A simple Rest API for the ThingM Blink1 Device that allows for network control using Python, Flask, and Docker.

In this project, I use the existing python library for the ThingM blink1 to create a flask API, so that I can control the blink1 device over the network.

This will only work if you have a ThingM device connected to your PC. It is intended to be run in a docker container.

You will need a ThingM Blink1 light device plugged into the system you are running the API on.

The API requires docker and docker-compose.

Ensure git is installed, then clone the git repo.

git clone https://github.com/ethmth/thingm-blink-api.git
cd thingm-blink-api/

The API is set to run on port 5000 in a docker container named blink-api. If you would like to change either of these values, edit the .env file.

While in the repo directory, run the API using docker compose.

docker-compose up

Alternatively, you can set the API to run in the background.

docker-compose up -d

Stop the background container by entering the repo directory and running docker-compose stop

Allow docker some time to create the image and start the container before testing.

To turn the blink device on, use the /fade endpoint with the color and time query components. color can be a simple, plain-text color, a hexadecimal value, or RGB values separated by commas. time is the milliseconds it takes to change to that color completely from its existing state.

Example usages:

curl 'localhost:5000/fade?color=red&time=1500'
curl 'localhost:5000/fade?color=212,78,65'
curl 'localhost:5000/fade?color=#da4354&time=10'

The /blink endpoint also takes color and time query components. color follows the same rules as before, but now time is the milliseconds it takes to continuously alternate between the color specified and no light. This achieves a blinking effect.

Example usages:

curl 'localhost:5000/blink?color=blue'
curl 'localhost:5000/blink?color=#abab64&time=101'
curl 'localhost:5000/blink?color=45,232,12&time=2500'

The /off endpoint takes no query parameters and simply sets the blink device to emit no light.

Example usage:

curl 'localhost:5000/off'