Android/Google App Inventor + Arduino

[Shival Wolf]

Hi all Just found this group today while looking around for where I can get myself a reprap kit but found the forum and lots of interesting things.

Anyway I have been using app inventor for awhile and did some more well to the side projects using it that may be of interest or at least may spark an idea in others.

They are base examples that have had interest ont he App inventor forums so i thought i would share.

http://ai.kittywolf.net/index.php/BTArduinoLED1 - This is a very simple example of using bluetooth from an android App inventor app to control a single RGB LED connected up to an arduino.

http://ai.kittywolf.net/index.php/AutoAircon - I wanted to be able to control my portable air-conditioner unit remotely so I stuck a arduino and a network adapter ontop of it, Used afew photo resistors to check which feature was on/off and an IR led to transmit singles to the unit. I then used the control app made in app inventor to send commands over the network to view information and control the unit.

These are not very neat projects and are very early on but they are still working templates that others might be able to have fun with.

[Mat Bettinson]

On 12 October 2011 10:34, Shival Wolf <shiva...@gmail.com> wrote:

http://ai.kittywolf.net/index.php/AutoAircon - I wanted to be able to control my portable air-conditioner unit remotely so I stuck a arduino and a network adapter ontop of it, Used afew photo resistors to check which feature was on/off and an IR led to transmit singles to the unit. I then used the control app made in app inventor to send commands over the network to view information and control the unit

Oh, thanks for that, I want to do something similar and that's filled in blank spot.

I had performed some very quick experimentation with IR and discovered a truly massive sequence that my Panasonic aircon remote kicks out when pressing buttons. It seems that the state of fans, temperature, mode, angle of louvres etc (which is displayed on the LCD of the remote) is actually sent every time you change one little thing. I had a quick look for an arduino library but seemed to miss the one you're using. The guy who made it also discusses arbitrary IR commands in this blog post I see:

http://www.arcfn.com/2010/01/using-arbitrary-remotes-with-arduino.html

App inventor is an interesting idea, I hadn't paid much attention to it. I've been using a combination of Tasker and SL4A (with Python again) to do things like that to reasonable effect. I made an RGBW wireless alert/ambience light which I can control from my phone (and the phone tells the light when I've got texts, IM, emails etc, if it's running low on battery etc) but selecting an ambient colour is a bit of a hack. I use a stand alone app that has a colour wheel and will copy a hex value to the clipboard, then I press a widget on my phone which sends that to the server. 

I really want to be able to knock up some simple native apps to do this sort of thing directly so Java is on my list of things to do after exams... can you do that sort of thing in app inventor?

-- 

Regards,

Mat Bettinson

[Shival Wolf]

Glad the remote stuff helped.

As for AI. Its abit limited in what it can do you cant do background apps or some more advanced things. however you can intercept texts.

The colour system in AI is a little funny but you can use afew components to make like sliders and work colour from there. the sample app is on the AI webpage.

Honestly its worth just playing with and experimenting. They have released a bridge app that allows you to write in native java and use the app inventor existing libraries.

[0m3n]

Thanks for sharing Shival, looks like a great project.

Matt it seems that you are in need of the full Eclipse environment.