So this week I worked on two small projects which were pretty much Hello Worlds for both. I built my own remote control with this cool device for the iPhone / iPad called LS Remote which is an app that comes with an IR device you can plug into your iPhone/iPad and have all your remotes controled from one source! I also purchased an Arduino starter kit ( arduino.cc ) this week, which is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. Basically it lets you make really cool interactive objects or environments with ease ( Like the 8x8x8 LED Cube ). My friend introduced me to it and I was totally intrigued so I went and ordered one.
The LS Remote was cool but has been sitting on the sidelines for sometime because it simply takes time to get everything setup and into the app. I was home this weekend for many reasons and found myself with time so I figured this would be an awesome mustang project so out came the iPad and the IR piece. After a few hours of playing around with the interface, I was able to design a nice simple remote that had all the buttons the family normally uses. The biggest nuisance is having to many remotes with too many channel and volume buttons and most not knowing which remote controls what. We have a receiver which adds to the input and volume control madness. With the design in place - it was time to program the buttons and OMG! That was so easy! It was awesome! Just point the remote at the iPad and click the button you want and it took the information instantly! No code look-ups at all! Still, a little adjusting here and there, but an hour later I had a complete remote control that works awesome! Only disappointment was it wouldn't take the Apple TV frequencies, but then again its on an iPad/iPhone so controlling that is a simple app switch, but I'm still going to look into that on their forums.
Next, the Arduino Hello World. So out of the box I needed to assemble some pieces together and wrap my head around the basics of electronics and breadboards. After downloading the software and running 3 basic tests (USB / 9-volt power up and a real basic hello world ), I was up and running. Once everything was confirmed to be working, I proceeded with wiring up the breadboard based on the instructions for my first experiment, which was making an LED blink on and off from the breadboard (My "Hello World").
The result: Everything worked awesome and I was able to control the LED! I also found what would technically be a mistake in the instructions as it said to run a 5 volt line from the Arduino to the breadboard, but from what I could see it wasn't connecting to anything to complete a circuit. Everything else made a complete circuit just not this wire. So I spent a lot of time squinting at he diagram and looking for the same project with more detail online, and in the end I just hooked it all up the way the instructions said I should.
When it worked, I took a chance and removed the suspicious power line and found that I was right! It wasn't being used in anyway. I think they made you put it there for practice and procedure, but with no detailed explanations in the instruction I was a bit frustrated. That said, I was extremely happy I was able to identify the situation as well.
In summary, I'm very happy with the results of these two project and look forward to seeing how the family works uses the remote. With the Arduino, I think I passed my major "Get your feet wet" phase and can see future experiments moving much faster. Overall I think I spent 3-5 hours on the remote ( most of the time was spent on laying out something not so complicated and getting to know how to work inside the interface. The Arduino project probably took about 2.5 to 3 hours.
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