Turning A Light Off Over The Internet

May 3, 2012 by Brian Benchoff 23 Comments

Because reaching over a few feet to turn off a switch is too much to bear for [Bruce], he connected his desk lamp to the Internet. It’s a pretty cool build that’s the perfect tutorial for connecting just about anything to the internet.

For his build, [Bruce] used an Arduino with a relay attached to an output pin. When the Arduino receives a signal on its serial port, a tiny voltage is applied to the relay, turning on the light.

This could have been done with an Arduino Ethernet, but the PHP script [Bruce] went with is a little more versatile. Whenever someone pulls up this digital light switch web page, they can turn [Bruce]’s desk lamp on and off.

For an introduction to connecting bare bones projects to the Internet, we’re really liking [Bruce]’s build. Just try no to go crazy with that link and leave the failure testing to the professionals. You can check out the demo video after the break.

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Internet Controlled Robotic Arm

November 24, 2011 by Brian Benchoff 7 Comments

The guys over at Rusty Nail Workshop have put up an Internet controlled robotic arm for your amusement. While you’re waiting for the turkey to be done (or, you know, working), try your hand at moving some LEGO pieces around with a remote-controlled robotic arm.

The build log goes through the parts needed for the build. The arm itself is a Lynxmotion AL-5D, a heavy-duty device that’s far more capable and looks a lot better than our old Armatron.

The arm is controlled by an Arduino Uno. The Arduino is connected to the arm’s servo controller. Movement commands are received by an Ethernet shield and translated into servo commands. The entire build runs independently of a computer just like this project’s inspiration, the Orbduino.

Of course you can imagine the mayhem that would ensue if multiple people tried to take control of the robot simultaneously. A bit of code on the project’s website makes sure only one person has control of the robot at any given time. Check out what somebody else is building out of LEGO blocks with a Waldo. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to knock that work down.