Hey guys, I'm building K9 from Doctor Who and I was curious if arduino would be able to provide me with remote control and other features such as playing sounds, randomized functions (moving ears, playing a computer sound every now and then)?
Is it possible to run arduino over wi fi and from a windows or android phone?
If not, are there other options available as far as controllers go that would allow me to control multiple functions in addition to steering?
The answer to all of that is yes, but with a caveat.
The Arduino is just an embedded controller, it doesn't PROVIDE you with any of that stuff, it PROVIDES you with a platform from which you can design all of that stuff. You're the one that will be doing all the work of designing K9.
How to do it? Just start! Think up the simplest sounding part and make just that work. Then make more parts work. Then make them work in conjunction with each other.
Android phone to Arduino: Use a Wifly shield, set it up to associate with your Wifly network. Get a Telnet App for your phone. Connect to the Wifly via Telnet. Send text back and forth through Serial. One tiny part of the puzzle done.
"This wi fi thing, is it possible to make GUIs? I'd like to be able to program a sound board as well as steer and what not from the phone."
You can certainly program the phone to make a GUI. You have to know how to program the Android OS to do that. All those Apps in the App store came from somewhere. Someone had to write them.
"heh. Well what I meant more specifically was that it would be able to provide me with IO and to relay messages from a remote control."
I/O, yes. And easy to do.
Relay messages? Yes, but only in the most basic way, (Like Telnet). if you need a structured, protocol based message system, you have to write all that yourself.
I'm not trying to provide dodgy answers, just reading your questions carefully. You must know that smart phones are programmable and apps are available from "App stores". But I expect that if you go searching for "K9 control GUI through Arduino" at the App store, you'll come up dry.
Hmm. Let's try that... Well I'll be dipped. I found one called "Domotichome with Arduino" in the Android App Market. Gunna download it... There are others, too. Could be a good starting point.
You have to invent these things yourself. The Arduino can communicate over Wifi. So can the smart phone. Both have programming environments you can download and use for free. The Arduino can run motors, inputs, etc. The smart phone can display a GUI. Go at it!