Retro Challenge: announcing Commodore Home

Home automation for the masses, not the classes

We need to build computers for the masses, not the classes – Jack Tramiel, Commodore founder

A: Commodore 64 computer running the “Commodore Home” application
B: UniJoystiCle WiFi device connected to the joystick ports
C: Alarm sensor using a WiFi device
D: Smartphone running the UniJoystiCle Controller app with the Commodore Home plugin
E: Commodore MPS 803 printer
F: Pulleys + gears connected to the printer header + dimmer knot

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Retrochallenge: Building the C64 I.D.IoT.R

I started building the C64 I.D.IoT.R a few months ago, but never finished it. What better than to finish it for the Retro Challenge contest.

C64 I.D.IoT.R is a smart light controlled from a C64. Its name means:

C64: Commodore 64
I: Intelligent
D: Dimmer
IoT: Internet Of Things:
R: RRRRR

What I have done so far is this: (and is not part of the contest since I built it two months ago):

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UniJoystiCle update #2

TL;DR

Station Mode (with or without WPS)
Inactivity timeout & Joystick statistics
Auto-firmware upgrade
Better ways to power the WiFi device

Station mode and other features

One thing that bothered me was that I needed to switch WiFi networks every time that I wanted to use the UniJoystiCle. Not a major issue, but not ideal specially if you use your phone both for the UniJoystiCle and for “regular” stuff.

To solve that issue, I added WiFi Station mode support (Access Point mode is still supported). Basically the UniJoystiCle WiFi device, when in Station mode, can connect to any WiFi network. It also supports WPS (an auto-auth way to connect to a network). If Station mode fails, it will default to Access Point mode.

In order to switch to Station mode you have to:

Install firmware v0.4.3 (see below for more info)
Boot the UniJoystiCle WiFi device (it will boot in Access Point mode)
Connect to the unijoysticle-xxyyzz WiFi Network
Open the web page: http://unijoysticle.local
Select “Station” mode, put the credential (SSID and password) and reboot!

From http://unijoysticle.local you can also configure the “Inactivity timeout”: how many seconds without activity should elapse before all the joystick lines are set to Low (simulates no joystick movements).

I also added statistics: It tells you how many seconds you spent on the different joystick positions, and how many movements you did. Useful, right? 🙂

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