Monthly Archives: July 2011

This looks awesome! Finally I don't have to stare at the tiny LED signs on the…

This looks awesome! Finally I don't have to stare at the tiny LED signs on the MUNI busses (assuming they're even functioning that day) to make sure I don't miss my stop!

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Official Google Blog: Google Maps 5.7 for Android introduces …
Google Maps 5.7 for Android introduces Transit Navigation (Beta) and more. 7/06/2011 09:27:00 AM. (Cross-posted on the Google Lat Long Blog and the Google Mobile Blog) Today we're releasing Google…

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Last.fm – the Blog · Announcing Festival Apps!
Announcing Festival Apps! Tuesday, 5 July 2011. by Michael Horan filed under Announcements Comments: 4. Music lovers have always flocked to festivals. When else would you be willing to travel to the m…

Android Garden Monitor

Overview

One of the coolest things announced at this year’s Google I/O was the Android Open Accessory Kit, which allows Android devices to interact with accessories over USB. As an attendee, I received the Arduino-based ADK DemoKit board, which I’ve used to build an app to monitor my Aerogarden.

Hardware

Arduino and Breadboard

The garden monitor project was built with the following components:

  • Arduino-based Open Accessory Kit
  • Breadboard
  • LM34DZ temperature sensor
  • HS1101 humidity sensor
  • 0.5″ force sensing resistor
  • Analog servo

The force sensing resistor is mounted below the Aerogarden’s water tank to measure the weight of the water, and the servo is used to open and close the tank door.

Software

Nexus One running the Garden Monitor app

Arduino

The Arduino firmware reads the values from the temperature, humidity, and force sensors and sends them to the attached Android device over USB using the Open Accessory protocol. It also accepts commands over USB from the Android app to open and close the door.

Android

The Android app reads the sensor data from the Arduino and broadcasts them over the wifi network using xPL so they can be monitored by MisterHouse, which can alert me via email and text-to-speech when the water level is low. When the water level is below 20%, the app signals the Arduino to open the door as a visual indicator that the tank needs to be refilled. After the tank is filled, the app automatically closes the door again. The app also snaps a photo every hour, which I’ve used to create the time lapse video below.

Source

The source code for the Arduino sketch and the Android app are available on github.

Time Lapse

This video was created by combining the hourly snapshots taken by the Nexus One using ffmpeg and then edited in iMovie ’09.

Are you in London? Would you like to help with Last.fm's monthly user research…

Reshared post from +Dan Etherington

Are you in London? Would you like to help with Last.fm's monthly user research sessions? We're looking for both experienced and first time users!

If you are interested, fill out this short survey and we'll get back to you: https://www.survs.com/survey/1AF6TZSDDH

any questions, ask away…

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Last.fm Pre-Interview Survey
Hello, thanks for stopping by! This is a short survey for people who would like to take part in Last.fm's ongoing user research programme. When you've completed it, we'll add you to our li…