Dorm Room Automation 01 w/ Arduino

So my year is almost over, and I have some overly ambitious goals for next year. My future room mates and I want to automate our dorm room (Yeah, that IS my college life). And with my new Arduino and Ethernet shield, I definitely have the materials. And after a few late nights, I now have a working code.

In the video below you see me display a message, and change a RGB LED. I used an LED instead of a motor because I only have one motor, and my Arduino doesn't give out enough power to run it. But the code is the same, you just hook up the LED output to a transistor or even directly to a motor (if you need to change the code, feel free to ask for help). The hookup is pretty simple, and is typed out in the code itself - but could change depending on what LCD screen you have, so yet again feel free to ask for help (tweet me @roboteched or post below).

This part of the code in my final room automation will take place every 30 seconds, so that other code can be executed in-between (like temperature, light switch controls, etc). To do this I use the Time library on Arduinos website. My next goal is to control the LCD using a ShiftOut IC. If you have any ideas, or know how to do this, let me know and I’ll reference you! Check back sometime within the next week for an update on my next project.

CODE DOWNLOAD