Build your own Arduino-compatible, remote-controlled lights

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Maker hacks his own Arduino-compatible, Philips Hue-like bulbs with LYT and Souliss.

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Looking to control the multi-colored lights in your home? Sure, you could always go out and buy your own set of Philips Hue bulbs. Or, you can do what a Dario Di Maio has done and build your own that plugs into a standard light socket. As the Maker points out, while smart LEDs have become quite common today, none have been Arduino-compatible.

For this project, the Maker used the Authometion LYT — an ATmega88PA powered RGBW LED bulb with an Arduino shield as a gateway, which enabled him to freely create his own custom behaviors and code. Both the Arduino and shield run the Souliss framework, while the lights are controlled through the Souliss App.

The shield is equipped with two radio modules, an ESP8266 Wi-Fi SoC that connects the Arduino with the home router and a PL1167 2.4 GHz transceiver wired to the Atmel MCU to control the bulbs. (Di Maio recommends either the Uno and Leonardo.)

Meanwhile, the ESP8266 and the Arduino are linked via USART. According to Di Maio, you can download the necessary libraries and examples from the Authometion store. These allow you to bridge command over Wi-Fi to the USART and then to the PL1167.

“We will run two instances of Souliss, one on the ESP8266 and the other on the Arduino board, this because Souliss embedded the communication between different nodes and this let us skip the writing of a custom code to link these two devices,” Di Maio writes.

The bulb itself is a 9W RGBW LED, which generally should fit in most lamps with an E27 plug. The Maker provides an elaborate breakdown of his project along with the necessary code on his page here.

IoTuino is an Arduino-compatible Wi-Fi module for the Internet of Things

Developed by Authometion, IoTtuino is an Arduino-compatible tiny core module for the Internet of Things. Recently launched on Indiegogo, the Italian-based startup aspires to help Makers create smart homes through a number of DIY automation applications.

“The goal of the product is to offer all makers and developers the opportunity to work with a powerful yet miniaturized microcontroller for rapid prototyping and to leverage the Arduino open-source electronics platform to build plenty of IoT devices,” explained Authometion CEO Pietro Moscetta. “It can be embedded into any object to immediately embrace the IoT revolution.”

IoTuino is based on an ATmega328P MCU and features a built-in low-power Wi-Fi module (IEEE802.11 b/g/n), a 512Kb SPI Flash, a 2.4 GHz radio transceiver, and an integrated mini-USB programming port.

According to its creators, the module is the first and only development board that smoothly incorporates a native control over smart LED bulbs. “For the first time developers will have the possibility, using the popular Arduino environment, to control our LYT as a wireless sensor.”

Powered by an Atmel AT83EB5114 MCU, LYT is a 9W Wi-Fi smart RGB+W LED bulb with an E27 Edison screw base. The smart bulb works in coordination with IoTuino, which serves as a gateway and can be automated by sensors and actuators for things like heat, light, force, motion and sound. Essentially, Makers can use the IoTuino and LYT bundle to manage lighting by using the smart bulbs as if they were wireless sensors, customizing the devices’ functions.

“IoTuino and LYT can already be used with IFTTT, Zapier, and any other automation services through our free WebApp available for Windows, OSX and Linux,” the team notes.

Through such automation services, users can set triggers and develop multiple scenarios for the lights, ranging from blinking effects when a social media message is received and changing colors to notify of an incoming mobile call to syncing lights with streaming music on a connected device and setting the mood.

“Our end goal is to improve user experience, convenience, comfort, energy efficiency, and security in the most important place: your home,” said Moscetta.

Those interested in learning more or helping fund Authomntion’s latest Atmel based devices can head on over the company’s official Indiegogo page here.