• From: Stockholm, Sweden
  • Registered: 2007-11-21
  • Posts: 7

Topic: Wake up light

With the dark winters of Sweden I've been thinking of getting myself a Phillips Wake-up Light for a while.
That is until i heard about the Chumby, which seems like a terrific gadget and I'll will probably import one soon.

It would be fantastic if the Chumby could be able to comtrol a dimmer.
Is there a remote chance that this would be possible?

Best wishes, Patrick

  • Registered: 2007-11-09
  • Posts: 78

Re: Wake up light

The Chumby can get pretty bright itself, actually (though I'm not sure it would be bright enough to wake you up...).

  • From: Stockholm, Sweden
  • Registered: 2007-11-21
  • Posts: 7

Re: Wake up light

Need something powerful, maybe I could ask the russians if they have any "Tsar"-bombs left.

Electrical engineering isn't my forte, but how about connecting an usb-controlled motor to a dimmer switch?

  • Registered: 2007-11-14
  • Posts: 9

Re: Wake up light

Hmmm...  this gets me thinking.  I currently have some X10 stuff in my apartment controlled via cronjobs and a firecracker serial X10 controller.  Technically you could use the x10 interface to dim lights, the only stumbling block would be to get a USB x10 controller working on the chumby.  Once that's working, the chumby would make an awesome interface for controlling lights and devices either manually through the touchscreen, or automatically, like in the case of an alarm clock.

  • From: Bristol, UK
  • Registered: 2008-03-02
  • Posts: 96

Re: Wake up light

Is there such a thing as a WiFi X10 receiver? As that would be pretty sweet, send the signal via WiFi to a PC (or whatever) which then sends the data X10 style to whatever it is controlling.

velkrosmaak's Website

  • From: Bethesda, MD USA
  • Registered: 2007-11-15
  • Posts: 124

Re: Wake up light

The scrolling widget changing would make the chumby a less-than-ideal interface for home automation.  At least not as the sole device involved in controlling the switches.  It would be interesting to allow the alarm clock to 'interact' with external activities.  Be that other chumby units (great to have a cascading snooze nag) or a home automation controller.  Simple automation never stays simple, there's a set of logical leaps people make that aren't easily solved with simple controller devices.  It gets out of hand rather quickly.  Still, the chumby would be a great device to see integrated.