I have experimented with reading an Arduino signal into R in the past, using Rserve and Processing. Actually, it is much easier. I can read the output of my Arduino directly into R with the scan function.
Here is my temperature sensor example again:
And all it needs to read the signal into the R console with my computer is:
> f <- file("/dev/cu.usbmodem3a21", open="r") > scan(f, n=1) <b>Read 1 item</b> [1] 20.
It is really getting colder in London - it is now about 5°C outside. The heating is on and I have got better at measuring the temperature at home as well. Or, so I believe.
Last week’s approach of me guessing/feeling the temperature combined with an old thermometer was perhaps too simplistic and too unreliable. This week’s attempt to measure the temperature with my Arduino might be a little OTT (over the top), but at least I am using the micro-controller again.
If connecting data to the real world is the next sexy job, then how do I do this? And how do I connect the real world to R?
It can be done as Matt Shottwell showed with his home made ECG and a patched version of R at useR! 2011. However, there are other options as well and here I will use an Arduino. The Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform.