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Connected Bumblebees: Use Twitter to Follow Bees #buzzisback

hans — Fri, 11 May 2012 06:46:01 +0000

Nik Sargent likes to “do things differently”. Nik is a technologist, artist, data collector, photographer, and bumblebee conservationist.

Nik’s Bumblebee Project started off in 2011 with the goal of getting to know these amazing, social creatures. As he learned more, he found that the bees documented behavioral patterns were different from observed behavioral patterns due to climate change and unusual weather conditions. Nik observed countless hours of camera footage and discovered that the Queen’s hibernation schedule has been completely disrupted leading to disaster of new bumblebees and subsequent pollination which is critical to our food supply. There are many reports of a decline in pollination and is of global significance.

Earlier this year, Nik added sensors and a gateway from ioBridge to help automate and collect more data generated by these busy bees. The bee boxes now monitor temperature, track movement, count bees, and provide real-time feedback from the bumblebees by being connected to the cloud. The project looks to be evolving as new sensors and ideas will be incorporated over time.

“ioBridge is a big step forward in allowing us to automate and correlate environmental and activity data without resorting to manual CCTV analysis,” said Nik in an email interview. “It gives us the freedom not only to view and collect the data from anywhere remotely, but also share it and tweet it – again helping to raise awareness.”

Nik was able to capture a photo of the first tweet triggered by a Bumblebee.

And, here’s what she said…

We were so happy to find out about this project. We didn’t know much about Bumblebees and learned a lot by following Nik’s project. Thanks for sharing and we hope to do our part to help raise awareness of the global impact and never ending curiosity that bumblebees generate.

To get more info about the Bumblebee Project visit LoveBumbl.es and follow the project on Twitter.

Socially Aware Lights, Now Wireless with XBee and ioBridge

hans — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:30:35 +0000

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.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqi28Qcvvdg

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

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]

CheerLights: a social network of lights

hans — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:07:15 +0000

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:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqi28Qcvvdg

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]

Tide Sensors, Hurricane Irene, and the Internet of Things

hans — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 04:23:29 +0000

As we announced last year, we have been running tide level points around Cape Cod to more accurately alert boaters about high and low tides. Our tide sites are connected to the Internet via the ioBridge platform. We also provide real-time alerts and tweets to boaters in Cape Cod and surrounding marinas.

One of our many TideAlerts.com subscribers had the idea to “watch” the tide levels during Hurricane Irene. After analyzing the data, we observed something interesting. The period of the tides did not change, but the amplitudes (the high tide and low tide marks) were greatly exaggerated as Hurricane Irene passed through Cape Cod.

The ioBridge tide project is another example of how the Internet of Things is emerging. We started this project 3 years ago and it provides an extremely useful service and is only possible by aggregating tons of sensor data and sharing it with users, developers, and researchers. This application is based on open data from NOAA and users monitoring environmental information and tries to find more meaning than just being a collection site of data.

By the way, here is what the tides looked like during Hurricane Irene at one of our public monitoring sites:

The good news is that by the time Hurricane Irene made it to Massachusetts, the storm was weak and all of our tide sensor sites survived.

Check out the Technology Review article, Cape Cod is Tweeting, Thanks to the Internet of Things, for more information about our tide project or contact us at support@iobridge.com.

A Doorbell Joins the ‘Internet of Things’

hans — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 16:46:43 +0000

Here’s a scenario seemingly from the future. Imagine a world of connected things, lets call it the Internet of Things. There are lots of useful data around us in our environment. There are lots of useful things we may want to know about and may want to interactive with remotely (in a different space and time). If every thing had a voice, there would be a lot of data to collect and to make meaningful. If we can do it, we would be connected to our environments.

This is not as far off as it sounds. The ioBridge Platform was created to make it easy to connect anything to the web, store data from sensors, relay data to other networks, and present the data on websites. People are already creating very interesting projects, products, and services on top of the platform. And everyday we are surprised by the diversity of the projects.

The Internet Doorbell

Now joining the Internet of Things…The Doorbell. The Internet Doorbell project is by Jason Garland. He created a super easy project that connects his doorbell live to Twitter or really any social network via Ping.fm and ioBridge push services. The instant someone presses his doorbell, the doorbell updates the input status on the ioBridge IO-204 and pushes the message to ioBridge and Ping.fm which updates Twitter (@jgarland79). This is a first step, just think of where it could take you. One day your doorbell gets pressed, you get notified, and you start up a voice-over-IP session with your intercom system. You could interact with (or annoy) your visitor from anywhere in the world.

Check out Jason’s blog for more details on the Twittering Doorbell and other very interesting projects. We also noticed a web-enabled water meter updating water usage.

On a related project, one of our Maker Faire projects this year was the “transcontinental doorbell” – involving two IO-204s linked together. When the doorbell button at one site is pressed it rings a doorbell 2000 miles away in less than 300ms.

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!

The Internet of Things Thing by Martijn Pannevis

hans — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 11:16:50 +0000

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)

Top 10 Internet of Things Products of 2009

hans — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 20:13:58 +0000

Richard MacManus and the editors of ReadWriteWeb have complied the the Top 10 Products of 2009 covering a bunch of categories from web to mobile apps.

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!

Halloween Project Round Up

hans — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:56:34 +0000

A number of ioBridge users created some amazing ioBridge-based projects for this Halloween. We were impressed with the diversity and how they interacted with the IO-204. From using some new offline features of ioBridge to using social networks to poke fun at their Halloween prey.

We have a steam powered steampunk pumpkin that blows smoke out if it’s ears. We have a spider dropping on it’s victim and snapping a photo and posting to Twitter via TwitPic. We also have a motion sensing, talking skull that scares co-workers in the owner’s cubicle. Check them out!

Halloween Dropping Spider by Noel Portugal on My Electronics Notepad
Jaw Dropping Skull (aka the Half Hour Hallow Hack) by Steve from Polymythic
Steam Pumpkin by our own Hans Scharler of his personal blog called, “I am Shadowlord“

Well done guys. Thanks for your creative ideas and sharing your projects with the ioBridge community. And, Happy Halloween!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtpxKK6kfi4

Automate Your Home [ReadWriteWeb]

hans — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:59:37 +0000

Richard MacManus of ReadWriteWeb wrote an article about ioBridge and Matt Morey’s home automation project via Twitter. Matt created a system that allows him to not only get messages from his office, but to control lights and devices using Twitter. He now has a real-time, two-control system for automating some processes at his office using the ioBridge IO-204 monitor and control module.

“ioBridge enables sending data to – or controlling objects from – social networks, email, text messaging.”

Read the complete article at ReadWriteWeb.com, read our original ioBridge Projects post, and interact with Matt’s Office on Twitter.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVm1VKB43ww

Twitter + ioBridge = Home Automation

hans — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 02:50:37 +0000

Thanks to Oprah, Twitter is a household name. You can’t avoid it. But, Twitter uses are starting to flourish thanks to an API and dedicated developers. Matt Morey has developed a two-way, home automation application using Twitter to control lights and LCDs and monitor temperature and light sensors. His app interfaces Twitter with the ioBridge IO-204 by using the PHP Widget Control API.

Follow MattsOffice on Twitter

Matt’s Twitter application allows him to make updates to his Twitter feed and send commands to his IO-204 to turn on lights, send messages to his serial LCD screen, and get temperatures and light sensor readings. He also has a nifty extension that allows you to see a view from his office by sending him a tweet, which takes a snap shot from a digital camera and posts it on TwitPic.

Go ahead, follow MattsOffice and send Matt a message to his LCD screen – “@MattsOffice lcd Awesome ioBridge Project”. For more details, check out matthewmorey.com, a brilliant article on ReadWriteWeb, or YouTube video demonstration of the home automation project in action.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVm1VKB43ww

Wireless LED Sign – XBee + ioBridge

hans — Wed, 20 May 2009 03:43:34 +0000

OharaRP created a wireless LED scrolling sign that displays messages received from the Internet. The sign uses an array of 8×8 LED modules connected together – expandable to 16 segments. The LED’s are controlled by a MAX7219 controller board that can receive messages from an Xbee wireless module and is power by 5VDC (using a standard mini-USB plug). The sign has a wireless base station that forwards text and commands towards the sign relayed from Twitter or an ioBridge widget embedded on a website.

In this photo OharaRP sent IOBridge to the sign from his iPhone.

XBee Wireless LED Sign

If you would like to learn more about this project check OharaRP’s blog or watch his very instructional demonstration of his Wireless LED Sign Project on YouTube.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PAir5JP9J8

Interactive Fish Cam 2.0

hans — Sat, 09 May 2009 03:58:20 +0000

Since Jason’s Fishcam has hit the scene, there have been a few ioBridge-based aquarium monitor and control projects pop up. The fish cam has evolved into interactive displays, temperature monitoring, water level control, fish feeding, tank aeration, Twitter integration, killer gators, and burping frogs. The interface for full control and monitoring of aquariums are using a web browser or iPhone. The systems use the IO-204 Ethernet module to control outputs, lights, X10, and servos and monitor inputs, temperature, and water levels.

Check out Pete’s TankedCAM.com and Kevin’s BurpTheFrog.com for some really awesome interactive aquarium projects with full on Web 2.0 services.

Here is a cool video from TankedCAM demonstrating all of the interactive features.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5eYERAa1_A

Temperature and Light Twitter Project

hans — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 03:07:15 +0000

ioBridge has been shipping the IO-204 all over the world. We recently found a number of projects going on in Japan. Shingo created a project that tweets his temperature every hour and announces the sunrise with a message to Twitter. You can follow his temperature on Twitter.com/ioBridge_JP. On his blog you can read all about the project (in Japanese). You can figure out how he created his Twitter API interface with a very easy ColdFusion script (source code included). Take a look at his ioBridge photo-stream on Flickr and find stunning photos of the IO-204 module in action. I noticed that he has a new project involving his refrigerator. Looks like he has sensor detecting the door opening or closing. Can’t wait to see what Shingo thinks of next.

MoMo – Mobile Monday Amsterdam Project

hans — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 07:19:27 +0000

What does Twitter, ioBridge, and a servo have in common? They are part of a MoMo Project by the Mobile Monday Amsterdam team from The Netherlands. Across the world you will find a giant Twitter Meter that reacts and changes position when people tweet certain keywords on Twitter — let’s call it a Twitter-o-Meter or a MoMoMeter.

We got to tune in using qik.com and watch the project as it happened. They were at a Protospace – a FabLab that looked absolutely amazing – a world class facility with 3D printers and laser cutters and micro-controllers to rapidly prototype new ideas.

Thanks for finding us on Twitter and sharing the project. Your web app is awesome. Good luck with Mobile Monday.

Read more about the project and see some neat 3D creations on PanMan’s blog and on Protospace’s website.

A Toaster that Twitters

hans — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:50:39 +0000

Posted on his “I am ShadowLord” blog, a hacker sent in his toaster that twitters when he makes toast . Hans has a setup that use uses the ioBridge IO-204 module and an event created on iobridge.com (which handles the Twitter part). You can follow Hans’ toaster at twitter.com/mytoaster. The circuit is really simple which you can check it out on Instructables.

Social Networking for Your Toaster

Wired, Hack A Day, Make Magazine, and several other new sources have picked up the Twitter Toaster story. Congrats, Hans!

Follow Us on Twitter

hans — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:32:04 +0000

Some of our beta testers are developing Twitter integration with their projects using an ioBridge Event. This inspired us to start Twittering our latest projects, news, and events. You can follow our tweets on twitter.com/iobridge.