Introducing Websockets for WIFI

Imagine . . . controlling your LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robot from everywhere in the world from any web-enabled device: PC, Macbook, laptop, Android smartphone, iPhone, or iPad.

Finally . . . you can!

Websockets are a way to communicate with webpages that allow you to send data back and forth to a server or another web-enabled device.  A lot of the modern web is based on websockets, and with our Dexter Industries’ new library for using websockets, you will be able to do some really awesome things with your LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT using the internet.

Websockets allows your NXT to communicate two ways with a webpage.  That means information can be sent to the webpage from the NXT, and to the NXT from the webpage.

The hard part of using websockets is establishing a connection with a webpage.  For security reasons, a key is passed back and forth in a complicated “handshake”: the webpage sends some information, and the NXT must respond with a specific answer back.  We’ve taken care of that with our websockets library so you can easily and quickly setup your robot to communicate with Chrom, Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Opera, and Safari.

Not every web browser uses the same type of connection.  For this reason, we have two examples in our release:

• One will work for Google’s Chrome web browser and Mozilla’s Firefox web browser.
• The other will work for Safari (for Apple computers, iPads, and iPhones) browsers and Android browser.

We produced a “How To” for getting started with the new software and examples for websockets.

Stay tuned for a web-controlled robot example this week to illustrate just how powerful websockets are!