How to control a lawn irrigation system with Android and Arduino

Those crazy Googlers are at it again.

Two of the company’s engineers created a way to control a lawn irrigation system using a number of technologies, including Android, Ardiuno, Python, Dart and Google App Engine. J.J Barrons and Joe Fernandez demo their custom solution in this brief video, showing the simple Android app that’s used to control the system, along with the hardware required to make it all work.

The two took things a step further with a web-based, fun interface to sprinkle the lawn; that’s the part that uses Python, Dart and Google App Engine. Best of all: If you have the inclination to put a similar “Irrduino” system together yourself, the two engineers are sharing the source code at the aptly-named web address of http://bit.ly/waterjoeslawn.

As impressed as I am by the project, I’d love to see the Googlers take it one step further. Perhaps my first addition would be a tie-in to the local weather that automatically disables the sprinkler system in the event of rain or other precipitation.

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