RobotGrrl a 19 year old Robot maker has found a new way to control her pet Robot, Robobrrd with her Ipad. RobotGrrl is using a Redpark Serial cable to connect her iPad to an Arduino microcontroller. The Redpark Serial cable for iOS, is a cable which allows the iPad to connect to RS232 serial devices. RobotGrrl then used a DB9 connector breakout board to convert to a USB plug for interfacing with the Arduino.

RobotGrrl developed an iPad app to demonstrate the possibilities. Being able to directly link an Arduino to an iPad opens up all sorts of avenues for the control of everyday items. The possibilities are limitless. As a thought exercise, I thought about uses for the cable for exactly one minute and came up with the following four uses.

• Use the iPad/Arduino and wifi  to dim the lights throughout your house.
• Use the iPad to close the drapes in several room.
• Use the iPad accelerometer\ tilt sensor to control a pad and tilt camera for home security.
• Connect the iPad to a scanner with OCR to enter text into a document.

What can you think of in one minute? Please submit your ideas as comments to this post.

To read an interview with Robotgrrl click here.

To Read more about Robobrrd click here.