Smart-Vegetable Garden (Panasonic)  

Four leaf vegetables can be grown in one so-called “Smart Vegetable Garden” (which is sized at 100x50x30cm) at the same time, with Panasonic claiming that owners can expect to harvest them in about 40 days – 30% less than using conventional methods. Apart from saving time, the device also integrates a cloud-based management system to track growth, for example by automatically screening the level of water and nutrients, or the temperature.

You have to admit, that is pretty cool.  I’m not sure if I’m down with the almost $8k price tag, but monitoring and tracking the growth from the internet is a pretty sweet.

Connected Cars (Mercedes, Audi, Ford) 

As each year passes, the connected car makes more of a noise at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. This year several car manufacturers were touting new features, including Mercedes-Benz, Ford and Audi. The term “connected car” refers to the integration of smartphone apps and content into the car. Typically this is done via the car’s dashboard, enabling you to listen to online music, access Web data, stream video to the car’s passengers and more. In this post we’ll look at three such systems: Ford Sync, Mercedes-Benz mbrace2 and Audi Connect.

My favorite out of these is the Ford integration with the new Focus Electric.  If I had an electric car, I’d want all that information on tap.  Check out the demo from CES.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=86Yj2WQL3n8

Health Monitoring (MyBasis)

The world’s first connected health and heart rate monitor wearable on the wrist. A multi-sensor band collects data like heart rate, calories burned, physical activity and sleep patterns and links to a personal online dashboard.

There have been a few other competitors in this space but this is the first one I’ve seen that collects heart rate.  I’m a bit skeptical on how good it can be, because in my own experience the only way to get a consistent heart rate reading is by wearing one of those uncomfortable chest straps.  If they can do it well it could be a product I’d be personally interested in.

Twittering Tree (Ericsson)

 …a tweeting tree that was equipped with sensors to automatically send out Twitter messages when its leaves were stroked. But most impressive was the live demonstration of “capacitive coupling,” which transferred a digital photograph electronically through Vestberg’s body, from the phone in his left hand to the workstation he was touching with his right.  (From Mashable)

Internet connected demos like tweeting trees, toasters and Donkey Kong toys are becoming quite the trend of the showroom floors / demo pits. (Warning:  Shameless plug on our own blog) Crowd pleasing internet-enabled, inanimate objects are so much easier to do these days with things like ioBridge.

“Soon, I will be able connect to the robots in my home, and MyRobots will provide me with their current status such as if all is well, they have a problem or even if they require maintenance. MyRobots will inform me in real-time of any action I need to take, thus facilitating the coexistence and communication between mankind and these increasingly intelligent machines.” -Mario Tremblay, RobotShop CEO

Internet of Things Scale

Social networking services like Twitter process over 200 million Tweets a day and when everyday objects and robots come online in the way that we see it, this number will be crushed. RobotShop built their new platform on top of ThingSpeak which is a highly scalable infrastructure for the Internet of Things created by ioBridge. ThingSpeak is open source and enables devices to interact with social networks, store data, send status updates, and track location all in real-time.

“We are excited that RobotShop selected ThingSpeak as the platform on which to build their innovative MyRobots portal. ThingSpeak is ioBridge’s open source Internet of Things cloud service. This partnership goes hand-in-hand with ioBridge’s vision of helping people benefit from being able to interact with a community of smart things” -Dr. Robert Mawrey, ioBridge CEO

MyRobots Platform

RobotShop’s domain knowledge is robots. By taking their passion for robots and pushing their ideas, they will make it very easy for robot manufactures to add the cloud, add engagement, and draw in consumers. They are well positioned with their knowledge and love of all things robot to create a successful cloud robotics platform that makes it look easy on the outside, while doing the heavy lifting on the inside.

‘Open’ for Business

MyRobots leveraged ThingSpeak to provide their platform an instant API. APIs are a way that developers can extend and interact with your system and come up with new things that you may not have originally planned for. Opening up APIs, providing source code, and letting others access data, will generate a new crop of users and ideas. And, new ideas are what the Internet of Things needs to be successful or we will see the momentum die out like we saw home automation die out 12 years ago.

In the article, “The Google Rush Toward Internet of Things”, Dana Blankenhorn, says “An open API would enable start-ups like Thingworx, for instance, bring electric utilities to the party. It lets companies like ioBridge bring cloud robotics to the party.” And, we agree. We could not have predicted that Roomba’s and robots would be using our technology to interact with each other. This is the awesome side effect of being ‘open’ for business and we are so thrilled that RobotShop brought a new idea to the table.

[via ioBridge / RobotShop Press Releases]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqi28Qcvvdg

“It’s a way to connect physical things with social networking experiences. We are all connected.” -CheerLights

Colors from Twitter are processed via ioBridge’s Internet of Things Platform called ThingSpeak. ThingSpeak is a suite of apps to make things social and interact with each other and social networks. CheerLights takes advantage of the TweetControl app. This app can be used to monitor Twitter and then send a control signal to anything that supports HTTP like thermostats, ioBridge X10 Home Automation gear, kid’s toys, interactive trade show displays… and whatever you come up with next.

[via iDigi / My Web of Things]

The article in Scientific American and Fast Company titled How the “Internet of Things” Is Turning Cities Into Living Organism talks about how this solution is a great example of using “Internet of Things” to immediately affect the environments we live in. I especially enjoyed the analogy of the sensors in the city being the “virtual nervous system”.

“By using the Internet to connect real-world sensors and control mechanisms to cloud-based control systems that can pull in streams from any other data source, including weather reports, these efforts enable conservation and money-saving measures that would have been impossible without this virtual nervous system.”

(Even Chris Anderson of Wired / The Long Tail gave this definition of the Internet of Things a ringing endorsement.)

Why this is BIG for the Internet of Things

I feel like this is all just the tip of the iceberg for the “Internet of Things”.  Solving problems like stormwater management are proving that the “Internet of Things” has a big part in solving real world problems, not just tweeting toasters.

Here’s a recipe:

1) Existing data / trends / models (i.e. weather, tides, sunlight)

2) Real time data (i.e. temperature, pressure, humidity, light)

3) “Things” that need to be controlled (i.e. fans, valves, motors)

4) Platforms for the “Internet of Things” (like what ioBridge makes)

Take a few parts real-time data analysis with existing data / trends / model, decide how and when the things that need to be controlled should function, then mix moderately with a platform for the “Internet of Things”.  What can it be used for?  This recipe goes well with agriculture, infrastructure, energy, water…   In the end you’ll have a way to solve many large real-time problems.

As you can see, most of the components 1-3 have already existed for years.  It is the recent emergence of platforms for the “Internet of Things” that provides that last mile to connect it all together and makes  automatically solving real problems in real-time a reality.

Yeah… It’s kind of a big deal.

[via Scientific American / Fast Company / Wall Street Journal ]

Here is a video introduction to CheerLights:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqi28Qcvvdg

To join the CheerLights project all you have to is build a controller that subscribes to the “cheerlights” keyword, receives the latest color command, and sets the color on your lights. So, when you see the color change know that the color it is now changing all across the world. Instructions on how to build your own physical controller are based around GE G-35 Color Effects Lights and the ioBridge IO-204, ConnectPort X2, or Arduino Ethernet.

The last color processed by CheerLights is accessed through the CheerLights Channel hosted on ThingSpeak. With that data you could this a lot further and build all sorts of applications that read in that color value and do something with it. Your application could be an Android widget that shows the latest color, a set of Christmas lights, ambient orb, or dynamically setting the background color of a website.

ioBridge has been working on a way to distribute a command from a social network and distribute to thousands of end points in real-time – a many to many issue. The technology behind CheerLights paves the way for an alert system that could cascade across the globe.

[via CheerLights.com]

If you say, “Siri I’m cold”, the iPhone sends a command to the ioBridge API to turn on the furnace. Siri warmly replies, “Lighting the fire place, this is cozy.” What is really neat is how the interface is voice commands, but the language is natural.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhc7SKli4M4

Here are some other home automation commands demonstrated in the video:

• Siri turn on the Christmas lights
• Siri turn on the living room lamp
• Siri turn off everything

Markt makes use of SiriProxy to intercept commands spoken at Siri and reroute them to the ioBridge API to control the X10 widgets connected to the ioBridge IO-204. For more information about the project, visit Mark’s blog for a detailed description and things that you need to make your own voice activated home automation system.

[via MarkHodder.com]

First I’d like to give a thank you to all the attendees of ioBridge’s DCWEEK Internet of Things Workshop.  It was a great turnout even though it was one of the last events of a long week.

We accomplished all of our goals:

1. Explain to people what the “Internet of Things” is
2. Have everyone realize where it is in their everyday lives
3. Understand just how BIG it is going to be
4. Get people to experiment first hand with IoT
5. Get involved with the Washington, DC tech scene and contribute to DCWEEK 2011
6. Get people giddy like school children when they are controlling their own “Things” on the Internet!

All the attendees were very involved in the presentation.  It was great to see the wheels start to turn as they learned about basic digital and analog inputs/outputs.  Once they understood those concepts they started to see how seemingly complex devices like a touch screen could be broken down in to it’s basic inputs and outputs.

The hands on part of the workshop was very rewarding and we thought everyone had a lot of fun.  We brought ioBridge Dev Kits that include IO-204 and multiple buzzers, temperature sensors, buttons, servo motors and LCD screens for the attendees to play with.  Four separate groups got to go through the module setup process and begin interacting with their items through the Internet.  Once they got that down, it started to get a little creative.

One group used a combination of the temperature sensor and the buzzer to have a buzzer go off when a certain temperature was reached.  They monitored all the inputs and outputs right from the Internet.  Another group took it a step further and had their IO-204 tweet once a certain temperature was reached.  Once they got that down, they used a simple button to trigger a tweet.  Sort of like a motion detector tweeting when someone came into a room.

Here are some of the photos of everyone in action:

This made me think back at how far ioBridge has come and where they were at that time.  The funny thing about it is the technology they are simulating could have just as well be using an ioBridge module.  Public access for internet users to control things in their house was something only super geeks could do at that time.  At the time this episode aired ioBridge only had a working prototype of public internet interactivity with Jason’s original fishcam that open and closed a gator’s mouth in his fish tank.

Obviously ioBridge has come a long way since that prototype, but it’s interesting to see how the ideas have been bouncing around for years but only now is it starting to get the attention where the number of Internet of Things devices now and in the future are in frequent conversations.

For your viewing pleasure I was able to find it on my search through YouTube and wanted to share it with all the Internet of Things fans out there.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kzjqBacF1k

Here are the episode links:

11/1/11 — Episode 163 — The Peggy Smedley Show

• Segment No. 1 — M2M News and Updates: Becoming Context-Aware and Internet of Things. Featuring Peggy Smedley, host of The Peggy Smedley Show.
• Segment No. 2 — M2M Solutions: Building an Internet of Things. Featuring Hans Scharler, cofounder, ioBridge.
• Segment No. 3 — The Business of M2M: Long-Term M2M Players. Featuring Marc Petock, vice president of global marketing and communications, Tridium.
• Segment No. 4 — M2M in Action: Behavioral Change. Featuring Featuring Peggy Smedley, and Mike Carrozzo, chief editor of Connected World magazine.

ioBridge is pleased to be a part of the schedule at DCWEEK. Hans Scharler is running a 4 hour workshop focused on the Internet of Things. Internet of Things is a perfect fit for the audience at DCWEEK, as this field needs highly creative people from all fields thinking about how connected devices and applications will affect our daily lives. This is your chance to ask questions, learn about the latest trends, figure out business models, and dig deeper into the Internet of Things. This workshop is open to anyone, please check the workshop information at DigitalCapitalWeek.org.

The Internet of Things is emerging. This is the idea of connecting things to the Web. There are already more things connected to the Web than people. Things like mobile phones, health monitors, and power meters are all connected and are very useful because of the connectivity. The Internet of Things Workshop at DCWEEK is a combination of experimentation and conversation. We will cover the concepts behind building connected products and applications, business models, and trends. The goal is to brainstorm and create new ideas for the Internet of Things.

DCWEEK Internet of Things Workshop
November 11, 2011
1pm

Artisphere [directions]
TERRACE GALLERY
1101 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22209

About The Peggy Smedley Show

The Peggy Smedley Show, the voice of M2M and connected devices, is an informative, yet fun, talk show hosted by Peggy Smedley, president of Specialty Publishing Co. The show broadcasts live for one hour each Tuesday at 12 noon CT. The Peggy Smedley Show features discussions with top newsmakers and technology companies, as well as in-depth analysis of the week’s biggest connected devices stories and trends.

Josh had some clear goals to ensure that the breast milk was stored properly:

1. Know the real-time temperature of the freezer
2. Send alerts if temperatures get too warm
3. Monitor the state of power at our home
4. Send alerts if power is out

In this case, adding some remote monitoring smarts to the otherwise “dumb” freezer, is the perfect solution. Josh ran a temperature probe into the freezer and connected it to a channel on the ioBridge Io-204 web gateway. On ioBridge.com, he created a data log to monitor the temperature of the freezer and set an email alert for the temperature required to store breast milk for an extended period of time. Josh also connected the Io-204 to the same power source as the freezer, so that if power was lost to the freezer it would also be lost the IO-204. ioBridge tracks whether these devices are connected, so that you can monitor their Online / Offline status. Josh cleverly connected an API call to the device to a site monitoring service and now is able to monitor the up time of his freezer just like monitoring the up time of a server.

The Internet of Things is in its infancy, but it can be very practical despite the recent articles referring to the number of devices to impress upon us just the sheer volume. To us it’s all about finding useful applications and introducing them to consumers to find our early majority product and service. We believe in and see a connected future, but we want it to be so useful that people don’t have to think about the technology. Like when you are using an iPad, are you concerned over capacitive touch technology or that it’s really easy to play games? Maybe by the time Josh’s baby grows up and enters college, the Internet of Things will be as common place and transparent as indoor plumbing.

Check out Josh’s blog for more details on setting up his breast milk monitoring system using ioBridge and a bonus project on using the Edimax Nanorouter to add Wi-Fi to the ioBridge IO-204 Monitor and Control Module.

[via MojoHo.com]

At first thought, I thought 24 billion devices by 2020 was a stretch.  Then I realize how many internet devices I already have.  It is probably just me, but the first thing that comes to mind when I think IoT (Internet of Things) are things like home appliances.  Refrigerators, HVAC systems, and power meters… all things I think of as “things”.  IoT is much broader than that.  Stop and think for a minute of how many internet connected things/devices you have.

Here’s mine:

1. Playstation 3
2. Wii
3. Skype Handset
4. Wireless Verizon router
5. Verizon DVR
6. Android Phone
7. Wife’s Phone
8. iPad
9. nano router
10. laptop #1
11. laptop #2
12. laptop #3
13. laptop #4
14. desktop
15. vm server
16. ioBridge IO-204
17. Kindle
18. Nintendo DS
19. Printer
20. My old HTC WinMo phone

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rwsuXHA7RA

[via I am ShadowLord]

Perl + CGI changed the Internet back in the mid-90′s. This combo was the catalyst for the creation of dynamic web applications and paved the way for the “Web 2.0″. The next big movement is the Internet of Things. This is where web applications mash-up with sensors, devices, appliances, power meters, mobile phone, and social networking to form new applications. Perl sits in a great spot to “Script Things”. Perl is a high-level language that has the ability to interface with any API, server, back-end, and new things that come its way. This is often why Perl gets called the “Duct tape of the Internet”. Last year, Hans Scharler, of ioBridge, created a thermostat that regulates itself based on his location on Google Latitude. The scripting was all done in Perl and interfaced with ioBridge’s API to control the thermostat. A lot of new applications are possible.

Hans will return to PPW and hold a new session called Scripting Things. The idea behind this session is to start with the basics. You will learn about Digital I/O, Analog Values, Serial Data, and Web APIs. All of these topics are things that we take for granted and assume that everyone knows about. You will also learn how to pull everything together with Perl and scripting languages. The target audience is anyone looking to learn how to get started with the Internet of Things and create mashups with real-life things with virtual things.

Injunction with PPW, ioBridge will also be hosting an all day long Hardware Workshop at CMU on October 8, so you can apply your new knowledge right-away. The only thing you need to bring is your imagination. Everything else will be provided — sensors, hardware, Arduino boards, ioBridge modules, buttons, and LEDs. The location is on the 6th Floor of the Gates Hillman Complex right on the Carnegie Mellon Campus and is open to everyone. We look forward to seeing what you will create and/or inspire for the future of the Web of Things.

The Pittsburgh Perl Workshop
October 8–9, 2010

Carnegie Mellon University
Gates Hillman Complex
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

While at Remote Expo, we were able to grab some bits of video so that you could see our booth setup and see one of our consumer product demonstrations. One of our exhibits was a web-enabled garage door opener, designed for one of our customers, that features real-time control, integrated video feedback, and mobile and web application control. Here’s a quick video from Remote Monitoring & Control 2011 with introduction and demonstration by our CEO, Dr. Robert Mawrey.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUx-q0zh7ZA

Thanks to everyone that stopped by and thanks to the organizers for such a successful event! We enjoyed our visit to Nashville and look forward to working with the many people that we met at Remote 2011.

Stop by and meet the ioBridge team and pick up your free gift!

Here are the key subject areas for Remote Monitoring & Control 2011:

• SCADA and Data Acquisition
• Remote Networking Technology
• New Wireless Technologies
• Sensors for Monitoring and Management
• Condition and Equipment Monitoring
• Adapting and Upgrading Existing Networks
• Network Configuration and Design
• Industrial Control and Automation
• Telemetry
• Security Solutions (cyber and physical)
• Device Equipment Networking and Management
• Standby and Backup Power Systems
• Site and Security Access Control
• Solar/ Photovoltaic Energy Systems
• Fuel Cells
• Monitoring & Control of Mission Critical Assets
• Standalone Distributed Power
• Small-Scale Cogeneration
• Power Protection/Reliability Systems
• 24/7 and Remote Monitoring
• Testing & Maintenance
• Standards (ISA, NERC/FERC, IEC, DNP3, etc.)

So, as you can see, there is a little bit for everyone that’s looking to build next generation remote monitor and control applications. We hope to see you there!

Remote Monitoring & Control 2011 [info]

September 20-21

Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center [map]
2800 Opryland Drive
Nashville, TN 37214

Ryan released the beer cannon around New Years 2011, and since then, he has captured the imaginations of TV producers behind great shows on the Science Channel, Discovery, and The History Channel. The producers were creating a new series called, JUNKies for the Science Channel, where people turn junk into new things. They wanted to recreate Ryan’s mini-fridge beer cannon as part of one of the episodes. Hopefully, this episode will introduce the mainstream into Internet-control of things and inspire a whole new crop of innovations.

The “beer cannon” episode of JUNKies premieres on the Science Channel on September 8, 2011 at 10pm (EST). For more information about JUNKies, visit the Science Channel website.

Congrats, Ryan!

To use the new gauge widget, create an Analog Input Widget, External Monitor Widget, or Expression Widget, and select “Gauge” under the style option.

One of our many TideAlerts.com subscribers had the idea to “watch” the tide levels during Hurricane Irene. After analyzing the data, we observed something interesting. The period of the tides did not change, but the amplitudes (the high tide and low tide marks) were greatly exaggerated as Hurricane Irene passed through Cape Cod.

The ioBridge tide project is another example of how the Internet of Things is emerging. We started this project 3 years ago and it provides an extremely useful service and is only possible by aggregating tons of sensor data and sharing it with users, developers, and researchers. This application is based on open data from NOAA and users monitoring environmental information and tries to find more meaning than just being a collection site of data.

By the way, here is what the tides looked like during Hurricane Irene at one of our public monitoring sites:

The good news is that by the time Hurricane Irene made it to Massachusetts, the storm was weak and all of our tide sensor sites survived.

Check out the Technology Review article, Cape Cod is Tweeting, Thanks to the Internet of Things, for more information about our tide project or contact us at support@iobridge.com.

The charts have been upgraded to support many new features, including axis labeling, chart types, local timezone support, and enhanced browser compatibility. And here’s the best part… the new charts are available now.

The advanced charts have many new chart types available: Line, Spline, Step, Area, Column, and Bar. Depending on your application, you may find a chart type more suitable to represent the data. For example, if you are monitoring power or water, you may find that the Step or Column chart types convey more information at a glance. Now you have the perfect way to visualize your sensor data.

Visit the ioBridge Wiki to get more information on getting started with the new charts.

Let us know what you think. With our new charting platform, we have many new options at our disposal!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYRqU6XfCX0

With ioBridge, customers are able to leverage an end-to-end application platform to create Web applications, mobile apps, and Web services. Customers are able to get Internet-connected products and services to market faster and at a lower cost by utilizing the ioBridge platform. These products are also able to connect to social networking sites, location-based services, and weather feeds such as Twitter, ThingSpeak, Google Latitude, Foursquare and WeatherBug.

Broken Vending Machine

This particular machine even has a placard with the maintenance number in case that it’s out-of-service. No one has called. The store has no real incentive to do so. The customers have saved their pocket change. The only one with a vested interested is the company that maintains the machines. They will eventually find out it’s broken on a routine maintenance trip. Being out-of-order trickles down to the manufacture.

Vending Machines + ioBridge? Is this better? Is this worth it? Here’s what we can offer vending machines, the maintainers, and the manufactures:

• No routine maintenance trips – save energy and effort
• Vending machines tell you when they need to be fixed
• Vending machines give you real-time stats on revenue and product inventory
• Get brand-new statistics such as peak usage times, motor revolutions, temperature, accelerometer feedback, etc.
• Leverage existing local networks
• Monitor machines for theft
• Network machines together and share connections
• Retrofit older machines
• Low-cost implementation

ioBridge can network a single machine or thousands of machines for OEMs, manufactures, and integrators. As we say, we believe everything should have the opportunity to be connected. We are going to keep pushing our vision of the connected future. We have developed the first-of-its-kind platform for real-time, web connected devices and applications via the Internet. Contact oem@iobridge.com for more information and to schedule a demo.

Our background was M2M. The founding team of ioBridge worked on far-reaching M2M applications such as remote monitoring of medical devices, SCADA applications for pump and well monitoring, Oil and Gas pipeline monitoring, and substation power monitoring for Smart Grid applications. When we founded ioBridge we wanted to take our experience with M2M and couple that with our big ideas that everything should be Internet-enabled. To reinvent M2M, we had to create a new platform. Once a machine is connected, truly connected, that machine can leverage web services and social networking to ultimately enable first-of-their-kind applications.

ioBridge consists of many parts in concert with web services:

• Real-time push messaging from device to web services, web services to devices
• Multiple ways to interface with devices
• Low-power wireless sensors (we still have tide sensors connected to the web for over 2 years)
• Widget and application builders
• Multiple ways to interface with external web applications
• Native support to interface with WeatherBug, Google Weather, NOAA, Google Calculator, Yahoo Financials, Twitter, ThingSpeak, FourSquare, FaceBook, and any open API via our ThingHTTP app.

As a result, the ioBridge platform enables real applications that solve many of the traditional issues with a polling style M2M or SCADA solutions. We take full advantage of connecting things to web services. The additional benefit is low-cost. Maybe the biggest disruption that we have seen is cost. Since you can buy our dev kit for less than $200 and get a free suite of web services, you can start building an app immediately. Cost also lowers the barrier to entry for a whole host of new M2M customers that previously were cost prohibited from taking advantage of M2M applications.

In a recent article from the Yankee Group, Parlez-vous M2M?, Emily Green includes ideas about where M2M is going and some input from Dr. Robert Mawrey, the CEO of ioBridge. She also mentions how we “internet-enabled” a cranberry bog. Emily will be releasing a follow-up interview with Dan Luechauer, a cranberry bog owner, who has a completely  automated, remotely controlled and monitored cranberry bog via ioBridge technology. (Emily – Thanks for including us in your post and we look forward to your future articles.)

We have 100′s of examples just like Dan’s cranbrery bog. We look forward to sharing more applications with you. Visit the ioBridge Pro Applications section of our website for the latest info and ways to get started with ioBridge.

If you are considering adding remote control and monitoring to an existing product or creating a new web-based product and service, contact us now at oem@iobridge.com. Leverage our experience and take advantage of our first-of-its-kind, patent-pending Internet technology.

Here is a video introduction to the ioBridge platform and OEM Solutions that we offer:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eewM6MupNdo

Video transcript:

Let’s say you have created a product that you want to web-enable. In this video, we intend to give you a quick introduction of ioBridge and our OEM solutions.

To get started, visit www.ioBridge.com.

ioBridge is a platform to enable device interaction, remote control, and monitoring of devices via the Internet.

Once your product is connected, you can leverage the web to give your product a competitive edge. You can tap into web services such as email alerts, real-time monitoring, charts, reports, remote control, remote upgrades, user account management, and social networking.

The ioBridge platform is seamless. We can help you with any aspect of bringing your products to the Internet. We offer licensing of our patent-pending technology, custom web apps, custom mobile apps, product integration, website integration, and custom engineering services.

You may have questions on how to get started, so please contact us. We have worked with many customers and projects ranging from extremely large consumer product companies to helping startups companies create their prototypes.

If you want to learn more on how ioBridge can help you with the Internet of Things, contact us at oem@iobridge.com.

The Mini Fridge Beer Robot is featured in Popular Science magazine in the June 2011 issue: Inventions of the Year. In this PopSci, you can learn how-to create your very own beer firing robot with a step-by-step guide. The beer robot, dubbed the ioFridge, is the perfect connection between man and machine! And, when we created ioBridge, you better believe we saw a future of armed machines that are web-enabled. Congrats on making PopSci and getting us one step closer…

The Web of Things Workshop features the latest research on the bleeding edge of this emerging Internet of Things that everyone seems to be talking about as of recent. Hans Scharler, co-founder of ioBridge and ThingSpeak, will be presenting on his involvement with the business of The Internet of Things. Hans will provide some business cases, share ioBridge projects turned products, show the latest ioBridge technology, and demonstrate a live web of things project.

“I am thrilled to be participating with WoT2011 Workshop,” said Hans Scharler. “The workshop will have some great research presentations and you’ll have an opportunity to meet the innovators behind our emerging industry.”

In addition to the Web of Things Workshop, a hackathon will be held to bring together people from different industries to implement their ideas relating to the Internet of Things. Lots can happen at a hackathon, as you never know what will emerge. The concept is to have everyone focus on a particular area and see what gets created. We will be providing sensors, hardware, and access to web services to help enable some interesting applications. For more information and registration, visit the Web of Things Hackathon site.

Web of Thing Hackathon [info]

Saturday, June 11, 2011 - 9am – 5 pm

Gray Area Foundation for the Arts [map]
998 Market St.
San Francisco, CA 94102

Web of Things Workshop [info]

Sunday, June 12, 2011 – 9am – 5pm

Hotel Nikko San Francisco [map]
222 Mason Street
San Francisco, CA 94102

Water Pressure Gauge Showing 9 bars

ioBridge IO-204 Module Connected to Sensors

Elad says this is his first step into the Internet of Things and learned a lot before he goes full-scale. “This operation, of connection stuff to the web is called Internet Of Things (IOT). The thing can be any device, even a toaster like this guy did connecting his toaster to Twitter (also done with an IO-204 module).”

Elad also wanted to share the discovery process and hold a contest. Elad’s contest is open to anyone that can correlate the data presented on his Water Simulation blog. You have until June 30, 2011 to figure it out. Visit Elad’s blog for more information or look him up on Twitter.

[via Water Simulation]

Solar-Water-Heater-Controller.pdf

Solar-Water-Heater-Controller-Addendum.pdf

Solar Water Control Unit Installed

Solar Water Control Unit with ioBridge IO-204 Module

HomeWatch is available in the Apple App Store for the iPhone and iPad devices.

Here is a YouTube video of the HomeWatch App in action:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOczA5jabTs

“The ioBridge monitors the solar water heating system temperatures of the 40 sq. ft. Solar Heat Collector, the 40 gallon storage tank, the outside air temperature, and indicates when a solar powered circulation pump is operating.”

Guy decided to share his setup and also give you the ability to see the real-time values on his blog by embedding the ioBridge widgets. Here is a screenshot of the custom user interface that he created with the ioBridge widgets. Click on the screenshot to see his live data.

ARTTEC Solar Heating System User Interface

Check out Guy’s blog ART TEC for more information about this project and see other really interesting projects that he has created in the name of “Sustainable Living”.

HTML Apps on Dashboard

Visit the ioBridge Wiki for more information on the HTML App Widget.

Ignite Pittsburgh
Thursday, February 10, 2011

Brillobox
4104 Penn Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA

Doors open at 7pm

ignitepittsburgh.com

As my snowboarding trip approaches, I find myself checking Utah Snowbird’s snowcam a few times a day, wishing for more snow to accumulate on my favorite ski resort.

Snowbird Snow Meter

Noel shows you how to create your own snow meter using the ioBridge IO-204 and the Servo Smart Board. He connects the Snowbird’s weather data to ioBridge using the Widget API that controls a servo motor position that corresponds to the snow accumulation. Here’s a video of the Snow Meter in action:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5Ld70ZKyyU

As a bonus project, Noel also shows you how to link the Snowbird weather feed to Twilio, so you can get personalized snow updates via the phone or SMS. Check out the complete “” on Instructables.com.

Let it snow!

And to top of the viral success of the project video, Ryan was asked to feature his iPhone controlled mini fridge live on The Graham Norton Show on BBC One. Here is the clip featuring Matt LeBlanc catching a beer being fired from the refrigerator.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=An8LA132hMc

Discovery Channel Canada also featured the project on its Daily Planet TV show. Talk about an internet of things…

Cheers!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVyLuosZ1rY

From the YouTube description:

This is the maiden voyage of my mini fridge that now shoots beers via iPhone. It is controlled by an iobridge via a web based iPhone interface and shoots the beers from an air cannon in the housing. Special thanks to Graham Phero for air cannon construction and Josh Lilly for web and graphic development.

Features:

• Vends 4 types of beer
• Broadcasts temperature
• Adjust temperature via iPhone
• Aim via webcam
• Auto tweet video per shot
• Fire beer with 50psi of deliciousness

Mini Fridge Beer Cannon Close-up

Update:

We got a chance to talk with the inventor of the Mini Fridge Beer Robot and here are some more details.

The app is served from a NetBeans server and interfaces with the ioBridge Widget API to send the controls for selecting the beer, aiming / firing the air cannon, and setting the fridge temperature. The app also displays the fridge temperature.

Here are screenshots of the iPhone web app in action:

Mini Fridge Beer Cannon Robot

“Perhaps the Best Beer Bot Ever To Grace a Dorm Room.”

-Gizmodo

This project is sure getting around with over 120k 200k views so far between YouTube and Break.com. To check the blog roundup, visit TUAW, Gizmodo, Break, BroBible, Wired.com, Engadget, and Comedy Central’s Tosh.0 Blog.

Here’s another take of the beer cannon in action:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMZfmbu6prU

Combine this with the Serv O’Beer and you have a complete drink delivery system.

Happy New Year! Cheers!

You can upgrade your modules over-the-web, by signing into the ioBridge.com Interface and selecting your module, then by clicking Details and Upgrade.

Here’s an overview of the new features:

• New Firmware – The new firmware adds support for a new variable space for 32-bit values and onboard set points. Other enhancements include wider support for network configurations such as ATM and Mobile Data Networks. We also added watch-dog timers in the event of module lockups.
• Variable Value Widget – Now you can control the variable value on your module. This means you can send values from a web service down to your module and use that value in your on-board rules. For eaxample, you could make a thermostat based on WeatherBug’s reported temperature.
• Widget Customizations – You can now change the hover label for chart widgets and the scaling on the analog gauge widgets. The Widget ID / Key is now prominently displayed on the widget editor. Chart widget times now display the users local time.
• Set Points – You can now compare input values to Variable Value 2 and create set points that can be changed.
• Additions to the Module Interface – You can now directly set the variable values from the interface. We have also added listeners for both sides of serial smart board traffic.
• HTTP POST Actions – This new feature allows you can send a custom HTTP POST as a server-side action. The new feature supports Basic Auth and the ability to customize a POST to any external service.
• Custom X10 Widget – Originally we supported X10 outlets through our web service. With this update, you can send custom X10 commands to support other X10 devices like thermostats.
• Data Feed API v2 – Updated the Data Feed API for the IO-204 and IO-204-PRO includes SSL support and a RESTful interface.

We look forward to seeing what you create with the new features. If any issues or questions arise, check our Wiki or feel free to contact us.

IOBR - Social Interactivity Toy for Kids

Here is a demonstration of the social thing toy for toddlers:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq1Th00tcPw

The IOBR uses the Brio Shape Sorting Box and the ioBridge IO-204 to connect the two systems together native using ioBridge web services. Their project uses the feature that two IO-204 modules (or more) can be linked together using the ioBridge web services.

IOBR Social Toy next to ioBridge IO-204

IOBR System Overview

If you are interested in learned more, visit the website passiripatti.com to find  a breakdown of the project, photos, and other amazing projects.

The conference has a lot to offer and features a morning fireside chat by Steve Case, Chairman and CEO of Revolution and Co-Founder of America Online and an afternoon keynote speech by Brian McAndrews, Managing Director of Madrona Venture Group. We hope that you check out the showcase and conference – track us down, we look look forward to the event!

13th Annual MIT VC Conference
November 18-19th, 2010

Startup Showcase

Thursday, November 18, 2010, 3-7PM

MIT Sloan Building E62, Cambridge

Free Admission

Venture Capital Conference

Friday, November 19, 2010, 8AM – 5PM

The Charles Hotel
One Bennett Street

Cambridge, MA

www.mitvcconference.com | Venue Info

Internet-enabled Halloween Treat Dispenser

Noel wrote a web application using Oracle Application Express that connects all the parts together. At the heart of the design is an Arduino-based microcontroller that drives the servo-based dispenser mechanism. The commands are relayed from the web app to the Arduino using the ioBridge IO-204 via XBee radios. The Internet connectivity part is what allows tweets (@tweetfortreats) or text messages processed by Twilio to control the candy dispenser. The web application makes use of the ioBridge Widget API to parse commands from the Internet.

ioBridge IO-204 Module with XBee Radio

Just think of where this type of technology can go? Vending machines?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjC1UhfDdEU

If you are interested in learning more, Noel has put together an Instructables so others can create their own DIY Halloween project this year. There’s also more information on Adafruit, MAKE, Hacked Gadgets, and Noel’s My Web of Things blog. Happy Halloween!

The Pittsburgh Perl Workshop will be held at the Carnegie Mellon University on October 9-10, 2010. The workshop is a gathering of Perl programmers from around the world to learn more and discuss the future of Perl.

Scharler discusses Perl and Internet of Things on his blog…

Internet of Things applications involve connecting sensors and controllers to the web. Perl is perfect for parsing lots of data, pushing data into databases, and connecting services together, known as “mashups”.

Hans will be demonstrating how to create a location-aware thermostat using off-the-shelf Perl’s CPAN modules. This Perl application is a mashup of the Google Latitude API, Weather APIs from Google and WeatherBug, and the ioBridge API. The thermostat is controlled by the location of a phone relative to the location of the house — shutting down the heating and cooling on the way out and turning everything back on by the time you return home.

Perl creator Larry Wall will also be giving the keynote speech! Join us…

The Pittsburgh Perl Workshop
October 9–10, 2010

Carnegie Mellon University
Gates Center
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Aleka will showcase some of their new products and services based on the ioBridge Platform at the “Innovation for a Smarter Planet” event by Wired Wessex located at the INTECH Science Centre and Planetarium. Aleka will demonstrate real-time power and resource monitoring technology, as well as, a home lighting control system accessible from a mobile phone.

The event is hosted by Andy Stanford-Clark, IBM Futurist, and features discussions on home automation, monitoring power consumption and water usage, remote control of electrical appliances “to make the planet smarter.”

Andy Stanford-Clark, IBM Distinguished Engineer and Master Inventor

Wired Wessex
Innovation for a Smarter Planet with Andy Stanford-Clark, IBM Futurist

Date: Thursday 30th of September, 2010
Time: 18:00 – 20:00

INTECH Centre, Telegraph Way, Morn Hill, Winchester, Hampshire, SO21 1HZ

Hans Scharler, of ioBridge, set out to make his thermostat aware of his location and the weather forecast. His project started off simple - adjust the thermostat as he leaves and when he returns. His real goals were to return to a comfortable house despite his schedule and to save money.

Scharler has lots to say about the matter…

A preset heating/cooling schedule only works when you are on schedule. What if you come home late? You have been wasting energy. What if you come home early? You might find a cold house.

Hans taps into location and weather data via an Application Programming Interface (API). He tracks his location using the Google Latitude service on his mobile phone and reads in the weather forecast from WeatherBug. Based on his position and the current weather, the system automatically sets his thermostat which is connected to his web application by the ioBridge IO-204. The IO-204 sits on your home network and what ever is connected to the IO-204 now has access to the web and any of the ioBridge web services.

Location Aware Home Automation

What’s next for this project? How about multi-person tracking? How about a coffee pot controlled by location? How about an office building regulating its power use considering only the location of its employees!?

ioBridge will incorporate location-awareness as a Plug In to the web services. You will be able to drop in Google Latitude connectivity native to the ioBridge platform. Other APIs that you have access to are Yahoo Financials, Google Calculator, WeatherBug, Weather.com, Google Weather, NOAA, Digg (although the API access is broken at the time), and Twitter. The ioBridge Plug In feature will allow you to connect to any API, even ones that are not prepackaged for you. With access to so much information, plus the ability to monitor and control devices, who knows what you will come up with. We were able to make a real-life Digg counter in about 10 minutes. Stay tuned.

For other coverage of this project, visit ReadWriteWeb, and MIT’s Technology Review.

Hans has all of the project code on his web site and details on how he linked the Google Latitude, WeatherBug, and ioBridge APIs together to create his location-aware thermostat.

A video on YouTube surfaced describing some home brew home automation by Andy Leer. Andy walks us through a very useful home automation project to control and monitor his garage door. His setup includes an ioBridge IO-204 in which he has multi-purposed for many projects including some home automation with X10, monitoring temperature, and controlling fighting robots with his iPhone.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjXvH1eALVQ

Andy not only wanted to control his garage door opener, but he also wanted to know whether the garage door was opened or closed. Using one of the channels on the IO-204 he connected a magnetic reed switch acting as a sensor to determine if the garage door was opened or closed.

Andy has more ideas for some home automation projects. He mentions in the video that he will be monitoring the status of his washer and dryer to email him when his laundry is ready.

"Hello World" on the LED Wall

You can draw your own images on the LED Wall yourself and also look through other people’s messages by visiting the project website at  wall.elnormo.net. If you visit the project site, you will also see how they created the LED Wall. Here’s a time-lapsed video of the project build.

LED Wall from Norm on Vimeo.

Here is a list of the key updates and new features:

Drag-and-drop Dashboard

Your dashboard is now customizable. You can move around your widgets to create a dashboard for your specific application or requirements. There are three columns your widgets can be place, where the center column is wider to accommodate charts and larger widgets. To drag a widget, click and hold on the Widget Label Bar and move it where you want it placed. To edit the widget quickly, click on the gear icon.

Drag-and-Drop Dashboard

Data Feed API v2

The Data Feed API has been completely updated. Our API is opening all of the time and we wanted to set the stage with a revamped Data Feed API with a RESTful interface. We added support for SSL and the ioBridge IO-204-PRO. We also added keys for the onboard variables that you can write to offline. Check out the Data Feed API v2 documentation for more information and the complete change list and sample projects.

Module Interface

We cleaned up the Module Interface by adding tabs and adding direct access to your Onboard Rules and Actions. From one interface you can setup the module, control outputs, and configure onboard rules and logic without using multiple sections of the interface.

Automated Setup

Prior to this update, you had to configure the channel settings and then create a widget. It’s easy to miss one of the steps. Now when you create an X10 Widget, for example, the interface automatically configures the channel for X10. This also works for Server-side Actions and Data Logging.

We hope that you put the new features to good use. Let us know how the new features and updates work out for you and keep us updated with anything new we should be doing. Stay tuned…we got more hardware and features that are coming soon…including an API for external plugins.

Here is the official press release via eRelease:

ioBridge Announces Funding and Commercial Contracts to Develop New Web-enabled Products and Services

MARLBOROUGH, MA – July 21, 2010 – ioBridge, Inc. (www.iobridge.com) sees rapid growth and announces series seed funding and multiple commercial contracts. ioBridge is the developer of Web-enabled hardware and cloud-based services and was recognized as providing one of the Top 10 Internet of Things Products for 2009 by ReadWriteWeb. ioBridge’s technology platform enables almost any device or thing to be monitored or controlled via the Internet.  The user base has grown very quickly, finding new applications for the flagship product, known as the ioBridge IO-204 monitor and control module. Users place the IO-204 on their network without setup and anything connected to the IO-204 is accessible securely via the Internet.

Users from around the world have created projects based on the IO-204 at their homes to remotely monitor fish tanks, open garage doors via a mobile phone, and report home energy use to social networks. Top technology magazines and Web sites, such as Popular Science, IEEE Spectrum, MIT’s Technology Review, and MAKE Magazine, featured ioBridge projects. The success of these projects attracted companies looking to use ioBridge hardware and engineering services to create new commercial products and use the technology for professional applications.

“Our inbox is filled with email from schools, businesses, and hobbyists alike looking to use our devices for their applications,” said Jason Winters, ioBridge’s President, Technology. “I am thrilled with the response.”

Over the past six months, ioBridge secured seed funding and landed commercial contracts for new consumer products and for a large scale environmental monitoring and control project. To support the growth, ioBridge added Robert Mawrey, Ph.D. as Chief Executive Officer and Hans Scharler as President, Software.

Robert Mawrey is the former Chief Information Officer of American Tower and brings with him twenty years of experience in electronic engineering, information technology, and strategic leadership. Robert holds a Ph.D. in Electronic Engineering from the University of Natal, Durban, South Africa.

Hans Scharler was formerly with TESSCO Technologies, where he designed and secured SCADA and Smart Grid networks for utilities. Prior to TESSCO, Hans released data management Web applications to manage learning programs and emergency response planning and reporting. Scharler is the co-author of “IP-based Physical Security” and holds lectures on network security and IP-based services.

ioBridge will be announcing the release of the ioBridge Professional Platform. The new platform includes hardware and Web services that will be available off-the-shelf to ease integration with consumer products and professional applications.

About ioBridge, Inc.

ioBridge, Inc. (www.iobridge.com) offers technology and services that enable almost anything to be Web-enabled and monitored and controlled over the Internet. ioBridge’s technology includes a Web services platform that customers can use to extend the technology for many applications.  ioBridge provides OEM and commercial integration services and licensing of core, patent-pending technologies.

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Green Pond Tide Monitoring Site

Christopher Mims, journalist at the MIT Technology Review, writes, “We’re talking about the Internet of Things. Using an ultrasonic level sensor to bounce sound waves off the sea surface in order to determine its height, an XBee radio to send that data to a receiver on shore, and most importantly, an ioBridge IO-204 to relay that information to servers in the cloud, Cape Cod resident and ioBridge hobbyist Robert Mawrey is able to broadcast to his entire community near real-time data on actual sea level.”

The technology behind the tide monitoring sites is based around the ioBridge platform. We will be releasing our Pro hardware and web services soon available for commercial products and services. The tide alerts site is just one example of the new things we have in store.

We collect the data on our demo site for everyone to take a look at and sign up for email/SMS alerts. We will be opening up the feeds for others to build applications. Visit tidealerts.com to check it out.

Tide Level Charts

This is not as far off as it sounds. The ioBridge Platform was created to make it easy to connect anything to the web, store data from sensors, relay data to other networks, and present the data on websites. People are already creating very interesting projects, products, and services on top of the platform. And everyday we are surprised by the diversity of the projects.

The Internet Doorbell

Now joining the Internet of Things…The Doorbell. The Internet Doorbell project is by Jason Garland. He created a super easy project that connects his doorbell live to Twitter or really any social network via Ping.fm and ioBridge push services. The instant someone presses his doorbell, the doorbell updates the input status on the ioBridge IO-204 and pushes the message to ioBridge and Ping.fm which updates Twitter (@jgarland79). This is a first step, just think of where it could take you. One day your doorbell gets pressed, you get notified, and you start up a voice-over-IP session with your intercom system. You could interact with (or annoy) your visitor from anywhere in the world.

Check out Jason’s blog for more details on the Twittering Doorbell and other very interesting projects. We also noticed a web-enabled water meter updating water usage.

On a related project, one of our Maker Faire projects this year was the “transcontinental doorbell” – involving two IO-204s linked together. When the doorbell button at one site is pressed it rings a doorbell 2000 miles away in less than 300ms.