Filed under: Hardware, Peripherals, Hacks, Odds and ends, Internet, iPhone, iPod touch
Woof! An iPhone-controlled dog treat dispenser
While you're geeking out with your techie friends building battle bots or pumpkin cannons, why not give your dog a little love at the same time?TUAW reader Stephen Myers sent us a link about a fun little project he worked on. He wants to be able to check on his dog's well-being and reward the dog with treats from anywhere he can use his iPhone. Stephen found out about ioBridge, a company that develops electronic monitoring and control modules that connect to any Ethernet network and can be controlled via an encrypted web front end.
Myers used an I/O module and servo smart board from ioBridge, a servo, an old CD spindle case, some cardboard and wood scraps, a large syringe plunger, and a webcam to build his device, and then used the ioBridge web interface to create a widget that controlled the device. No programming was required. The system generated javascript that was then embedded into a web page optimized for the iPhone screen, and now Myers can check up on Cooper, his dog, and give Cooper some treats.
Myers has many more details about the system in his blog entry, and he will be writing future posts about how he's using ioBridge and X10 controllers to turn lights on and off in his home -- from his iPhone.
Be sure to check out the YouTube video below!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
tehmacuser said 8:47PM on 12-04-2008
from what it looks like this isn't really an iphone-controlled dog treat dispenser any more than it's an internet controlled dog treat dispenser.
He just happens to be using the iPhone's Safari browser.
He could've used a Mac. Or Linux. Or a library computer for heaven's sake as long as the page was reformatted to work with any display, which is just changing a maximum of 3 lines of CSS code.
It's still VERY imaginative but misleading to say it's controlled by the iPhone itself. It's just a browser on a random phone. ;P
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chris said 11:54PM on 12-04-2008
techmacuser:
Are you one of those guys that goes on blogs and picks on the slightest of details so that on some level someone might think you are smarter than they are?
paperless said 11:59AM on 12-07-2008
Chris he is right.
You could do the same rom any phone with a broswer, not really something exclusive to the iphone.
CHRiS said 11:43AM on 12-09-2008
If you would have read the blog, that is how he designed it (for the iphone) and that is what he said - so don't bash on Chris for duplicating the title of the original blog and work. He specifically designed the web site to work and display properly with his iphone - not that it WONT work on other internet facing devices, just that he did design it for the iphone and it's browser. If he wanted to use other "computers" he would have used the flash version of the webcam software - read the blog.
That Fender Strat Guy said 12:42AM on 12-05-2008
He's completely right, though, it's not exactly an iPhone-centric story.
This said, I'm interested in a gizmo like this myself... Or several. Could make for an awesome home defence system...
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mark said 1:36AM on 12-05-2008
How convenient the earlier posters forget that browsers on "random phones" SUCK OUT LOUD and you would never see the video of your pet eating the treat AT ALL.
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Taylor said 2:15AM on 12-05-2008
No.
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zadig said 9:36AM on 12-05-2008
My dog would so become a software hacker if I installed a system like this one. I'd come home and he'd have all the treats and control of the Defense Department or something. No way am I doing this.
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Brandon said 2:56AM on 12-07-2008
Don't you mean Moof!?
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japoy tan said 2:32AM on 12-11-2008
This is a very nifty trick and i think it can also be used for other purposes aside from dog treats.
http://www.petstreetmall.com/Treats/1513.html
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