An app for a friend, featured by MIT App Inventor

Many of the devices around us are now connected through the Internet of Things. Two LearnOBots students put that idea to work for a friend who was confined to bed by illness: they made him a mobile app that let him switch the appliances in his room on and off over the internet, without getting up.

What they built

• A mobile app, made with MIT App Inventor.

• Switches in the app that turn appliances on and off.

• A connection over the internet, so the appliances respond from anywhere in the room, from the bed.

How a build like this works

In general terms: the app sends a message over Wi-Fi to a small internet-connected board near the appliances. The board reads the message and switches a relay, which turns the appliance's power on or off, the same job a wall switch does.

What it teaches

• Designing an app around one real person's needs.

• Block-based programming in App Inventor, which builds real Android apps.

• How the Internet of Things works: a phone, a network and a device talking to each other.

• Building for safety and comfort, not just for fun.

Recognition

The project drew attention on international blogs, and MIT (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) featured it on its App Inventor website.

Build your own

Our IoT Box guide in the Fix-it Corner shows how to put a Wi-Fi board online and switch a light from a phone, the first step towards a project like this.

Built by LearnOBots students at a LearnOBots STEAM programme.