Internet-based remote control using a microcontroller and an embedded Ethernet

We describe a recently developed DC motor position control experimental setup that can be accessed via the Internet. This setup consists of two primary elements communicating with each other: i) a server consisting of a low-cost microcontroller, Parallax\´s 40-pin Basic Stamp 2, interfaced with an embedded Ethernet IC, Cirrus Logic\´s Crystal CS8900A, and ii) a client computer. The client computer sends/receives data to/from the microcontroller using the user datagram protocol packets. The client computer connects to the server using Java applets that allow the user to command the position of the motor via a graphical user interface. The interface includes a slider for commanding the motor position from 0/spl deg/-360/spl deg/ and text input boxes for tuning the parameters of a position control algorithm "on-the-fly." A plot provides a visual display of the current position of the motor using real-time sensor data sent by the microcontroller. Our microcontroller-based remote control methodology can be readily applied to monitor and control other experimental hardware over the Internet.