LavaHot Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 So I got a set of WootOff lights in the mail from woot.com along with a flying monkey and I was somewhat disappointed at the simplicity of the lights, but I realized they could be put to use as a WootOff alarm with some intelligence put behind them. The monkey requires no intelligence. Basically the lights are simple USB powered devices that turn on or off with power, so here's the idea: Build a plug-in wireless device that can watch a particular twitter account (@wootoff), and when a post is submitted it activates the USB port connected to the light. It has a timeout feature that will cut off the lights when the string of posts cease. So my questions are, what hardware do I need for this, what language(s) do I need to know to program this, particularly to interact with the twitter API, and would anybody be interested in the results? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jobdone Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 I'm unaware of the circuit for these lights , but I assume they are a string of led's with a basic i/o switch? if so personally I'd use an rs232 opto coupler (com port switcher) to replace the switch , the rest would then be software. I doubt you can switch the power to a single usb port via software.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonlit Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 If simple is the aim, only USB power is needed. Connect a light to the end of the red and black power wires, then turn the port on or off according to your requirements. Hacky, but functional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LavaHot Posted May 25, 2009 Author Share Posted May 25, 2009 If simple is the aim, only USB power is needed. Connect a light to the end of the red and black power wires, then turn the port on or off according to your requirements. Hacky, but functional. That's basically what I want to do. It doesn't have to be a real USB port, it just has to supply power like a USB port would. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redxine Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 Basically the lights are simple USB powered devices that turn on or off with power, so here's the idea: Build a plug-in wireless device that can watch a particular twitter account (@wootoff), and when a post is submitted it activates the USB port connected to the light. It has a timeout feature that will cut off the lights when the string of posts cease. Contradiction aside, you'd probably want to look into getting an arduino with the Ethernet shield. There's plenty of projects like this involving twitter on the blog at makezine.com. Here's a few [or alot]: http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2007/12/b...sin_encase.html http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/02/h...nts_talk_t.html http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/03/a...TC-0D6B48984890 http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/08/g...TC-0D6B48984890 http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/05/a...led_toilet.html So to answer your question, probably a bit of PHP, Arduino's C-ish how-ya-doin, and an optocoupler and you're all set to go! See also: Make Google Search Hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LavaHot Posted May 26, 2009 Author Share Posted May 26, 2009 Contradiction aside, Whoops, I meant AC-powered wireless device, something that could sit over a power socket. Thanks for the info, it looks like it might be the info I need. I'll take a look and get back to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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