New Version 0.1

After a small hiatus I have returned and decided to rewrite Sapphire to make better use of the C# language. Some of the upgrades including a larger emphasis on modular classes segmented in libraries this better allows expandability. Other changes include redundancy and efficient memory usage including hot swapping and media survivability. Also a cleaner front end based on jQuery and HTML 5 will also be implemented to allow a more expandable and modular front end experience.

Rapid Prototyping... Home Industry Style

Introducing my newest development tool, the da Vinci 3D printer.

Automated Blinds

A key feature of Sapphire is her ability to control the blinds in my room using an Arduino and a small electric motor.

Playing Audio using NAudio 1.7.1

I hope that this post saves people some searching when it comes to playing audio files using NAudio version 1.7.1.

Clock Radio 2.0

Small little aesthetic and functional change. I have decided to switch the touch screen from a debug screen to a clock radio displaying the current weather along with all necessary and relevant information pertaining to Sapphire. I plan to redo the grey, bland buttons in something a little modern when I have some time to photoshop together a custom button image.

Improved User Detection

Just a small update on tonight's progress. I found a way to improve user detection when someone's either entering or exiting the room. The current method uses two PIR sensors to "trigger" when someone passes through the door way then the secondary sensor either sees movement or does not. If it does not see motion it turns the room off else if there is motion it turns the room on. The new method uses the Kinect to detect motion faster and more accurately then the PIR sensor. Below I attached a video showing the new response time.

New Year and New Goals

Apologies for the delay between posts but the last month has been quite difficult between getting ready for finals and the busy Christmas holiday I haven't really had time to focus on this blog or the Sapphire Project.