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What's this all going to come to? I'm not sure yet, but I have an idea. It turns out I can get data from the xbee from my serial port and interact with it using python. This can be done using the pyserial library. Then, with some help from the Tweet-a-Watt project, I can hook up my garden and keep tabs on it using my home computer! What a great way to put two projects together. My only real question is whether I should use the Xbee adapter kit or the Xbee shield kit for the arduino.
I'm excited to be working on a new project at home. This one will take some well known projects and push me to try a few new tricks with them. I expect to learn a lot and to apply what I learn to some future projects I see coming down the road. But for now I can look forward to hitting the hardware store this weekend and picking up parts for my garden. This is going to be a lot of fun.
Garduino + Tweet-a-Watt
Last month Make Magazine came out with "Volume 18: ReMake America" to my joy and delight. The magazine was entirely focused on the type of home projects to help you live a greener life. Since I moved to my new apartment I've been looking to do a few new green projects, like growing a garden and watching my power consumption.
Fortunately for me there were two great projects that fit just those ideas within the pages of the issue. The first was the Garduino (Gardening + Arduino), a really great way to automate your home garden. This is perfect for me because A) I have a greenish-brown thumb, and B) I own an arduino! Plus, my friend Mike and I have been talking about building a similar project of late and this was the perfect excuse. I've already gone out to buy a basil plant and a mint plant and fitted it with a soil moisture sensor so I'm on my way.
The second project that I found interesting was the Tweet-a-Watt (A LadyAda.net project). This project is a great way to modify a home power meter to wirelessly gather data on your power consumption. In this particular instance the data is sent out to a twitter account that the user can use to keep an eye on their power. I like the idea because its a great way to learn about my power consumption and also learn about the Xbee RF Module.
[caption id="attachment_116" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Xbee Adapter from LadyAda.net"]
[/caption]
What's this all going to come to? I'm not sure yet, but I have an idea. It turns out I can get data from the xbee from my serial port and interact with it using python. This can be done using the pyserial library. Then, with some help from the Tweet-a-Watt project, I can hook up my garden and keep tabs on it using my home computer! What a great way to put two projects together. My only real question is whether I should use the Xbee adapter kit or the Xbee shield kit for the arduino.
I'm excited to be working on a new project at home. This one will take some well known projects and push me to try a few new tricks with them. I expect to learn a lot and to apply what I learn to some future projects I see coming down the road. But for now I can look forward to hitting the hardware store this weekend and picking up parts for my garden. This is going to be a lot of fun.
[/caption]
What's this all going to come to? I'm not sure yet, but I have an idea. It turns out I can get data from the xbee from my serial port and interact with it using python. This can be done using the pyserial library. Then, with some help from the Tweet-a-Watt project, I can hook up my garden and keep tabs on it using my home computer! What a great way to put two projects together. My only real question is whether I should use the Xbee adapter kit or the Xbee shield kit for the arduino.
I'm excited to be working on a new project at home. This one will take some well known projects and push me to try a few new tricks with them. I expect to learn a lot and to apply what I learn to some future projects I see coming down the road. But for now I can look forward to hitting the hardware store this weekend and picking up parts for my garden. This is going to be a lot of fun.