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POWhat's the easiest, most practical way to toggle several lightbulbs with a PC?
 

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  1. POWhat's the easiest, most practical way to toggle several lightbulbs with a PC?
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    <p>This question is mainly <strong>electronics</strong> related, but it also has a <strong>programming</strong> aspect.</p> <h2>Some background on the problem</h2> <p>We have a traffic light on a wall in our office. When people come in to the office, they can immediately tell from the traffic light whether last night's automatic build &amp; test runs went smoothly: Green means all tests passed, yellow means some tests failed and red means some builds failed.</p> <p>Right now, there are three switches on three cables hanging from the traffic light and someone has to manually toggle these every morning. I'm looking for an easy way to automate this process with a PC.</p> <h2>Some background on me</h2> <p>I can write software. I have some soldering experience. I know digital design theory, but I've never built a physical device. I don't have a lot of time on my hands.</p> <h2>The question</h2> <p>How can I control three 110V lightbulbs (or any device) from a PC with the minimum amount of effort (and investment)?</p> <h2>Some lax constraints</h2> <ul> <li>I don't care about the effort to write the software to control a serial/USB port.</li> <li>Having said that, it would be nice if I don't have to write any software and just use existing tools.</li> <li>I prefer not to do any soldering! I can go with one of those hobby kits where you push components into slots etc. Or perhaps it could be something from Toys "R" Us.</li> <li>I'm willing to purchase an existing device like an <a href="http://arduino.cc/" rel="noreferrer">Arduino</a> board.</li> <li>It would be nice if I can get this done with just parts that are lying around. For instance, I have an old 2400Bd modem that I can take apart (though, that would probably be followed by some soldering).</li> </ul> <hr> <h2>Update</h2> <p>Similar projects that are mentioned in the answers:</p> <ul> <li><p><a href="http://hudson.gotdns.com/wiki/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=20250625" rel="noreferrer">"Red Bear Alert!" - The Hudson Bear Lamps</a></p> <p><a href="http://magnetiq.com/exports/lights/bears.jpg" rel="noreferrer" title="Bears">http://magnetiq.com/exports/lights/bears.jpg</a></p></li> <li><p><a href="http://people.usm.maine.edu/houser/bblight/index.html" rel="noreferrer">Big Brother Traffic Light</a></p> <p><a href="http://magnetiq.com/exports/lights/traffic.png" rel="noreferrer" title="Traffic lights">http://magnetiq.com/exports/lights/traffic.png</a></p></li> <li><p><a href="http://www.pragmaticautomation.com/cgi-bin/pragauto.cgi/Monitor/Devices/BubbleBubbleBuildsInTrouble.rdoc" rel="noreferrer">Bubble, Bubble, Build's In Trouble</a></p> <p><a href="http://magnetiq.com/exports/lights/lava.jpg" rel="noreferrer" title="Lava lamp">http://magnetiq.com/exports/lights/lava.jpg</a></p></li> </ul>
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    1. COI love the traffic light. Let me just say that.
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      1. POWhat's the easiest, most practical way to toggle several lightbulbs with a PC?
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    2. CO+1 just for the idea of traffic light indicating build status..
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