If you use Ruby to write programs and apps, Daniel Treacy created a Ruby wrapper for the ThingSpeak API. This Gem makes it easy to access the ThingSpeak API inside of your Ruby code.
For more information, check out our tutorial and visit GitHub for the full source code. Thanks Daniel!
[via RubyGems.org]
Hans Scharler is stopping by the monthly meeting of the Pittsburgh Ruby Users Group. The topic on the agenda is ThingSpeak, an open source Ruby on Rails application for the Internet of Things. The meeting is scheduled for December 1, 2011 and starts at 7:30pm.
ThingSpeak is an open source web application and API to manage devices, to create device interactions, and to store data. Users can use the hosted version of ThingSpeak or setup instances on their own servers by getting the source code from GitHub. The technology behind ThingSpeak is Ruby 1.9.2, Rails 3.0, EventMachine, Phusion Passenger, Nginx, and Memcached to form a highly scalable infrastructure for the emerging Internet of Things and its data model requirements.
You use ThingSpeak to Send and Receive “data” via simple HTTP requests, much like going to a web page and filling out a form. Data can be from
anything — Blood Sugar Levels measured by a glucose meter, Server Usage and Uptime reported by servers, or Location Info from a mobile phone. Once the data is in ThingSpeak, you can build applications that retrieve the data, use the data for process decision-making, and reporting.
We are moving our Arduino Examples to GitHub to make it easier to copy, modify, and combine with your ideas. If you want to collaborate on creating the very best source code and examples for Arduino, feel free to contact us. We will be releasing our brand-new Arduino 1.0 sketches shortly. GitHub Speaks…
[willnue] of NUEwire created a project for the “Make it Tweet Contest” over on Instructables.com sponsored by Adafruit. The contest is simple: make something tweet. If you use our ThingTweet app, sending a Tweet could not be easier. And, if you have an Arduino setup as a device on your ThingSpeak account, ThingTweet generates the Arduino sketch for you automatically. Here is the tutorial to help you get started with ThingTweet and Arduino: Update Twitter with ThingTweet and Arduino + Ethernet Shield.
willnue added the ability to tweet to his GE Wireless Control Center Alarm system. He added an Arduino with Ethernet Shield and uses the ThingTweet app to connect the alarm to Twitter. Check out his detailed Instructables to learn more, build your own social thing, and enter the contest.
wilnue says,
This project will add tweeting capabilities to the GE 45142 Choice-Alert Wireless Control Center Alarm system. The alarm system allows you to connect up to 16 different sensors across 4 zones and with the addition of the Arduino powered AlarmingTweet you can enable it to keep you informed of its status anytime anywhere.
Good luck with the contest!
[Chris Lee] of Australian Robotics created a project that uses ThingSpeak as a resource monitor for a computer. His project explains how he uses Python to send HTTP POST requests to a ThingSpeak Channel. The data that he is sending is CPU and memory usage. This application could be used for monitoring servers and verifying uptime. Chris also makes use of the ThingSpeak Charts API to visualize the data in real-time.
The latest Python code to interface to ThingSpeak is available on GitHub.
[via Australian Robotics]
The ThingSpeak API is now on GitHub! You can setup the application on your local network or on a web server in the cloud and run the full ThingSpeak API dedicated for your application. With everyone being able to spin their own web of things, we look forward to seeing how the API evolves and the changes you make.
Support for ThingSpeak is available on the ThingSpeak Community site which features a Blog, Forum, Documentation, and Tutorials. The documentation is the same for the open source release of the ThingSpeak API as the hosted web service on ThingSpeak.com.
What is ThingSpeak?
ThingSpeak is an open source “Internet of Things” application and API to store and retrieve data from “things” using HTTP over the Internet or via a Local Area Network. With ThingSpeak, you can create sensor logging applications, location tracking applications, and a social network of things with status updates.
In addition to storing and retrieving numeric and alphanumeric data, the ThingSpeak API allows for numeric data processing such as timescaling, averaging, median, summing, and rounding. Each ThingSpeak Channel supports data entries of up to 8 data fields, latitude, longitude, elevation, and status. The channel feeds support JSON, XML, and CSV formats for integration into applications.
The ThingSpeak application on GitHub also features time zone management, read/write API key management and JavaScript-based charts from Highslide Software / Torstein Hønsi.