Nabaztag as status indicator

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Lennart
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Nabaztag as status indicator

Post by Lennart »

Hi all,

I'm busy on another small project, just for fun (please don't ask me for the use of it all ;-).

You might be aware of Nabaztag, also known as the "ambient connected wifi internet rabbit". It's basically a toy rabbit that has motorized ears and a number of leds. It can receive and play text-to-speech messages, sounds, led choreographies, ear positions, etc. through the internet using it's built-in wifi connection.

Most interesting thing is the availability of an API. By sending specific parameterized http GET requests, it's possible to have the bunny move its ears, light its leds, play sounds, say things (RSS feeds, a.o.) and even read out the current position of its ears.

This, of course, makes it quite easy to integrate it into your home automation system and use it as a status indicator for all kind of things.

For instance, I'm planning to have it remind me the night before garbage collection what kliko (garbage can) to put out on the street. I constantly foget it altogether and the rabbit could annoy me once an hour with its reminder until I kill it (the reminder, not the rabbit ;-).

There are also some ambient services built-in, such as the weather forecast, stock market trend, e-mail alert, etc.

There's one drawback: all of this goes through the server of the company that manufactures this device. That means 1) delays in receiving messages and 2) dependence on a server owned by a company for things to work. In fact, not all services are available for free (though many are). And what would happen if the company discontinues the server?

Fortunately, there's a newer version of Nabaztag (one that also does speech recognition) that is compatible to the OpenNab software: an open PHP-based proxy framework for the Nabaztag. With this proxy, you can control the Nabaztag (V2) directly from your server, without being dependent on any external service.

More info on Nabaztag: http://www.nabaztag.com
More info on OpenNab: http://sourceforge.net/projects/opennab

And a picture of my Nabaztag (still V1 though):

Image

BTW the idea is not new: if you search on Google for Nabaztag and Homeseer, you'll find other people who have succesfully integrated these before. But I thought it was fun to let you know anyway.

Best wishes,

Lennart
Bwired
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Nabaztag as status indicator

Post by Bwired »

<b>There's one drawback: all of this goes through the server of the company that manufactures this device.</b>

Man Lennart we have the same interests [:D]
I have been examining the Nabaztag for more then a year now. But the above drawback is the reason why I did not buy it [:(!]
I had some mail conversation with the French company who is manufacturing the WiBunny's but they don't seem to care....Perhaps in the future they told me.

As I read your topic this has been changed now If it can be reached directly from within you local network that would be great. I don't like PHP but other will hopefully be possible as well.
I will look in to it again!
Otherwise perhaps there is alternate hack software available now [8D]
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Snelvuur
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Nabaztag as status indicator

Post by Snelvuur »

We are pretty nerdy..

http://home.rfje.org/test/nabaz/ is my code i use to change the ears and stuff on my v1, this does use the company's server but its a thing i wrote a long time ago. Dont know if it works anymore though, just give it a try if needed. Nobody wrote a class file for php so i stuck something together.

The v2 looks nicer with opennab, there was allready something like that for the v1 but never left the beta version (or never worked like a charm)
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Snelvuur
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Nabaztag as status indicator

Post by Snelvuur »

http://www.pixmania.nl/nl/nl/456000/art ... #avisconso 129 euro's valentine price.

// Erik (binkey.nl)
raymonvdm
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Re: Nabaztag as status indicator

Post by raymonvdm »

I have NabazTAG-tag laying arround, did anyone ever made a usefull device out of this ?


The company changed names a couple of time and so google is not very helpfull although i found some hints

http://blog.karotz.com/?p=1596&lang=en

http://dev.karotz.com/api/


and then i found this http://www.domoticaforum.eu/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=9464 but it is for the new version Karotz
Running HS3PRO on PC with Z-Wave / OpenTherm / Plugwise / RFXcom / MQTT / XAP400 / Logitech Media Server and Squeezelite on PI`s
raymonvdm
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Re: Nabaztag as status indicator

Post by raymonvdm »

raymonvdm wrote:I have NabazTAG-tag laying arround, did anyone ever made a usefull device out of this ?


The company changed names a couple of time and so google is not very helpfull although i found some hints

http://blog.karotz.com/?p=1596&lang=en

http://dev.karotz.com/api/


and then i found this http://www.domoticaforum.eu/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=9464 but it is for the new version Karotz

And there also seem to be "opensource" alternative http://www.nabizdead.net/index.php
Running HS3PRO on PC with Z-Wave / OpenTherm / Plugwise / RFXcom / MQTT / XAP400 / Logitech Media Server and Squeezelite on PI`s
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