Commanding Arduino with Siri via Ruby

27 January 2013

Your iPhone can’t make your toast, eh? Thanks to a SiriProxy plugin that I wrote this weekend (hooray for weekend projects) siriproxy-arduino, maybe it can.* Austinbv from Pivotal Labs provided the code for the ‘dino’ gem, which allows for simple control of Arduino via Ruby.

While the above video is a simple proof of concept merely controlling the Arduino’s onboard LED, consider my plugin to be a boilerplate for your Arduino & Siri based home automation projects.

For quick reference, I posted the contents of my basic plugin so you can see how simple it is to get started. Jumpstart Labs has a nice guide on getting started with Dino. Controlling an LED is not very exciting, sure. You get to be the creative one :)

class SiriProxy::Plugin::Arduino < SiriProxy::Plugin
  def initialize(config)
    #if you have custom configuration options, process them here!
    board = Dino::Board.new(Dino::TxRx.new)
    @led = Dino::Components::Led.new(pin:13, board: board)
  end

  listen_for /light(s)? on/i do
    @led.send :on
    say "Light on"
    request_completed #always complete your request! Otherwise the phone will "spin" at the user!
  end

  listen_for /light(s)? off/i do
    @led.send :off
    say "Light off" 
    request_completed #always complete your request! Otherwise the phone will "spin" at the user!
  end
end

Keep your eyes peeled for more posts, like a siri-enabled coffee maker and easy install instructions.

* In order to actually control your toaster, you would need to attach a relay to your Arduino. This will come later (in pt. 2 or pt. 3)