Software triggering non-digital hardware

[pansexual]

Hi,

I highly appreciate qwerty212s little programs, for example the Selfbondage blowjob trainer (now taken up by Mich9. As all his programs they can trigger any executable file for punishment on failing tasks. Unfortunately I am not a tinkerer at all. Now I have found socket outlets with a USB connection, which can be triggered by PC/Laptop. My hope is to be able to trigger such software, in the worst case creating an executable macro, to switch on and off single sockets connected to according devices, like coolers, heaters, electro-punishment or anything else. Here is an example of a German provider I consider to buy.

Does anyone of you already have experience with that idea? Any opinions of experts?

[qwerty212]

Hi,

I highly appreciate qwerty212s little programs, for example the Selfbondage blowjob trainer (now taken up by Mich9. As all his programs they can trigger any executable file for punishment on failing tasks. Unfortunately I am not a tinkerer at all. Now I have found socket outlets with a USB connection, which can be triggered by PC/Laptop. My hope is to be able to trigger such software, in the worst case creating an executable macro, to switch on and off single sockets connected to according devices, like coolers, heaters, electro-punishment or anything else. Here is an example of a German provider I consider to buy.

Does anyone of you already have experience with that idea? Any opinions of experts?

It sounds interesting. Some days ago another user asked me something very similar. The idea was to use an Arduino board.
(Some of what comes next is a copy paste of the pm that I sent to him, sorry but I'm very busy atm to create a proper answer to your post)

I'm not an Arduino expert, and I have no knowlegment about electronics or electricity so I thought that the best ways of using external devces controlled by the arduino board without having to buy electronic pieces or motor shields was using servomotors (easier to find in my city) to activate the original power source of the devices I want to use in my sessions.

Let me explain it to you with some images:

I've a vibrating inflatable buttplug like this one:


I've cutted the cables from the batteries to the plug (two wires) and I solded the two wires to a cutted usb cable:


Notice that I have used two of the usb cables per every original cable of the vibrator (it is operated by 3 AA batteries, 1,5V x 3, when a USB standar cable can provide 5V, but, in this case the usb cable is just to make it easier to plug and play, it will never be connected to the computer, it will be connected to its original batteries)

I trigger the vibrator with a servomotor connected to the arduino. I'm going to explain you how.

I have bought a electrical box (one of this plastic boxes to put electrical conections inside).
Inside the electrical box I putted a servomotor connected to the arduino by 3 wires (one gives 5V to the servomotor from pin 5V, another one is conected to the ground pin and the last wires (the white one on the servo goes to digital pin

I've drilled a hole in the electrical box and I've attache a usb female connector:


So just moving a servomotor you can trigger heavy dutty teasing devices without having to know anything about Ohms, Watts or Volts.

I asked on a outter forum about the possibility of wiring three servos to my arduino board and I finally get a pde that let us connect up to 8 servos to be controlled with just one arduino. Think that you just can feed 1 servo straight from the arduino 5V, but you can cut more usb cables, and do something like this:


And you can connect now the servos to the arduino for the data and to a usb port of your computer to get the needed 5V and the ground without having to buy more arduinos or any special shield to move servomotors. You'll have to do something like:


You can use heavy duty hardware just keeping the original cables and doing that the servomotor triggers the AC current connector without having to take care about buying resistor or something like this.
Something like this:


For me it works fine because I already have some servomotors and an Arduino at home.

The user claimed that it would be more elegant to use some relays (This image was posted by him in a reply, hope that he doesn't mind that I use the image here:)


But I do not have any relay atm (and it seems that I'm going to be reeaaaaaally busy for a long time before being able to look for some).

If you think that it can be a possible option for your goal then I can post the actual .pde (the idea is to do it propertly some day in the pain and exit.exe thread) and some pain.exe.

The problem is that with this kind of teasing devices when one pain.exe is comunicating with the COM port if another pain.exe tries to send any instructions to the same port and to the same pin it gives back an error

I have to test it (I'm a totally newbie when we talk about Arduino).

Hope that this post will give you some ideas.

Greets from Barcelona

[cooper1337]

Hi,
using relays will be
a) more reliable (because every moving part is exactly manufactured for its purpose)
b) cheaper (you will get a simple relay for 0.50-2.00 EUR)
c) smaller
d) very big currents (as much as your mains line will give you if you buy the right parts)
If you are using the schematic with the relays above, you may also want to check
a) if free-wheeling-diodes are required
b) the electrical specification of the relay (voltage and current): Most relays will need 12V for their coil, and I guess more current than the Arduino can provide.

Nothing against you, qwerty, but your wiring with all the USB-Adapters is VERY strange...
Someone who has no experience in soldering and electricity should generally avoid connecting anything self-built directly to the usb-port, it's likely you get a short-circuit somewhere what might blow up your bus-controller.

I don't know what this master/slave thing on your link was for, I guess it is not what you are searching for. Since you seem to be from Germany you can also contact me in via PM if you are interested in the relay-thing. I am currently (for about half a year now ) planning some allround-SM-box, but I am still searching for affordable magnets (they are so hard to get in germany... )