Tinkerbelle is a simple tool for prototyping interaction by using a phone as a web-controlled smart light.
You can control the smart light (your phone) via the web interface or using any software that can connect to a websocket. In the Python folder, you will find a simple example that demonstrates a color gradient.
This project uses a python web-server called Flask. You should have Python3 installed.
Python Version Compatibility: This project works with Python 3.7 and newer. If you encounter installation issues with specific package versions, try using a more recent version of Python (3.9+ recommended).
Now clone this repo to download the python code that serves up the Flask page by typing the following commands in your laptop/computer terminal. (You can check out more details here for how to clone github repository to a local machine.)
It is advisable to install the dependencies into a virtualenvironment.
$ cd (set the directory you want to clone the repo to)
$ git clone https://github.com/FAR-Lab/tinkerbelle.git
$ cd tinkerbelle
$ pip3 install -r requirements.txt
If you encounter issues installing the requirements:
- For older Python versions (3.7-3.8): Some packages may need specific versions. Try:
pip3 install Flask==2.2.2 Flask-SocketIO==5.3.0 - For newer Python versions (3.11+): The flexible requirements should work. If not, try installing packages individually:
pip3 install Flask Flask-SocketIO - General issues: Consider using a virtual environment or updating pip:
pip3 install --upgrade pip
Run the tinker.py code, which serves up a webpage
$ python3 tinker.py
* Restarting with stat
access at http://localhost:5001
* Debugger is active!
* Debugger PIN: ***-***-***
If your get the following error message: ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'flask_socketio', try typing the following command to install the module:
$ pip3 install flask-socketio.
Make sure you are connected to the same WiFi network as the computer you are running the web-server. In your phone settings, turn your brightness and volume to full and set the screen to never shut off or lock. On the phone browser, navigate to the WiFi IPv4 address of your laptop/computer you are using to run the web-server with port=5001. In this case, that would be http://[yourWiFiIPv4address]:5001.
There should be two buttons. Selecting Tinkerbelle should full-screen the webpage and fade out the buttons. (Note: Unfortunately, the full-screen function does not work on iPhones in case you are using one.)
Navigate to the WiFi IPv4 address http://[yourWiFiIPv4address]:5000 or if using the same computer as the web-server http://localhost:5000.
Select Jane Wren for the controller.
Here changing the color on the color selector will change the background for both the control interface and the tinker-belle device.
You can change the swatches shown at the bottom of the color selector by editing lines 39 to 54 in static/index.js and restarting the web-server.
swatches: [
'rgba(255, 255, 255, 1)',
'rgba(244, 67, 54, 1)',
'rgba(233, 30, 99, 1)',
'rgba(156, 39, 176, 1)',
'rgba(103, 58, 183, 1)',
'rgba(63, 81, 181, 1)',
'rgba(33, 150, 243, 1)',
'rgba(3, 169, 244, 1)',
'rgba(0, 188, 212, 1)',
'rgba(0, 150, 136, 1)',
'rgba(76, 175, 80, 1)',
'rgba(139, 195, 74, 1)',
'rgba(205, 220, 57, 1)',
'rgba(255, 235, 59, 1)',
'rgba(255, 193, 7, 1)',
'rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)',
],
Typing a description in the Audio input box will play the first result from https://freesound.org/. The stop button stops playback. Try typing gong or barking.
Looking for more features? Check out the newnewUI branch which includes:
- Keyboard Shortcuts: Control colors and effects directly from your keyboard
- Advanced Sound Options: Define and trigger custom sounds
- Enhanced Color Controls: More color options and customization
- Smooth Transitions: Easing animations between color changes
- Dual Server Options: Python Flask OR Node.js implementations
To try the enhanced version:
git checkout newnewUI