hi there! i really really need your help. we have a project and our aim is control of robot over the internet.. it need not be overly advanced.. just the basics.. basically i just need to learn how to control the serial port using java, and then i have to learn how to use that program over the internet.. i was thinking of maybe using the tomcat as a server and then java applets or servlets for the website used for user input.. but the problem is, i really don't know how everything works! if anyone can help me, i'd really appreciate it.. just the basics.. even if it's just controlling the serial port thru the internet [but still using java or turbo c]. and also, i have to know how to control a webcam thru the net? i need it for live feedback of what's happening to the "robot". the robot need not be a real robot.. it could be any circuit connected to the serial port, and can be controlled over the internet.. thanks alot!!! i really need this.. it's very important..

 

Without going into too much detail, I current have a web interface that allows me to access the lighting in my home. The controller only has a serial port. My system is a linux machine. In my case, I have a 'C' program that knows how to talk to the lighting controller. The program can be executed from the command line. To make it web-enabled, I wrote a simple perl script that translates clicks on the web page into the proper arguments for the command line program and then executes it. I dont have a webcam, but others that I have seen simply continuosly overwrite a file on their drive and then serve the most current file whenever the browser requests it.

 

thanks very much for the reply.. umm.. if it's not too much of a bother, could you be more specific? i'm not really that familiar with perl..
one more question.. so, how do i deploy it in the internet? do i need some kind of host or something? or is it embedded in the html file.. i really don't know.. thanks!

 

Perl is a very versatile scripting/programming language. First I would get apache up and running as your web server and learn a bit about CGI programming. At that point, you can look at mod_perl (which connects apache and perl). You can use your script to generate the HTML on the fly or a number of other template engines. Once you get that working, you just have to modify your perl script to talk to another program. Perl is rather simple to learn.

 

I agree with crust .Perl is rather simple to learn .
I have been learning Perl for 2 years , It like C program
You need a Perl compiler (active Perl )
You can find more details about Perl at website http://www.activestate.com
have fun

 

Are you using X10 ? If so what controller ? USB/Serial/Parallel


re:-Control over the net

There used to be this site on the net out of Australia that allowed you to control a robotic arm through a Java interface. There was an explanation on how to go about doing it.
I cant find the site and am unsure if its still online. Maybe someone in here remembers it and the tutorial that went along with it.