Since long I wanted to work on a home automation system. My vision is a system that is easy to deploy, intelligent and makes sense. Along with automation something that also takes care of the security of the house. And all that functionality bundled together with a strong focus on communication and accessibility from the Internet or a mobile phone. Two months back I started working on such a project. I have decided to call it “iHabitat”. In the coming months I will keep posting about my work and experience.
I have created two pages for this project. One with the overall technical details and describing what I have achieved so far and the second one with daily/weekly updates.
Here are the links to the two pages:
iHabitat Project Page
iHabitat Project Diary
TeMo is a tele-operated mobile internet robot. While other internet robots mostly use WiFi (or a nearby PC with an internet connection), TeMo connects to the internet using Mobile packed data services (e.g. GPRS / EDGE / UMTS / HSDPA). The advantage is virtually unlimited mobility for the robot.
Simply put, TeMo is a robot that can
- Move around and do stuff (since it has tank tracks and a robotic arm)
- Can be controlled from any where in the world (since it has Internet connectivity)
- Can boldly go where no robot has gone before !! (since it used mobile packet services for Internet connectivity)
Read the rest of this post..
Want to build (not buy) a basic robot that can move around, has a robotic arm and can be programmed to do what you want ? I built the following one using Lego technic blocks, some servo motors and a microcontroller. Why not use the Lego Mindstroms kit, you ask ? Well you can either just assemble a ready made robot or you can learn digital electronics, microcontrollers, motors and sensors and build your own unique robot from scratch. The second option is possibly difficult if you are not a professional or an electronics hobbyist.
Which ever option you choose, building your own robots means that you can equip your robot with an unlimited range of capabilities using sensors, connectivity modules and smart software.
Continue reading Building a basic robotic platform
