Browser-Based Hardware
An Offline Camp passion talk from Luis Montes
Luis Montes loves NodeBots, robots powered by JavaScript. In his passion talk at Offline Camp California, Louie shared with us a quick history of NodeBots, the joy of exposing people to programming through NodeBots Days, and the Offline First possibilities for robotics. With the advent of progressive web apps, bluetooth, and the like, Louie tells us, it’s becoming increasingly easy to apply simple Node.js constructs to controlling machines directly from the web browser, even without an internet connection.
If you’re interested in learning more about NodeBots, Louie recommends checking out Johnny-Five and PageNodes.
Johnny-Five is an open source JavaScript robotics and IoT platform released by Bocoup (one of our fabulous Offline Camp sponsors!) in 2012 and now maintained by a community of contributors (check out the repo!). Using Johnny-Five, developers can use Node.js to program hardware including Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Tessel 2, Beagle Bone, Intel Edison, Particle Photon, and more.
PageNodes is an open source, 100% browser-based fork of node-red which requires no back-end server. It can be run locally for full Offline First functionality, or flows can be hosted in the cloud.
Editor’s Note: Participants at Offline Camps have diverse backgrounds and interests, ranging far beyond the Offline First approach that we come together to discuss. Through short passion talks, campers share with us some of the hobbies, projects, and technologies that excite them. We offer you this taste of that passion as a preview to our upcoming events. Learn more at the camp website or follow us on Twitter for updates.
