Control a PC from Android Wear

So I'm now the proud owner of an LG G Watch.  After reading all the flame wars on whether Android Wear was the greatest thing since sliced bread or the worst thing since un-sliced bread I decided to be conservative and opted for a first gen watch before dropping too much cash on the "newest-greatest".  I'm not going to add to the already gigantic pile of Wear reviews, suffice to say I'm satisfied with it for what it is and what I paid for it.

But that's not the point of this post.  90% of the reason I bought the watch wasn't for what it did, but rather what can I make it do???  So I got it, rooted it, and started sideloading apps (xda).  What I ended up with was an android smartwatch that could:

• Play a movie (QQPlayer + ES File Explorer + Bluetooth Headset)
• Run an NES Emulator (NES-FC Lite + Bluetooth controller)
• Open my garage door (V1_Bluetooth_Arduino app + my bluetooth/arduino garage door setup)

None of these were really way out there as far as plausibility so I continued my hunt to push the limits of what this thing can do.

The one place I feel Android Wear falls short is the 'control' aspect of things.  It is a fantastic little devices for providing you with information, but at the end of the day I should be able to tap the thing on my wrist to control my every day life.......

The closest thing I could find right now is the IFTTT integration.  Bravo in general to this website and moreso for making it compatible with wear.  They get it.  Tap a button to cause an action somewhere in the real or digital world.  

So after playing around with existing recipes (https://ifttt.com/android_wear) I remembered a post I saw a while ago about controlling your computer with IFTTT and Dropbox vis SMS.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-issue-a-command-to-your-computer-with-a-text-message/

LighTouch - Phase II

DESCRIPTION

LighTouch is the second iteration of a prototype I 'completed' about a year ago - LighTouch - Phase I . The premise is simple: a fully functional streaming radio/alarm clock that uses hand gestures as the sole interface and no physical contact with the device. 

Playback, volume, and track changing are controlled by waving your hand above the device. 

The two primary components to accomplish this are simply a raspberry pi and an ultrasonic sensor. Everything else is just for flair! 

Full how-to and code is available at: Hackaday.io - LighTouch

More after the break

Description

LighTouch is meant to be a general control interface for non-visual medium (music in this case, but there are many other applications).  The idea behind the project is to make playing and controlling your music as simple as waving your hand.  The code is designed to interpret input from the ultrasonic sensor and use that information to control music playback.  
One of the first applications for this project is as a bed-side alarm clock.  The idea of which being rather than trying to fumble for a 'snooze' button, turning off your alarm is as simple as waving your hand over the clock.  
The controls are highly configurable, but in it's current state it's configured using MPD (pianobar is also working).  
To control the unit there are set distance criterias.  For instance there is a "ceiling" (the maximum distance the sensor will read input) set to 80cm.
Other such criterias are as follows:
0-10cm - Pause (LED off)
10-45cm - Volume control 0%-100% (LED brightens/dims)
46-69cm - DEAD ZONE (to prevent accidentally skipping to the next track when raising the volume....LED fully on)
70cm-80cm - Next Track (led will blink 3 times)
>80cm - Ceiling (no action taken)
In addition, I've also added an LCD screen to show current "Now Playing" information as well as volume level and an Ultrabright LED that fades depending on the volume level.

COMPONENTS

• QUANTITY		COMPONENT NAME
  1	×	Raspberry Pi (final and tutorial build)
  1	×	16x2 LCD Display (final build)http://osepp.com/products/shield-arduino-compatible/16x2-lcd-display-keypad-shield/
  1	×	Pi Alamode (final build)http://www.makershed.com/products/alamode-for-raspberry-pi
  1	×	HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Sencor (final build)https://www.bananarobotics.com/shop/HC-SR04-Ultrasonic-Distance-Sensor?gclid=Cj0KEQjw6deeBRCswoauquC8haUBEiQAdq5zh-lW78tsyO0Vw-OGO0Tpa8D2Kt0VO37wZwWF8RpF3DYaAk0R8P8HAQ
  1	×	10mm Ultra-High Brightness Blue LED (final build)http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3111495
  1	×	Case (final build)
  1	×	Arduino Menta (tutorial build)
  1	×	Parallax Ping))) (tutorial build)
  1	×	Any, old LED (tutorial build)
  1	×	Breadboard (tutorial build)
  1	×	FTDI cable (tutorial build)

• 
  

LighTouch

LighTouch was an idea I had as I was just diving into Arduino.  Like anyone getting started, I bought an Uno and three random shields just to play with (music shield, bluetooth, and ultrasonic range finder).  To that end, I got each of them up and running in record time and got bored.  So what was the next logical step?  Right... figure out how many of these shields can I use at the same time.  In this case, a music shield and ultrasonic range finder made the cut.

The idea is pretty simple; an mp3 player that you never have to touch.  Simply hold your hand over the device to adjust volume, pause, and move to the next track.  All the commands basically key on the distance of your hand from the sensor.

A little modification of the demo code for both, some enclosure work, and before i knew it I had a pretty functional little prototype.

Update:
Here's the current control scheme:

0-7cm = Pause (LED OFF)
7-30cm = Lowest Volume->Highest Volume (LED DIM)
30-50cm = Highest Volume (LED ON)
50-55cm = Next Track (LED OFF then ON)

So basically the setup works based on your hand's distance from the sensor with feedback given by the LED so you know where you are in the control scheme.  There's 'dead zones' setup to avoid accidentally moving from volume mode to next track.  For instance, once you're at the max volume (30cm) , there's a +20cm dead zone until you hit the next track and the LED turns bright so that you know you're at the max volume.

Whenever you move your hand away, and the distance becomes 'infinite' (ie, the ceiling) it locks in the last distance it recorded for your hand.  So basically you move your hand to the volume you want, then slide your hand off to the side to lock it in.

To pause, move your hand close to the sensor until the LED turns off, then slide your hand away.
To change volume you raise your hand up or down while the LED is dimly lit, until it's brightest (then you're at max volume)
Once you're at max volume, you can pop your hand up, watch for the LED to turn off, then back down to move to the next track (then you're back in volume mode, or just move your hand off to the side).

I plan on expanding on this idea.  Ultrasonic proves to be a very simplistic, but very precise user interface for just about everything I've tried it on.

What's next?  An alarm clock that I can just wave my hand over to shut it off.

assembly pictures after the break:

Project Gemini - Phase 1 - XBMC (complete)

Backstory 

If you're reading this post than you are probably where I was a couple of months ago.  You wanted to jump on the bandwagon of the single board, SOC craze and ran out and bought a Beagleboard XM (rev C in this case).  You did this not because you're a developer or a potential product manufacturer but you thought the idea of a 1Ghz computer that fits into the palm of your hand is just plain AWESOME.  You got it in the mail, opened it up, plugged it into your TV, and played with the demo image for 5 full minutes before going "ok, what else can I do with this?"

Then you started researching (and perhaps started secretly wishing you bought a Pandaboard or RasPi due to the overwhelming amount of prebuilt software/support available).  You spend hours sifting through Google Groups, forums, and blogs only to find that there are hardly any detailed 'how-tos'. Or even worse, only brief glimpses of people who are facing the exact same issues you are or the occasional, "I HAVE AN ISSUE"........."NEVERMIND.  I FIXED IT" with nothing explanation as to how....

So I decided that I could either be part of the problem, or part of the solution.  These posts won't contain issues or 'work in progress'.  These will be detailed how-to's on how myself and my partner in crime plan on turning a Beagleboard XM rev C into a "Swiss Army Knife" of portable computing.  Each 'phase' will basically be it's own 'sdcard' to swap out at will depending on what you want to accomplish.

Upcoming Projects:

Phase 1 - XBMC

• Phase 1.5 - XBMC - CarPC
• Phase 2 - Full Android System (rooted, google apps, etc)
• Phase 3 - Wireless Webcam Monitoring System (mjpegstreamer, lighttp)
• Phase 4 - Headless Music Server (MPD, lighttp)
• Phase 5 - OpenWRT Wireless Router

Phase 1 - XBMC 

The first time I saw this little board my mind immediately jumped to using this thing as a replacement for my CarPC.  While that process is ongoing, the majority of my time was spend just getting Angstrom, SGX, and XBMC to play nicely.  Here is EXACTLY how to get XBMC running on your Beagleboard XM rev C (as long as you already have some basic knowledge of Linux).

(continued after the break)

$15 (easy) Water Detector

Premise
After the slew of hurricanes and tropical storms that plagued the east coast this year, I think just about everyone became aware of 'flooding basement syndrome'.  I certainly did.  And, in accordance to Murphy's Law, the flooding MUST begin at 3am when you are soundly asleep in bed then continue to flood until you wake up the following morning to a brand new indoor pool.  The second night is even better.  You've learned your lesson and you're prepared for the worst.  Unfortunately, all this results in is you standing there at 1am staring at a sump pump float for hours, performing your own scientific field test of the adage 'what goes up....must come down' and each time praying that it does.

Around hour 3 of this, it occurred to me that this is the 21st century!! I should just be alerted to the fact that my basement is flooding while I'm sound asleep by some device with the voice of Pierce Brosnan!!

As with most good ideas at 3am, I completely forgot about it.  Then I recently saw this post on Make for a $25 water detector which reminded me.  I thought I'd take my own spin at a simplified method.  So here it is.....might not be a soothing voice to awake you (yet), but it will definitely get the job done...



What you'll need

• A battery operated smoke detector ($7)
• a large PVC coupler ($6)
• a large sponge ($1)
• A SPST switch ($1)
• wire
• a soldering gun
• glue

How it works


It's pretty simple and should only take you a good 30 minutes to put together.  Basically, your highjacking the 'test button' that's present on any smoke alarm by attaching to leads to the PCB that go down into a sponge that's at ground level.  When water saturates the sponge it completes the circuit causing the alarm to sound (and yes, the smoke detector still works too...as I quickly found out while soldering).

(see the rest after the break)

USB Webcam Microscope

Not everthing I do is original.  This just seemed like a cheap fun project.

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/07/weekend-projects-usb-webcam-microscope.html

Only took about an hour and I'm fairly impressed with the results

my hair

the table it was sitting on

Project - AlarmTock

Backstory - I don't know why this didn't occur to me sooner, but once again my wife comes to the rescue in inspiring my creativity.  You see, I've had the same same Sony alarm clock since 1992.  The damned thing still has a tape deck in it!!  I never really gave it much thought because I only stared at the thing once a day for 3 seconds, and that was to turn it off.  My wife absolutely hated it though.  It sounded terrible and looked even worse.  So she went to target and picked me up a $10 alarm clock that at least looked like it belonged in the 21st century.  I stared at it for about 30 seconds before asking myself "Why am I limited to waking up to a radio station that could be playing a song I absolutely hate or the most annoying BEEEEEP sound imaginable? Why doesn't my alarm clock tell me exactly what I need to know in the morning?"

Based on some other projects I've been working on (BlueBell), I used the idea of rss-driven text to speech combined with cron job built on a Chumby Hacker Board, crammed it inside a cheap alarm clock and Viola!  Enter the AlarmTock.

After the break you can here a quick sample of the output.  It's not quite Tony Stark's 'Jarvis' yet, but it's a step in the right direction.  Currently only does weather and top headlines, but I'm working on Facebook updates, personalized TV lineups, and todo lists.

(more after the break)