I'm trying to do the following:
I'm using a live chat application. The problem is that I'm not always looking at my monitor. To make sure I don't miss any chats I wanted to activate a flashing lamp when a chat opens.
What I've got now:
Program that talkes with Arduino through serial USB (prossessing on windows Vista), lamp connected to the Arduino through a relay. Chat window in which I can change the code (or implement an iframe if necessary).
What I still need:
A way to send serial commands (ethernet shield isn't an option) from the browser to the Arduino. It's only for 1 PC, so if I have to install software locally, that's possible.
Anybody that can point me in the right direction ?
You'll probably need something like a webserver running on your PC, so you can go to http://localhost/popupmessage.php (or whatever language you want). Then your popupmessage.script can talk to the serial port. You might get all sorts of issues with cross-site scripting blocks and stuff, but I've never tried. There are some PHP classes that can talk to serial ports, I think. Perhaps google it.
Thanks for the tip !
Googling for serial and php gave tons of pages, but finally found something that works
I used serialcomm.zip from http://missionduke.com/arduino-projects/
Leds flickering with a status update on the LCD: check, next step: connecting it to my relay.
First thought - why handle the stop button on the PC side. Having a physical button attached to the Arduino to handle this seems far simpler and also has the additional benefit of allowing for an amusing button:
That's actually a nice idea
And true, the coolness factor increases 10-fold.
I currently have the following code:
#include <LiquidCrystal.h>
LiquidCrystal lcd(7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12);
int ledPin13 = 13; // LED connected to digital pin 13
int incomingByte; // a variable to read incoming serial data into
char* LCDStrings[]={"Incoming chat","Click stop flash","Alarm stopped","Have a good chat"};
void setup() {
lcd.begin(16, 2);
lcd.clear();
pinMode(ledPin13, OUTPUT); // sets the digital pin as output
Serial.begin(9600); // initialize serial communication
}
void loop() {
if (Serial.available() > 0) {
incomingByte = Serial.read(); // read the oldest byte in the serial buffer
while (incomingByte == 48) {
PrintLCD(0);
digitalWrite(ledPin13, HIGH); // sets the LED on
delay(250);
digitalWrite(ledPin13, LOW); // sets the LED on
if (Serial.available() > 0) {
incomingByte = Serial.read(); // read the oldest byte in the serial buffer
}
delay(250);
}
if (incomingByte == 177) {
digitalWrite(ledPin13, LOW); // sets the LED off
PrintLCD(2);
delay(3000);
lcd.clear();
}
}
}
int PrintLCD(byte messageid) {
lcd.clear();
lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
lcd.print(LCDStrings[messageid]);
lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
lcd.print(LCDStrings[messageid+1]);
}
