ioBridge Provides Web Connectivity Technology and Cloud Services for Pool Control Systems

February 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

If you happened to be at the Orlando Pool and Spa Show 2012 last week, you might have noticed all of the buzz around a new product from Zodiac Pool Systems called iAquaLink. Every aspect of managing a pool and spa is possible with iAquaLink by allowing for control from an iPhone, Android device, and any web browser. Users are now able to get the spa ready before leaving work, schedule cleanings, monitor pH, set the solar heater, etc. Pool and spa installers are also able to remotely maintain a user’s pool and provide new services.

Access to iAquaLink on any Device

Here’s a quick video introduction linked by Carecraft pool builders and retailers:

Zodiac contacted us about creating a remote monitoring and control device for their pool and spa control systems. We worked with their engineering and marketing team to create a new product that incorporates Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB, and RS-485 connectivity. We also extended our web services, created an API, and provided a streaming interface to monitor and control over 100k pool and spa systems efficiently. All of our combined efforts resulted in a highly secure, real-time, connected product that is targeted to pool professionals and consumers.

iAquaLink System Overview

The pool and spa industry is highly competitive. By adding Internet-connectivity and many new features, companies like Zodiac are able to maintain their competitive edge. “It’s critically important to Zodiac and our Jandy Controls business to maintain our reputation for highly dependable, intuitive pool and spa automation,” said David Goldman, Director of Product Development at Zodiac. “We’re delighted to raise the bar yet again by incorporating ioBridge’s technology.”

And, we are thrilled as well to be working with innovative partners like Zodiac. We have many other projects like this going on under the hood and we love being able to share this one with you.

“We are extremely proud to have been chosen by Zodiac to provide connectivity technology for their new iAquaLink intelligent pool control system,” said Dr. Robert Mawrey, CEO of ioBridge. “The flexibility and accessibility of the ioBridge platform allows companies to enhance the value of their products. We believe that the iAquaLink is a wonderful example of an Internet-enabled product and that it provides a competitive edge that sets Zodiac apart from other pool and spa control system providers.”

Visit http://www.ioBridge.com for more applications and information on how ioBridge works with manufactures such as Zodiac.

[via ioBridge Press Release]

Filed Under: News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Socially Aware Lights, Now Wireless with XBee and ioBridge

January 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Check out the iDigi blog for details of a new project involving CheerLights - a network of interconnected lights. In this project, Noel Portugal created a wireless version of CheerLights using Digi’s XBee radios and the ioBridge IO-204 web gateway. Lights, apps, and objects all stay linked together by listening to the Twitter Stream for colors. When a color gets tweeted to @cheerlights, all of the objects change to that color.

“It’s a way to connect physical things with social networking experiences. We are all connected.” -CheerLights

ioBridge Internet Gateway with XBee Radio

Colors from Twitter are processed via ioBridge’s Internet of Things Platform called ThingSpeak. ThingSpeak is a suite of apps to make things social and interact with each other and social networks. CheerLights takes advantage of the TweetControl app. This app can be used to monitor Twitter and then send a control signal to anything that supports HTTP like thermostats, ioBridge X10 Home Automation gear, kid’s toys, interactive trade show displays… and whatever you come up with next.

[via iDigi / My Web of Things]

Filed Under: Projects Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

CheerLights: a social network of lights

December 2, 2011 By 3 Comments

It’s that time of year to spread some cheer and strengthen our connections. We are all connected on this little planet and our latest projects hopes to prove this. ioBridge introduces  CheerLights - a social network of lights that stay in sync with the rest of the lights linked to a messages from social networks. It’s kind of like following a trending topic on Twitter but with physical objects.

Here is a video introduction to CheerLights:

To join the CheerLights project all you have to is build a controller that subscribes to the “cheerlights” keyword, receives the latest color command, and sets the color on your lights. So, when you see the color change know that the color it is now changing all across the world. Instructions on how to build your own physical controller are based around GE G-35 Color Effects Lights and the ioBridge IO-204, ConnectPort X2, or Arduino Ethernet.

The last color processed by CheerLights is accessed through the CheerLights Channel hosted on ThingSpeak. With that data you could this a lot further and build all sorts of applications that read in that color value and do something with it. Your application could be an Android widget that shows the latest color, a set of Christmas lights, ambient orb, or dynamically setting the background color of a website.

ioBridge has been working on a way to distribute a command from a social network and distribute to thousands of end points in real-time – a many to many issue. The technology behind CheerLights paves the way for an alert system that could cascade across the globe.

[via CheerLights.com]

Filed Under: Projects Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Voice Activated Home Automation with Siri and ioBridge

November 29, 2011 By 1 Comment

[mark] tweeted about his “Voice Activated Home Automation” system that uses Siri on the iPhone sending commands to the ioBridge X10 controller.

If you say, “Siri I’m cold”, the iPhone sends a command to the ioBridge API to turn on the furnace. Siri warmly replies, “Lighting the fire place, this is cozy.” What is really neat is how the interface is voice commands, but the language is natural.

Here are some other home automation commands demonstrated in the video:

  • Siri turn on the Christmas lights
  • Siri turn on the living room lamp
  • Siri turn off everything

Markt makes use of SiriProxy to intercept commands spoken at Siri and reroute them to the ioBridge API to control the X10 widgets connected to the ioBridge IO-204. For more information about the project, visit Mark’s blog for a detailed description and things that you need to make your own voice activated home automation system.

[via MarkHodder.com]

Filed Under: Projects Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Breast Milk Storage, Real-time Freezer Monitoring

October 20, 2011 By 1 Comment

ioBridge team member, Josh, and his wife recently celebrated the birth of a baby… congrats! After a few months of settling into the sleep patterns and the whims of their bundle of joy, Josh came up with the idea to put ioBridge to work to solve a basic need for the family. They wanted to preserve breast milk in the freezer. With some research, they found that breast milk has precise temperature requirements for long-term storage.

Josh had some clear goals to ensure that the breast milk was stored properly:

  1. Know the real-time temperature of the freezer
  2. Send alerts if temperatures get too warm
  3. Monitor the state of power at our home
  4. Send alerts if power is out

Breast Milk Freezer Monitor with ioBridge

In this case, adding some remote monitoring smarts to the otherwise “dumb” freezer, is the perfect solution. Josh ran a temperature probe into the freezer and connected it to a channel on the ioBridge Io-204 web gateway. On ioBridge.com, he created a data log to monitor the temperature of the freezer and set an email alert for the temperature required to store breast milk for an extended period of time. Josh also connected the Io-204 to the same power source as the freezer, so that if power was lost to the freezer it would also be lost the IO-204. ioBridge tracks whether these devices are connected, so that you can monitor their Online / Offline status. Josh cleverly connected an API call to the device to a site monitoring service and now is able to monitor the up time of his freezer just like monitoring the up time of a server.

The Internet of Things is in its infancy, but it can be very practical despite the recent articles referring to the number of devices to impress upon us just the sheer volume. To us it’s all about finding useful applications and introducing them to consumers to find our early majority product and service. We believe in and see a connected future, but we want it to be so useful that people don’t have to think about the technology. Like when you are using an iPad, are you concerned over capacitive touch technology or that it’s really easy to play games? Maybe by the time Josh’s baby grows up and enters college, the Internet of Things will be as common place and transparent as indoor plumbing.

Check out Josh’s blog for more details on setting up his breast milk monitoring system using ioBridge and a bonus project on using the Edimax Nanorouter to add Wi-Fi to the ioBridge IO-204 Monitor and Control Module.

[via MojoHo.com]

Filed Under: Projects Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »