September 22, 2014

The "Smart Homer" Web-enabled TV remote control system

If you enjoy building Arduino-related projects and also enjoy the animated television show "The SImpsons" then the next project by Instructables member tamberg will be of great interest. They have a created a device that can determine whent the show is to be broadcast, and then turn on the TV and select the correct channel.

The process is comprised of an interesting sequence of events. A cloud script is used to poll the RSS feed of a TV guide, which then sends a push notification to an Ethernet-enabled Arduino or compatible boards, at which point the Arduino controls infra-red LEDs to control the television. Finally, the hardware is mounted inside a stuffed Homer and the IR LEDs fitted inside his eyes.

It's a fun project and also a neat demonstration of the Yaler online infrastructore for communicating with embedded devices. To get started, all the details can be found on the project's Instructable page. And for more, we're on facebookGoogle+, and twitter - so follow us for news and product updates as well.

When putting together your next Internet-enabled Arduino or AVR project - save time, space and money with the Freetronics EtherTen. Apart from being fully Arduino Uno-compatible, it has onboard Ethernet, microSD socket, full USB interface (so you don't need a costly FTDI cable just to upload a sketch!) and supports optional Power-over-Ethernet.

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