Use a pair of iPhones to view remotely. This came in handy at Robogames 2010. I had already forfeited my first match to Giger due to problems with my onboard video camera. Day two arrived, and I was the first one up again. My Trendnet IP cam decided this was the day it wanted to crap out for good. Having no backup camera on hand, I looked at my trusty iPhone and thought, "Hmmm, I wonder if there's an app for that?" Sure enough, I found a freebie app that allows one iPhone to transmit over bluetooth to another iPhone. Luckily, my fiance was along and packing her new 3GS!
Look for Remote Live Camera from the App Store. Currently at version 1.1 as of 5/13/2010 The app is pretty self explanatory to set up.
| Difficulty: |
Easy |
| Estimated Time: |
10 minutes |
| Skills Required: |
Basic PC skills |
| Parts Required: |
802.11 wifi network
Apple iPhone or iPod Touch
A PC running Windows XP, Vista, or OS X. Beta for Ubuntu Linux available as well. |
| Tools Required: |
Software.
Ok, for this tutorial, we are going to get Clyde moving via iPhone. I
use Lynxmotion's Visual Sequencer SEQ-1 linked to Clyde via Bluetooth,
but this hack will work for any bot that can be controlled via PC
software-based keyboard input. Essential to this hack is a lttle piece
of software called Wifi Pad. This actually consists of a server app
which runs on your control pc and remote wifi client app you download
from the Apple App store onto your iPhone. It was intended to be a
substitute to an actual gamepad for playing your computer games. |
1. Install WifiPad on your iPhone from the Apple App Store..
2. Install the WifiPad server app from http://wifipad.com onto
your PC. Assigning a server name is optional, or you can connect using
IP address later. Now is a good time though, using ipconfig.exe to find
out your host PC's address on your local net. Click
on the WifiPad Server app's D-pad and buttons and assign them some keys
on your PC keyboard you'd like to control your bot. (direction arrows,
num 1-9, W,A,S,D, whatever...)
3. You'll have to enable a couple ports on your firewall to allow your PC to communicate with the iPhone. Under Windows Firewall settings, Uncheck
"Do Not Allow Exceptions", if it is checked. Then, on the "Exceptions"
tab, create ports for UDP 8989, TCP 8989 and UDP 8990. I recommend you
use the "Change Scope" button to only allow access to your local subnet.
4. Configure whatever software you use to move your bot to respond to keyboard input. I use Lynxmotion's Visual SEQ.
5. I'll open the 'Advanced Play' module in SEQ
and map some sequences to my cursor keys (UP, DOWN, LEFT and RIGHT) and
the spacebar.
6. Ensuring you have wifi enabled on your iPhone, launch
WifiPad. It should scan the network and find your WifiPad server.
Alternatively, connect using the IP address of the host PC you have
WifiPad server installed on.
7. Have fun!
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