HouseBot

Here’s what I would like to do, I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to make this possible. I’d like Housebot to actively (maybe once per hour) monitor four different stocks, and then send on/off commands to four different LED lights based on if the particular stock is currently going up or down. I know I need 4 AC LED lights, and 4 appliance modules, and I know how to make them turn on/off based on a variable, but I’m not sure if it’s possible to have a variable change in Housebot based on information from the internet. Does anyone have any insight if this is possible? I don’t have any programming skills.



The end result would be similar to the “Ambient Orb” (Google it) except it would be controlled by the computer instead of through their proprietary wireless network. And it wouldn’t cost $150 for a single unit.



I know it’s a strange question. Thanks for the help,

--Jon

It certainly is possible if you are comfortable with VBScript. Read the helpfile for the Script Device to find out how to set/get property values from within a VBScript. You will need some skills (you know, like nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, VBScript skills :lol: ) but it is not too difficult.

It’s good to hear that it will be possible. However, I’m a bit apprehensive regarding the fact that I need to learn VBScript to do it. Ugh. I Google’d and found this page…



http://www.4guysfromrolla.com/webtech/081199-2.shtml



… is that along the right lines? Or is that steering me down a dead end?



Thanks again for the advice.



--Jon

Give me another day and I should have something for you to use. Sleep and real job are slowing me down. Would have stayed up most of the night and gotten it done, but I have to be somewhat awake at work today. I did get the vbscript taken care of. Just need to do some more testing and write some install instructions.

Thanks Spike,



That was crazy fast. Your help is appreciated, and take your time I’m not in a hurry. Now that I know it’s possible, I need to order the LED lights. Were you going to post it here somewhere? Or did you want my e-mail address?



--Jon

Ok, got it done. Once I get approved to be part of MAID, I will post it there and let you know how to get it from there.

Jon,



I have not heard anything back yet to get access to MAID. So, contact me via email and I will send you what I got. My email address is on my profile.



Why LED lights? Aren't they suppose to be cheaper to run than normal light bulbs? Please let me know where you find a good deal on the lights. I maybe interested in playing with them.

I just got approved for MAID access. Only problem now is that I can only add files with a .mpp extension and my file is a zip. Will see if I can trick it by changing the extension. NOPE, that does not work. Guess, you will still have to contact me via email.

We are working on a new version of MAID that will make it easier to post HouseBot plugins but for now there are a few tricks to posting them under the Extensions category. If you'd like to email it to me (alan at meedio) I'll package it up and post it for you.

Upon furter investigation and after getting the ok from Alan, I have posted my example to the Extensions Forum.



Let me know if you have any questions.

Works like a charm. Complicated enough to allow total customization, yet simple enough for the layman (me) to figure it out. It took about an hour of playing around, but now it’s monitoring all four of the stocks (actually mutual funds) that I want it to watch. Now I just need to wait for the lights that I ordered to arrive. Thanks!



I’m a bit surprised that no one has wanted a general Internet information-monitoring tool prior to myself. It seems like there could be a ton of uses for this besides just stocks.



--Jon