Twilio/Node.js hacker builds phone-controlled robot

Whenever I come across a new product or research, the first thing I like to ask is, "How will this help me build a robot, and potentially take over the world?" In the case of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) protocol Twilio, it appears we've got that first part all sorted out. Twilio developer evangelist Jonathan Gottfried managed to hack at the same time a robot that can be controlled from a phone.

The small rolling robot

The small rolling robot was constructed around an Arduino board, and runs with the aid of Node.js and Twilio's VoIP APIs. If it's Gottfried's job to get developers excited about Twilio at that time he has done his job this day. The robot gets its commands over VoIP with just keypad commands. Press 2 to roll forward, 8 to go upside down, 6 and 4 to turn, to cut a long story short on.

Gottfried goes into extreme detail on just how the little VoIP bot was constructed on the Twilio blog, so check that out if you're the tinkering type. Deep down, it's just an Arduino Uno with a Wi-Fi module, breadboard, servos, wheels and a pre-fab chassis kit.