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!

Wireless Robot with Web Controls

hans — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:58:01 +0000

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…

ioBridge Blog » robot

Network and iPhone Controlled Mini Fridge, Drink Cannon

Wireless Robot with Web Controls