Author: Tanner

With an Arduino Ethernet, Processing, and a Kinect, I was able to easily create this little demo where hand movement can control a servo. This is just a tiny step in my master plan to create a robot clone so that I don’t have to leave my chair.

The following libraries and drivers made this work and also made it super easy for me to create it:

OpenKinect
Daniel Shiffman’s Processing Kinect Library (he knows his stuff and has great examples on his site)
Arduino Ethernet UDP send / receive string

Servo:
EMAX ES08A Servo

How it works:

1. The Arduino Ethernet acquires an IP address and waits for UDP packets on a certain port.
2. The machine with the Kinect sends packets to the Arduino that contain hand coordinate data.
3. The Arduino then takes this data (an integer) and maps the range from 0 to 180 degrees.
4. The mapped value is sent to the servo.