ioBridge Blog » diy

Beer Robot – Popular Science Inventions of the Year

hans — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 06:46:52 +0000

Master tinkerer [Ryan Rusnak] created the very popular BEER ROBOT. With a press of button on Ryan’s iPhone, the mini fridge armed with an air cannon and webcam fires a beer at him with deadly accuracy. Ryan linked the controls to the iPhone using the ioBridge IO-204 module. So, in reality he could control his creation from anywhere in the world via the Internet. Less exciting and deadly are Ryan’s ability to remotely monitor and control the temperature of the refrigerator also via ioBridge.

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…

Make Your Own Snowbird Snow Meter

hans — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 14:29:12 +0000

If you head over to Instructables, you will find many how-to guides and step-by-step instructions on how you can make things. It’s kind of like recipes for everything. Today I came across another brilliant project from Noel Portugal from the My Web of Things blog. This time Noel builds a snow meter displaying the live snow fall for any ski resort right on your desk before heading out to the slopes.

As my snowboarding trip approaches, I find myself checking Utah Snowbird’s snowcam a few times a day, wishing for more snow to accumulate on my favorite ski resort.

Snowbird Snow Meter

Noel shows you how to create your own snow meter using the ioBridge IO-204 and the Servo Smart Board. He connects the Snowbird’s weather data to ioBridge using the Widget API that controls a servo motor position that corresponds to the snow accumulation. Here’s a video of the Snow Meter in action:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5Ld70ZKyyU

As a bonus project, Noel also shows you how to link the Snowbird weather feed to Twilio, so you can get personalized snow updates via the phone or SMS. Check out the complete “” on Instructables.com.

Let it snow!

Network and iPhone Controlled Mini Fridge, Drink Cannon

hans — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 00:36:06 +0000

Just in time for New Years, here’s a network-controlled mini fridge that shoots drinks at you that you select with an iPhone web app. The fridge is connected to the web app using an ioBridge IO-204, sends video clips to Twitter (@MyBeerRobot) , and has a web cam to aim the “50 psi” air cannon.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVyLuosZ1rY

From the YouTube description:

This is the maiden voyage of my mini fridge that now shoots beers via iPhone. It is controlled by an iobridge via a web based iPhone interface and shoots the beers from an air cannon in the housing. Special thanks to Graham Phero for air cannon construction and Josh Lilly for web and graphic development.

Features:

Vends 4 types of beer
Broadcasts temperature
Adjust temperature via iPhone
Aim via webcam
Auto tweet video per shot
Fire beer with 50psi of deliciousness

Mini Fridge Beer Cannon Close-up

Update:

We got a chance to talk with the inventor of the Mini Fridge Beer Robot and here are some more details.

The app is served from a NetBeans server and interfaces with the ioBridge Widget API to send the controls for selecting the beer, aiming / firing the air cannon, and setting the fridge temperature. The app also displays the fridge temperature.

Here are screenshots of the iPhone web app in action:

Mini Fridge Beer Cannon Robot

“Perhaps the Best Beer Bot Ever To Grace a Dorm Room.”

-Gizmodo

This project is sure getting around with over ~~120k~~ 200k views so far between YouTube and Break.com. To check the blog roundup, visit TUAW, Gizmodo, Break, BroBible, Wired.com, Engadget, and Comedy Central’s Tosh.0 Blog.

Here’s another take of the beer cannon in action:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMZfmbu6prU

Combine this with the Serv O’Beer and you have a complete drink delivery system.

Happy New Year! Cheers!

Candy Dispenser is a Twilio, Twitter, and ioBridge Mashup

hans — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 07:17:16 +0000

Halloween would not be complete without some novel electronics to spook the trick-or-treaters. Noel Portugal created a system that allows you to send text messages or tweets to his Halloween Candy Dispenser to drop some treats into your bag. Commands are relayed from the web via the ioBridge IO-204 to his microcontroller controlled candy dispenser. There’s a big red button in case you forgot your mobile phone in your Iron Man costume.

Internet-enabled Halloween Treat Dispenser

Noel wrote a web application using Oracle Application Express that connects all the parts together. At the heart of the design is an Arduino-based microcontroller that drives the servo-based dispenser mechanism. The commands are relayed from the web app to the Arduino using the ioBridge IO-204 via XBee radios. The Internet connectivity part is what allows tweets (@tweetfortreats) or text messages processed by Twilio to control the candy dispenser. The web application makes use of the ioBridge Widget API to parse commands from the Internet.

ioBridge IO-204 Module with XBee Radio

Just think of where this type of technology can go? Vending machines?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjC1UhfDdEU

If you are interested in learning more, Noel has put together an Instructables so others can create their own DIY Halloween project this year. There’s also more information on Adafruit, MAKE, Hacked Gadgets, and Noel’s My Web of Things blog. Happy Halloween!

Remote Controlled Cat Door and Alert System

hans — Thu, 13 May 2010 08:31:12 +0000

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”.

Here are some projects that inspired him:

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.

Maker Faire Wrap Up

hans — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 19:46:49 +0000

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.

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!

Visit us at Maker Faire NC

hans — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:43:03 +0000

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

Feedback MP3 Player and Activity Logger

hans — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 20:31:07 +0000

Steve (aka Polymythic) created a Motion Feedback MP3 Player that plays music tracks at varying volume depending on the level of activity the system detects. The concept is to encourage more activity by creating a feedback loop between the volume of music and the level of your activity.

Motion Feedback MP3 Player

Motion is detected with a Parallax PIR Sensor. When motion is detected, the output pin of the sensor goes high. That out is monitored by the ioBridge IO-204. With or without a network connection, the IO-204 sets the volume of a DIY MP3 Trigger board from SparkFun. The volume is controlled by sending serial strings to the MP3 Trigger. Steve took advantage of the new Onboard Rules that turn the IO-204 into a standalone controller. When the IO-204 is connected to the Internet, the IO-204 also data logs his activity by sending it to the ioBridge data logging service in the cloud.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7ozYBGHlto

To learn more about how to make your own, visit Instructables and Polymythic.com or YouTube. The project also is posted on Engadget and UberGizmo. Well done, Steve.

ioBridge Demo at Hack Pittsburgh

hans — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:57:29 +0000

The ioBridge Team will be at Hack Pittsburgh Friday, November 13th at 7pm. We will talk about web-enabling projects and getting microcontrollers online fast and securely. The session will include hands-on demonstrations of ioBridge projects and Q&A. The presentation is open to the public. Get more details on the MAKE community bulletin board or on HackPittsburgh.org.

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!

Maker Faire Wrap Up

hans — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 08:40:55 +0000

We wanted to say thanks to everyone that visited us at the Maker Faire. We had a 10×10 booth filled with web-based projects – Scrolling LED Twitter Sign, Internet Controlled Donkey Kong, Power Monitoring, Dog Treat Dispenser, X10 Outlet Control, Temperature Charting and Logging, and an Interactive Message Center for the Serial LCD Screens. Our booth consumed 4 kWh over 2 days and peak power usage was 290 Watts.

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:

ioBridge at the Maker Faire Bay Area

hans — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:03:46 +0000

ioBridge went online in November 2008. Since that time, we have had the chance to work some really brilliant “makers” from all walks of life. Maker Faire Bay Area 2009 is May 30 and 31st in San Mateo at the fairgrounds – a gathering of people that make things, re-purpose dusty equipment, and bend circuits – our kind of people. The ioBridge team will be there with an exhibitor booth. We look forward to meeting some of the people behind all of the blogs posts, YouTube videos, and forum posts. Our booth will be filled with gizmos to play with, setup, and configure. We invite you stop by and say, “Hi” and experiment and meet the ioBridge crew. We would love to meet you and see what projects your are working on. We have a few surprises in store, so check us out. If you can’t make it to the Maker Faire, follow the action on Twitter – our booth will be live on the web!

ioBridge at the Maker Faire Bay Area

Real-time Power Monitoring System

hans — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 10:46:46 +0000

Jason Winters, the famous Picodore and fishcam inventor himself, created a Do It Yourself (DIY) power monitoring system to chart and track power usage in your house using AC transducer clamps and an ioBridge module for web-casting the data. This project has found a lot of interest on the world wide web and the ioBridge community. Jason has used the system and discovered some amazing inefficiencies and some power suckers all around his house. I think we are interested in knowing where our money goes and how to become more efficient. I have also noticed lots of claims that this has been done before. If you dig deeper, you will find that no one has quite solved the problem quite like this and will be surprised with the ability to use it with Google Charts, Google Documents, and social networking widgets.

Jason has provided plenty of photos and details on how to recreate the power monitoring system for your own benefit. You can check out his Picobay Projects Blog or the very detailed Instructables.