Building My Own Siri / Jarvis part 2

I noticed there was quite a lot of interest in that first blog post. That’s enough to warrant a follow-up.

So a few things changed. In the original post, I primarily relied on Wolfram Alpha’s AI engine to power Jarvis. Thanks to Shiv Kokroo, I discovered True Knowledge (which is now called Evi). I signed up for a free account. They are far more generous with the number of queries you can make, and I like the results better. The only problem is that it doesn’t return concise responses like Wolfram… which would be better suited for Jarvis.
What I ended up doing was to use both. If True Knowledge doesn’t return with a response, it asks Wolfram.

The source code is available here on github.
… and here it is in action.

Yes. The biggest improvement is Jarvis’ ability to control appliances. First, I set up a “mini server” using an arduino + ethernet shield. I set up the miniature arduino server to accept GET requests such as:
http://192.168.1.177/?dev=light&cmd=on to turn the light on. Eventually, I would issue this request:
http://192.168.1.177/?dev=tv&cmd=off to turn the tv off (though I didn’t implement the IR module just yet). To change the channel on the set top box, I had plans to use
http://192.168.1.177/?dev=stb&cmd=618. I was actually confident I could do this one until I tried hacking my verizon fios box. It turns out it’s not very easy and I just don’t have that kind of time.

Here is the arduino web server code:

#include <SPI.h>
#include <Ethernet.h>

int ledPin = 2;

// Enter a MAC address and IP address for your controller below.
// The IP address will be dependent on your local network:
byte mac[] = { 0xDE, 0xAD, 0xBE, 0xEF, 0xFE, 0xED };
IPAddress ip(192,168,1, 177);

// Initialize the Ethernet server library
// with the IP address and port you want to use 
// (port 80 is default for HTTP):
EthernetServer server(80);

void setup()
{
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
  // start the Ethernet connection and the server:
  Ethernet.begin(mac, ip);
  server.begin();
}

void loop()
{
  String readstring = ""; 
  // listen for incoming clients
  EthernetClient client = server.available();
  if (client) {
    // an http request ends with a blank line
    boolean currentLineIsBlank = true;
    while (client.connected()) {
      if (client.available()) {
        char c = client.read();
        // if you've gotten to the end of the line (received a newline
        // character) and the line is blank, the http request has ended,
        // so you can send a reply
        readstring += c;
        if (c == '\n' && currentLineIsBlank && readstring.indexOf("dev=garage")>0){
          // send a standard http response header
          client.println("HTTP/1.1 200 OK");
          client.println("Content-Type: text/html");
          client.println();
          if (readstring.indexOf("cmd=open")>0){
            client.print("opened garage");
          }
          else{
            client.print("closed garage");
          }
          readstring = "";
          break;
        }
        else if (c == '\n' && currentLineIsBlank && readstring.indexOf("dev=tv")>0){
          // send a standard http response header
          client.println("HTTP/1.1 200 OK");
          client.println("Content-Type: text/html");
          client.println();
          if (readstring.indexOf("cmd=on")>0){
            client.print("turned on tv");
          }
          else{
            client.print("turned off tv");
          }
          readstring = "";
          break;
        }
        else if (c == '\n' && currentLineIsBlank && readstring.indexOf("dev=light")>0){
          // send a standard http response header
          client.println("HTTP/1.1 200 OK");
          client.println("Content-Type: text/html");
          client.println();
          if (readstring.indexOf("cmd=on")>0){
            switchlight(1);
            client.print("turned on light");
          }
          else{
            switchlight(0);
            client.print("turned off light");
          }
          readstring = "";
          break;
        }
        else if (c == '\n' && currentLineIsBlank) {
          // send a standard http response header
          client.println("HTTP/1.1 200 OK");
          client.println("Content-Type: text/html");
          client.println();
          readstring = "";
          break;
        }
        if (c == '\n') {
          // you're starting a new line
          currentLineIsBlank = true;
        }
        else if (c != '\r') {
          // you've gotten a character on the current line
          currentLineIsBlank = false;
        }
      }
    }
    // give the web browser time to receive the data
    delay(1);
    // close the connection:
    client.stop();
  }
}

int switchlight(int onoroff){
  if(onoroff==1){
    digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);
  }
  else{
    digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);
  }
  return onoroff;
}

You’ll notice the only section that’s actually functional is the “light”. Now, the 3.3v – 5v microcontroller power is clearly insufficient to power anything significant. We need a relay. The way a relay works, the small current charges up a coil/electromagnet which moves the switch carrying the larger current.

On the relay that I’m using, there are 5 contacts. The NC stands for “normally closed” and the NO stands for “normally open”.
I took an extension cord, used my multimeter to confirm which side was +, and I spliced it.

If you want to see the schematics, you can find it on the Arduino website.

I don’t own any standalone lamps… so the best I could do is to plug in Christmas Lights…. that is, until I get a better relay and plug it into main. (If you attempt this at home, please be cautious.)

Now that I have 1 or more miniature arduino webservers placed strategically around my house, my internal network configuration looks something like this:

None of the arduino webservers are public facing… Jarvis now runs on a spare 1u rackmount server that’s laying around my house. I communicate with Jarvis, and Jarvis communicates with each of the minions.

Now, the real fun begins. I can look for different components around the house that I wish to control via Jarvis. 🙂

All of the necessary source code can be found on github.