, RobotShop CEO

Internet of Things Scale

Social networking services like Twitter process over 200 million Tweets a day and when everyday objects and robots come online in the way that we see it, this number will be crushed. RobotShop built their new platform on top of ThingSpeak which is a highly scalable infrastructure for the Internet of Things created by ioBridge. ThingSpeak is open source and enables devices to interact with social networks, store data, send status updates, and track location all in real-time.

“We are excited that RobotShop selected ThingSpeak as the platform on which to build their innovative MyRobots portal. ThingSpeak is ioBridge’s open source Internet of Things cloud service. This partnership goes hand-in-hand with ioBridge’s vision of helping people benefit from being able to interact with a community of smart things” -Dr. Robert Mawrey, ioBridge CEO

MyRobots Platform

RobotShop’s domain knowledge is robots. By taking their passion for robots and pushing their ideas, they will make it very easy for robot manufactures to add the cloud, add engagement, and draw in consumers. They are well positioned with their knowledge and love of all things robot to create a successful cloud robotics platform that makes it look easy on the outside, while doing the heavy lifting on the inside.

‘Open’ for Business

MyRobots leveraged ThingSpeak to provide their platform an instant API. APIs are a way that developers can extend and interact with your system and come up with new things that you may not have originally planned for. Opening up APIs, providing source code, and letting others access data, will generate a new crop of users and ideas. And, new ideas are what the Internet of Things needs to be successful or we will see the momentum die out like we saw home automation die out 12 years ago.

In the article, “The Google Rush Toward Internet of Things”, Dana Blankenhorn, says “An open API would enable start-ups like Thingworx, for instance, bring electric utilities to the party. It lets companies like ioBridge bring cloud robotics to the party.” And, we agree. We could not have predicted that Roomba’s and robots would be using our technology to interact with each other. This is the awesome side effect of being ‘open’ for business and we are so thrilled that RobotShop brought a new idea to the table.

[via ioBridge / RobotShop Press Releases]

The article in Scientific American and Fast Company titled How the “Internet of Things” Is Turning Cities Into Living Organism talks about how this solution is a great example of using “Internet of Things” to immediately affect the environments we live in. I especially enjoyed the analogy of the sensors in the city being the “virtual nervous system”.

“By using the Internet to connect real-world sensors and control mechanisms to cloud-based control systems that can pull in streams from any other data source, including weather reports, these efforts enable conservation and money-saving measures that would have been impossible without this virtual nervous system.”

(Even Chris Anderson of Wired / The Long Tail gave this definition of the Internet of Things a ringing endorsement.)

Why this is BIG for the Internet of Things

I feel like this is all just the tip of the iceberg for the “Internet of Things”.  Solving problems like stormwater management are proving that the “Internet of Things” has a big part in solving real world problems, not just tweeting toasters.

Here’s a recipe:

1) Existing data / trends / models (i.e. weather, tides, sunlight)

2) Real time data (i.e. temperature, pressure, humidity, light)

3) “Things” that need to be controlled (i.e. fans, valves, motors)

4) Platforms for the “Internet of Things” (like what ioBridge makes)

Take a few parts real-time data analysis with existing data / trends / model, decide how and when the things that need to be controlled should function, then mix moderately with a platform for the “Internet of Things”.  What can it be used for?  This recipe goes well with agriculture, infrastructure, energy, water…   In the end you’ll have a way to solve many large real-time problems.

As you can see, most of the components 1-3 have already existed for years.  It is the recent emergence of platforms for the “Internet of Things” that provides that last mile to connect it all together and makes  automatically solving real problems in real-time a reality.

Yeah… It’s kind of a big deal.

[via Scientific American / Fast Company / Wall Street Journal ]

First I’d like to give a thank you to all the attendees of ioBridge’s DCWEEK Internet of Things Workshop.  It was a great turnout even though it was one of the last events of a long week.

We accomplished all of our goals:

1. Explain to people what the “Internet of Things” is
2. Have everyone realize where it is in their everyday lives
3. Understand just how BIG it is going to be
4. Get people to experiment first hand with IoT
5. Get involved with the Washington, DC tech scene and contribute to DCWEEK 2011
6. Get people giddy like school children when they are controlling their own “Things” on the Internet!

All the attendees were very involved in the presentation.  It was great to see the wheels start to turn as they learned about basic digital and analog inputs/outputs.  Once they understood those concepts they started to see how seemingly complex devices like a touch screen could be broken down in to it’s basic inputs and outputs.

The hands on part of the workshop was very rewarding and we thought everyone had a lot of fun.  We brought ioBridge Dev Kits that include IO-204 and multiple buzzers, temperature sensors, buttons, servo motors and LCD screens for the attendees to play with.  Four separate groups got to go through the module setup process and begin interacting with their items through the Internet.  Once they got that down, it started to get a little creative.

One group used a combination of the temperature sensor and the buzzer to have a buzzer go off when a certain temperature was reached.  They monitored all the inputs and outputs right from the Internet.  Another group took it a step further and had their IO-204 tweet once a certain temperature was reached.  Once they got that down, they used a simple button to trigger a tweet.  Sort of like a motion detector tweeting when someone came into a room.

Here are some of the photos of everyone in action:

Here are the episode links:

11/1/11 — Episode 163 — The Peggy Smedley Show

• Segment No. 1 — M2M News and Updates: Becoming Context-Aware and Internet of Things. Featuring Peggy Smedley, host of The Peggy Smedley Show.
• Segment No. 2 — M2M Solutions: Building an Internet of Things. Featuring Hans Scharler, cofounder, ioBridge.
• Segment No. 3 — The Business of M2M: Long-Term M2M Players. Featuring Marc Petock, vice president of global marketing and communications, Tridium.
• Segment No. 4 — M2M in Action: Behavioral Change. Featuring Featuring Peggy Smedley, and Mike Carrozzo, chief editor of Connected World magazine.

ioBridge is pleased to be a part of the schedule at DCWEEK. Hans Scharler is running a 4 hour workshop focused on the Internet of Things. Internet of Things is a perfect fit for the audience at DCWEEK, as this field needs highly creative people from all fields thinking about how connected devices and applications will affect our daily lives. This is your chance to ask questions, learn about the latest trends, figure out business models, and dig deeper into the Internet of Things. This workshop is open to anyone, please check the workshop information at DigitalCapitalWeek.org.

The Internet of Things is emerging. This is the idea of connecting things to the Web. There are already more things connected to the Web than people. Things like mobile phones, health monitors, and power meters are all connected and are very useful because of the connectivity. The Internet of Things Workshop at DCWEEK is a combination of experimentation and conversation. We will cover the concepts behind building connected products and applications, business models, and trends. The goal is to brainstorm and create new ideas for the Internet of Things.

DCWEEK Internet of Things Workshop
November 11, 2011
1pm

Artisphere [directions]
TERRACE GALLERY
1101 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22209

About The Peggy Smedley Show

The Peggy Smedley Show, the voice of M2M and connected devices, is an informative, yet fun, talk show hosted by Peggy Smedley, president of Specialty Publishing Co. The show broadcasts live for one hour each Tuesday at 12 noon CT. The Peggy Smedley Show features discussions with top newsmakers and technology companies, as well as in-depth analysis of the week’s biggest connected devices stories and trends.

At first thought, I thought 24 billion devices by 2020 was a stretch.  Then I realize how many internet devices I already have.  It is probably just me, but the first thing that comes to mind when I think IoT (Internet of Things) are things like home appliances.  Refrigerators, HVAC systems, and power meters… all things I think of as “things”.  IoT is much broader than that.  Stop and think for a minute of how many internet connected things/devices you have.

Here’s mine:

1. Playstation 3
2. Wii
3. Skype Handset
4. Wireless Verizon router
5. Verizon DVR
6. Android Phone
7. Wife’s Phone
8. iPad
9. nano router
10. laptop #1
11. laptop #2
12. laptop #3
13. laptop #4
14. desktop
15. vm server
16. ioBridge IO-204
17. Kindle
18. Nintendo DS
19. Printer
20. My old HTC WinMo phone

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rwsuXHA7RA

[via I am ShadowLord]

Perl + CGI changed the Internet back in the mid-90′s. This combo was the catalyst for the creation of dynamic web applications and paved the way for the “Web 2.0″. The next big movement is the Internet of Things. This is where web applications mash-up with sensors, devices, appliances, power meters, mobile phone, and social networking to form new applications. Perl sits in a great spot to “Script Things”. Perl is a high-level language that has the ability to interface with any API, server, back-end, and new things that come its way. This is often why Perl gets called the “Duct tape of the Internet”. Last year, Hans Scharler, of ioBridge, created a thermostat that regulates itself based on his location on Google Latitude. The scripting was all done in Perl and interfaced with ioBridge’s API to control the thermostat. A lot of new applications are possible.

Hans will return to PPW and hold a new session called Scripting Things. The idea behind this session is to start with the basics. You will learn about Digital I/O, Analog Values, Serial Data, and Web APIs. All of these topics are things that we take for granted and assume that everyone knows about. You will also learn how to pull everything together with Perl and scripting languages. The target audience is anyone looking to learn how to get started with the Internet of Things and create mashups with real-life things with virtual things.

Injunction with PPW, ioBridge will also be hosting an all day long Hardware Workshop at CMU on October 8, so you can apply your new knowledge right-away. The only thing you need to bring is your imagination. Everything else will be provided — sensors, hardware, Arduino boards, ioBridge modules, buttons, and LEDs. The location is on the 6th Floor of the Gates Hillman Complex right on the Carnegie Mellon Campus and is open to everyone. We look forward to seeing what you will create and/or inspire for the future of the Web of Things.

The Pittsburgh Perl Workshop
October 8–9, 2010

Carnegie Mellon University
Gates Hillman Complex
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

While at Remote Expo, we were able to grab some bits of video so that you could see our booth setup and see one of our consumer product demonstrations. One of our exhibits was a web-enabled garage door opener, designed for one of our customers, that features real-time control, integrated video feedback, and mobile and web application control. Here’s a quick video from Remote Monitoring & Control 2011 with introduction and demonstration by our CEO, Dr. Robert Mawrey.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUx-q0zh7ZA

Thanks to everyone that stopped by and thanks to the organizers for such a successful event! We enjoyed our visit to Nashville and look forward to working with the many people that we met at Remote 2011.

Stop by and meet the ioBridge team and pick up your free gift!

Here are the key subject areas for Remote Monitoring & Control 2011:

• SCADA and Data Acquisition
• Remote Networking Technology
• New Wireless Technologies
• Sensors for Monitoring and Management
• Condition and Equipment Monitoring
• Adapting and Upgrading Existing Networks
• Network Configuration and Design
• Industrial Control and Automation
• Telemetry
• Security Solutions (cyber and physical)
• Device Equipment Networking and Management
• Standby and Backup Power Systems
• Site and Security Access Control
• Solar/ Photovoltaic Energy Systems
• Fuel Cells
• Monitoring & Control of Mission Critical Assets
• Standalone Distributed Power
• Small-Scale Cogeneration
• Power Protection/Reliability Systems
• 24/7 and Remote Monitoring
• Testing & Maintenance
• Standards (ISA, NERC/FERC, IEC, DNP3, etc.)

So, as you can see, there is a little bit for everyone that’s looking to build next generation remote monitor and control applications. We hope to see you there!

Remote Monitoring & Control 2011 [info]

September 20-21

Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center [map]
2800 Opryland Drive
Nashville, TN 37214

Ryan released the beer cannon around New Years 2011, and since then, he has captured the imaginations of TV producers behind great shows on the Science Channel, Discovery, and The History Channel. The producers were creating a new series called, JUNKies for the Science Channel, where people turn junk into new things. They wanted to recreate Ryan’s mini-fridge beer cannon as part of one of the episodes. Hopefully, this episode will introduce the mainstream into Internet-control of things and inspire a whole new crop of innovations.

The “beer cannon” episode of JUNKies premieres on the Science Channel on September 8, 2011 at 10pm (EST). For more information about JUNKies, visit the Science Channel website.

Congrats, Ryan!

To use the new gauge widget, create an Analog Input Widget, External Monitor Widget, or Expression Widget, and select “Gauge” under the style option.

The charts have been upgraded to support many new features, including axis labeling, chart types, local timezone support, and enhanced browser compatibility. And here’s the best part… the new charts are available now.

The advanced charts have many new chart types available: Line, Spline, Step, Area, Column, and Bar. Depending on your application, you may find a chart type more suitable to represent the data. For example, if you are monitoring power or water, you may find that the Step or Column chart types convey more information at a glance. Now you have the perfect way to visualize your sensor data.

Visit the ioBridge Wiki to get more information on getting started with the new charts.

Let us know what you think. With our new charting platform, we have many new options at our disposal!

With ioBridge, customers are able to leverage an end-to-end application platform to create Web applications, mobile apps, and Web services. Customers are able to get Internet-connected products and services to market faster and at a lower cost by utilizing the ioBridge platform. These products are also able to connect to social networking sites, location-based services, and weather feeds such as Twitter, ThingSpeak, Google Latitude, Foursquare and WeatherBug.

Broken Vending Machine

This particular machine even has a placard with the maintenance number in case that it’s out-of-service. No one has called. The store has no real incentive to do so. The customers have saved their pocket change. The only one with a vested interested is the company that maintains the machines. They will eventually find out it’s broken on a routine maintenance trip. Being out-of-order trickles down to the manufacture.

Vending Machines + ioBridge? Is this better? Is this worth it? Here’s what we can offer vending machines, the maintainers, and the manufactures:

• No routine maintenance trips – save energy and effort
• Vending machines tell you when they need to be fixed
• Vending machines give you real-time stats on revenue and product inventory
• Get brand-new statistics such as peak usage times, motor revolutions, temperature, accelerometer feedback, etc.
• Leverage existing local networks
• Monitor machines for theft
• Network machines together and share connections
• Retrofit older machines
• Low-cost implementation

ioBridge can network a single machine or thousands of machines for OEMs, manufactures, and integrators. As we say, we believe everything should have the opportunity to be connected. We are going to keep pushing our vision of the connected future. We have developed the first-of-its-kind platform for real-time, web connected devices and applications via the Internet. Contact oem@iobridge.com for more information and to schedule a demo.

Our background was M2M. The founding team of ioBridge worked on far-reaching M2M applications such as remote monitoring of medical devices, SCADA applications for pump and well monitoring, Oil and Gas pipeline monitoring, and substation power monitoring for Smart Grid applications. When we founded ioBridge we wanted to take our experience with M2M and couple that with our big ideas that everything should be Internet-enabled. To reinvent M2M, we had to create a new platform. Once a machine is connected, truly connected, that machine can leverage web services and social networking to ultimately enable first-of-their-kind applications.

ioBridge consists of many parts in concert with web services:

• Real-time push messaging from device to web services, web services to devices
• Multiple ways to interface with devices
• Low-power wireless sensors (we still have tide sensors connected to the web for over 2 years)
• Widget and application builders
• Multiple ways to interface with external web applications
• Native support to interface with WeatherBug, Google Weather, NOAA, Google Calculator, Yahoo Financials, Twitter, ThingSpeak, FourSquare, FaceBook, and any open API via our ThingHTTP app.

As a result, the ioBridge platform enables real applications that solve many of the traditional issues with a polling style M2M or SCADA solutions. We take full advantage of connecting things to web services. The additional benefit is low-cost. Maybe the biggest disruption that we have seen is cost. Since you can buy our dev kit for less than $200 and get a free suite of web services, you can start building an app immediately. Cost also lowers the barrier to entry for a whole host of new M2M customers that previously were cost prohibited from taking advantage of M2M applications.

In a recent article from the Yankee Group, Parlez-vous M2M?, Emily Green includes ideas about where M2M is going and some input from Dr. Robert Mawrey, the CEO of ioBridge. She also mentions how we “internet-enabled” a cranberry bog. Emily will be releasing a follow-up interview with Dan Luechauer, a cranberry bog owner, who has a completely  automated, remotely controlled and monitored cranberry bog via ioBridge technology. (Emily – Thanks for including us in your post and we look forward to your future articles.)

We have 100′s of examples just like Dan’s cranbrery bog. We look forward to sharing more applications with you. Visit the ioBridge Pro Applications section of our website for the latest info and ways to get started with ioBridge.

If you are considering adding remote control and monitoring to an existing product or creating a new web-based product and service, contact us now at oem@iobridge.com. Leverage our experience and take advantage of our first-of-its-kind, patent-pending Internet technology.

Here is a video introduction to the ioBridge platform and OEM Solutions that we offer:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eewM6MupNdo

Video transcript:

Let’s say you have created a product that you want to web-enable. In this video, we intend to give you a quick introduction of ioBridge and our OEM solutions.

To get started, visit www.ioBridge.com.

ioBridge is a platform to enable device interaction, remote control, and monitoring of devices via the Internet.

Once your product is connected, you can leverage the web to give your product a competitive edge. You can tap into web services such as email alerts, real-time monitoring, charts, reports, remote control, remote upgrades, user account management, and social networking.

The ioBridge platform is seamless. We can help you with any aspect of bringing your products to the Internet. We offer licensing of our patent-pending technology, custom web apps, custom mobile apps, product integration, website integration, and custom engineering services.

You may have questions on how to get started, so please contact us. We have worked with many customers and projects ranging from extremely large consumer product companies to helping startups companies create their prototypes.

If you want to learn more on how ioBridge can help you with the Internet of Things, contact us at oem@iobridge.com.

The Mini Fridge Beer Robot is featured in Popular Science magazine in the June 2011 issue: Inventions of the Year. In this PopSci, you can learn how-to create your very own beer firing robot with a step-by-step guide. The beer robot, dubbed the ioFridge, is the perfect connection between man and machine! And, when we created ioBridge, you better believe we saw a future of armed machines that are web-enabled. Congrats on making PopSci and getting us one step closer…

The Web of Things Workshop features the latest research on the bleeding edge of this emerging Internet of Things that everyone seems to be talking about as of recent. Hans Scharler, co-founder of ioBridge and ThingSpeak, will be presenting on his involvement with the business of The Internet of Things. Hans will provide some business cases, share ioBridge projects turned products, show the latest ioBridge technology, and demonstrate a live web of things project.

“I am thrilled to be participating with WoT2011 Workshop,” said Hans Scharler. “The workshop will have some great research presentations and you’ll have an opportunity to meet the innovators behind our emerging industry.”

In addition to the Web of Things Workshop, a hackathon will be held to bring together people from different industries to implement their ideas relating to the Internet of Things. Lots can happen at a hackathon, as you never know what will emerge. The concept is to have everyone focus on a particular area and see what gets created. We will be providing sensors, hardware, and access to web services to help enable some interesting applications. For more information and registration, visit the Web of Things Hackathon site.

Web of Thing Hackathon [info]

Saturday, June 11, 2011 - 9am – 5 pm

Gray Area Foundation for the Arts [map]
998 Market St.
San Francisco, CA 94102

Web of Things Workshop [info]

Sunday, June 12, 2011 – 9am – 5pm

Hotel Nikko San Francisco [map]
222 Mason Street
San Francisco, CA 94102

HomeWatch is available in the Apple App Store for the iPhone and iPad devices.

Here is a YouTube video of the HomeWatch App in action:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOczA5jabTs

HTML Apps on Dashboard

Visit the ioBridge Wiki for more information on the HTML App Widget.

Ignite Pittsburgh
Thursday, February 10, 2011

Brillobox
4104 Penn Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA

Doors open at 7pm

ignitepittsburgh.com

You can upgrade your modules over-the-web, by signing into the ioBridge.com Interface and selecting your module, then by clicking Details and Upgrade.

Here’s an overview of the new features:

• New Firmware – The new firmware adds support for a new variable space for 32-bit values and onboard set points. Other enhancements include wider support for network configurations such as ATM and Mobile Data Networks. We also added watch-dog timers in the event of module lockups.
• Variable Value Widget – Now you can control the variable value on your module. This means you can send values from a web service down to your module and use that value in your on-board rules. For eaxample, you could make a thermostat based on WeatherBug’s reported temperature.
• Widget Customizations – You can now change the hover label for chart widgets and the scaling on the analog gauge widgets. The Widget ID / Key is now prominently displayed on the widget editor. Chart widget times now display the users local time.
• Set Points – You can now compare input values to Variable Value 2 and create set points that can be changed.
• Additions to the Module Interface – You can now directly set the variable values from the interface. We have also added listeners for both sides of serial smart board traffic.
• HTTP POST Actions – This new feature allows you can send a custom HTTP POST as a server-side action. The new feature supports Basic Auth and the ability to customize a POST to any external service.
• Custom X10 Widget – Originally we supported X10 outlets through our web service. With this update, you can send custom X10 commands to support other X10 devices like thermostats.
• Data Feed API v2 – Updated the Data Feed API for the IO-204 and IO-204-PRO includes SSL support and a RESTful interface.

We look forward to seeing what you create with the new features. If any issues or questions arise, check our Wiki or feel free to contact us.

The conference has a lot to offer and features a morning fireside chat by Steve Case, Chairman and CEO of Revolution and Co-Founder of America Online and an afternoon keynote speech by Brian McAndrews, Managing Director of Madrona Venture Group. We hope that you check out the showcase and conference – track us down, we look look forward to the event!

13th Annual MIT VC Conference
November 18-19th, 2010

Startup Showcase

Thursday, November 18, 2010, 3-7PM

MIT Sloan Building E62, Cambridge

Free Admission

Venture Capital Conference

Friday, November 19, 2010, 8AM – 5PM

The Charles Hotel
One Bennett Street

Cambridge, MA

www.mitvcconference.com | Venue Info

The Pittsburgh Perl Workshop will be held at the Carnegie Mellon University on October 9-10, 2010. The workshop is a gathering of Perl programmers from around the world to learn more and discuss the future of Perl.

Scharler discusses Perl and Internet of Things on his blog…

Internet of Things applications involve connecting sensors and controllers to the web. Perl is perfect for parsing lots of data, pushing data into databases, and connecting services together, known as “mashups”.

Hans will be demonstrating how to create a location-aware thermostat using off-the-shelf Perl’s CPAN modules. This Perl application is a mashup of the Google Latitude API, Weather APIs from Google and WeatherBug, and the ioBridge API. The thermostat is controlled by the location of a phone relative to the location of the house — shutting down the heating and cooling on the way out and turning everything back on by the time you return home.

Perl creator Larry Wall will also be giving the keynote speech! Join us…

The Pittsburgh Perl Workshop
October 9–10, 2010

Carnegie Mellon University
Gates Center
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Aleka will showcase some of their new products and services based on the ioBridge Platform at the “Innovation for a Smarter Planet” event by Wired Wessex located at the INTECH Science Centre and Planetarium. Aleka will demonstrate real-time power and resource monitoring technology, as well as, a home lighting control system accessible from a mobile phone.

The event is hosted by Andy Stanford-Clark, IBM Futurist, and features discussions on home automation, monitoring power consumption and water usage, remote control of electrical appliances “to make the planet smarter.”

Andy Stanford-Clark, IBM Distinguished Engineer and Master Inventor

Wired Wessex
Innovation for a Smarter Planet with Andy Stanford-Clark, IBM Futurist

Date: Thursday 30th of September, 2010
Time: 18:00 – 20:00

INTECH Centre, Telegraph Way, Morn Hill, Winchester, Hampshire, SO21 1HZ

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.

Here is the official press release via eRelease:

ioBridge Announces Funding and Commercial Contracts to Develop New Web-enabled Products and Services

MARLBOROUGH, MA – July 21, 2010 – ioBridge, Inc. (www.iobridge.com) sees rapid growth and announces series seed funding and multiple commercial contracts. ioBridge is the developer of Web-enabled hardware and cloud-based services and was recognized as providing one of the Top 10 Internet of Things Products for 2009 by ReadWriteWeb. ioBridge’s technology platform enables almost any device or thing to be monitored or controlled via the Internet.  The user base has grown very quickly, finding new applications for the flagship product, known as the ioBridge IO-204 monitor and control module. Users place the IO-204 on their network without setup and anything connected to the IO-204 is accessible securely via the Internet.

Users from around the world have created projects based on the IO-204 at their homes to remotely monitor fish tanks, open garage doors via a mobile phone, and report home energy use to social networks. Top technology magazines and Web sites, such as Popular Science, IEEE Spectrum, MIT’s Technology Review, and MAKE Magazine, featured ioBridge projects. The success of these projects attracted companies looking to use ioBridge hardware and engineering services to create new commercial products and use the technology for professional applications.

“Our inbox is filled with email from schools, businesses, and hobbyists alike looking to use our devices for their applications,” said Jason Winters, ioBridge’s President, Technology. “I am thrilled with the response.”

Over the past six months, ioBridge secured seed funding and landed commercial contracts for new consumer products and for a large scale environmental monitoring and control project. To support the growth, ioBridge added Robert Mawrey, Ph.D. as Chief Executive Officer and Hans Scharler as President, Software.

Robert Mawrey is the former Chief Information Officer of American Tower and brings with him twenty years of experience in electronic engineering, information technology, and strategic leadership. Robert holds a Ph.D. in Electronic Engineering from the University of Natal, Durban, South Africa.

Hans Scharler was formerly with TESSCO Technologies, where he designed and secured SCADA and Smart Grid networks for utilities. Prior to TESSCO, Hans released data management Web applications to manage learning programs and emergency response planning and reporting. Scharler is the co-author of “IP-based Physical Security” and holds lectures on network security and IP-based services.

ioBridge will be announcing the release of the ioBridge Professional Platform. The new platform includes hardware and Web services that will be available off-the-shelf to ease integration with consumer products and professional applications.

About ioBridge, Inc.

ioBridge, Inc. (www.iobridge.com) offers technology and services that enable almost anything to be Web-enabled and monitored and controlled over the Internet. ioBridge’s technology includes a Web services platform that customers can use to extend the technology for many applications.  ioBridge provides OEM and commercial integration services and licensing of core, patent-pending technologies.

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Green Pond Tide Monitoring Site

Christopher Mims, journalist at the MIT Technology Review, writes, “We’re talking about the Internet of Things. Using an ultrasonic level sensor to bounce sound waves off the sea surface in order to determine its height, an XBee radio to send that data to a receiver on shore, and most importantly, an ioBridge IO-204 to relay that information to servers in the cloud, Cape Cod resident and ioBridge hobbyist Robert Mawrey is able to broadcast to his entire community near real-time data on actual sea level.”

The technology behind the tide monitoring sites is based around the ioBridge platform. We will be releasing our Pro hardware and web services soon available for commercial products and services. The tide alerts site is just one example of the new things we have in store.

We collect the data on our demo site for everyone to take a look at and sign up for email/SMS alerts. We will be opening up the feeds for others to build applications. Visit tidealerts.com to check it out.

Tide Level Charts

MAKE Volume 22 Remote Control / Wireless

Gareth Branwyn asked “innovators and enthusiast” from the industry what’s on their radars for his article. Since the issue was all about remote control, Gareth pinged our very own Jason Winters for his thoughts on how remote control has changed and where it’s going.

“Today, by using the internet to send control signals, range is no longer limited by transmission power. Any location with a net connection can be a potential command point.”

MAKE also included some favorite ioBridge applications and projects:

• Solar Hot Water Monitoring by Eric Edwards
• LaserPup – Remote Controlled Laser Pointer Pet Toy by Joe Bain
• RFID Phone Dialer by Stephen Myers

We were thrilled to have a mention in MAKE Magazine. It’s a favorite of ours and it always has some great projects. Check out makezine.com and make sure to get a copy of the latest volume.

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.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEgYWneVcKs

Thanks to all of the volunteers, exhibitors, and sponsors who made the Maker Faire NC such a success.

Looking forward to 2011!

ioBridge is an exhibitor and sponsor at this year’s Maker Faire North Carolina. We will have on display web-enabled robots, toys, and interactive projects created by the ioBridge community. Some of those projects include, an iPhone controlled Donkey Kong and a remote controlled dog treat dispenser.

Maker Faire NC is free and open to the public. Stop by and visit us!

Maker Faire NC
Sunday, April 25, 2010 9AM - 9PM

Loehmann’s Plaza
1821 Hillandale Rd.
Durham, NC 27705

www.makerfairenc.com

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)

ioBridge Serial LCD

All you have to do to get a free ioBridge Serial LCD is to “Name the Thing” over at Hacked Gadgets. The contest runs from March 13-19, 2010.

Alan Parekh has put together an amazing collection of projects on hackedgadgets.com and resources for electronics hobbyists, students, and tinkerers alike. We are subscribers to the RSS feed and always look forward to the posts.

Good luck!

“Andy Leer will share with us his experiences using the ioBridge to create fun interactive web enabled dioramas. Find out how with a few minutes and some simple hardware you too can put almost anything on the web.”

Check it out…

Make: PGH: Meeting 1
Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 7pm – 9pm

Hack Pittsburgh
1936 5th Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15219

EasyDAQ and ioBridge Serial Relay Controller System Overview

Web access is provided by the ioBridge.com platform via widgets and the Static Widget API. The API provides a conduit for commands sent by HTTP or HTTPS POST/GET requests. HTML, LabVIEW, Java, Perl, Python, Ruby, PHP and Ajax are access/programming options. Refer to the ioBridge Wiki for protocol and information on controlling the EasyDAQ SER8PRMx and SER16PRMxN relay cards using the ioBridge.com platform.

The system components are available for sale and worldwide distribution directly from EasyDAQ – visit EasyDAQ.biz for more information.

CEA writes about ioBridge technology in relationship to the home ecosystem. 2010 will be the start of the home becoming “smart”, where things start to speak and home automation, monitoring, and control collides with the web, mobile devices, and social networks. The ioBridge platform allows for a secure link between your house and the web – allowing sensors and controls to become a web service. 2010 will bring the integration of our technology into household devices, industrial controls, and enterprise resource management systems.

Those that “Do-It-Yourself ” can get started now and build cloud-based data logging apps, social network controls, and website applications with the ioBridge IO-204 and the ioBridge.com web services. Developers and integrators are already experimenting with and creating next generation products centered around the core technology behind ioBridge. CEA predicts that consumer products of this sort will be ubiquitous in 2010.

To read the entire report, visit CE.org producers of CES.

Santa vs. Domo

We wanted to take a moment and thank all of our customers, users, developers, and everyone that makes up the ioBridge Community. Our wish to you and yours is that you have a safe and happy holiday season. Enjoy your downtime, friends, and family.  See you in the New Year!

Enjoy some projects…

• Xmas-Box.com — Interactive Christmas lights sync to music, songs are selected on web site, and if you are local you can listen to the music on your radio as you watch
• Pacific Lights – Control Christmas lights in New Zealand
• Serv O’Beer – Have your iPhone pour a beverage for your New Year’s party
• Santa vs. Domo – Play with some interactive toys on Andy Leer’s blog and let Santa have it
• iPhone Controlled Lights – Control your Christmas lights with a touch of your iPhone using the open ioBridge PHP Proxy

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW1b7FM22yM

Cheers.

ioBridge is a Top 10 Internet of Things Product!

“Internet of Things” is the convergence of real world objects and the web. Allowing you to control and monitor things via web pages and web services. ioBridge has created a platform to allow any device to be connected to the web. From Twittering Toasters to Christmas Lights, our world-wide user community are creating an internet of things.

Visit ReadWiteWeb.com for more information and discover more about ioBridge and other Internet of Things products and services.

We are ecstatic to have this honor! Thanks!

The IO-204 connects to your network and establishes a link to the ioBridge web services  in the “cloud”. From there you can control, monitor, and share by using a point-and-click design interface or through open APIs.

We have released a new firmware called C4.0 which allows you to go beyond the cloud. C4.0 is an explosion of new features. You can create projects and products that work with the network cable unplugged. Using the ioBridge.com interface, you design rules and synchronize those rules to the module. Now, with or without the Internet connection, the module can make on-board decisions, turn fans on, control your lights, and sound buzzers.

The C4.0 firmware also includes high-frequency pulse counting. You may be asking yourself, “Why does pulse counting matter?” Well, pulse counting allows you to track inputs that are going on/off, around, or up and down. You can count the revolutions of your power meter. If you know how many times it spins around, you know how much power you have used. You can count the revolutions of a windmill to calculate wind speed. This feature keeps counting even if your network connection is not available.

Here’s more great news…If you already have the IO-204, you can upgrade your module to the new firmware by clicking upgrade on the module section of the ioBridge.com interface. All new orders ship loaded with C4.0 so you get all of the new features right out of the gate.

Details regarding the new firmware are available in the ioBridge Wiki. We are excited to see what you come up with!

ioBridge Demo

Friday, November 13th @ 7pm

HackPittsburgh Workshop

1936 5th Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15219

[Google Map]

HackPittsburgh.org

About HackPittsburgh

HackPGH is a non-profit group of makers from based in Pittsburgh, PA that runs a dedicated workshop for project development and training. To find out more about Hack Pittsburgh, visit HackPittsburgh.org – community-based activities, schedule of events, and projects.

Power to those who solder!

“Designed for the iPhone/iPod (and Mac/PC desktop), the TankedCam app allows you to turn your  Atlantis into an aquatic home automation paradise.”

Learn more at MoreControl.com and TankedCam.com.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5eYERAa1_A

Maker Faire Projects

Lots of people helped out to make it happen – thanks to OharaRP and thecapacity for working the LED sign. Maker Faire had some really interesting projects – underwater robots from Jesuit Robotics, a Giant LED display, Tesla Coils, Art Meets Science, cool stuff in the Maker Shed, and lots of people.

Here are some photos from Flickr of our booth before we got swarmed:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtUyzQBNT3k

An interesting point to make about all the points you see on the map is that any of them can be linked. By using our Serial Smart Boards, a serial based sensor attached to a module in Singapore can send readings to an LED scrolling sign in London.

We’re hard at work on more linking features.  Soon ioBridge users will be able to connect digital inputs and outputs from modules anywhere in the world.  The transcontinental ioBridge light-switch isn’t far off!

On YouTube’s Science and Technology channel, the iPhone Dog Feeder project is the current featured video. Way to go Stephen! You are going to get some random email and comments as you hit main stream. We know from our server activity that were are 5 other dog feeder project going on worldwide using the IO-204. You started a virtual revolution. Thanks for the the cool ideas.

Here is the YouTube video of the iPhone Dog Feeder project by Stephen Myers:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L3hdPxMa_o