Twine is the simplest way to get your home and objects texting, tweeting or emailing. This package is ideal for tinkerers and the indecisive, and includes the moisture sensor, magnetic switch and breakout board (one can be used at a time). Get notified of sensor changes, even when you're not home. Just add Internet to your DIY projects!

Connect your things to the Internet, without a nerd degree.

Want to monitor something remotely? Maybe you want to get a tweet when your house is too hot or cold, or get an email when the basement floods while you're on vacation.

A rubber-sheathed 2.7" square contains Wi-Fi connectivity, internal and external sensors, and two AAA batteries that will last for two months. (A Micro USB port for external power is also provided.) A simple web app allows you to quickly set up your Twine with human-friendly rules — no programming needed. And if you're more adventurous, you can connect your own sensors and use HTTP to have Twine send data to your own app.

Sensors included in this kit

• Moisture sensor (external)
• Magnetic switch (external)
• Breakout board (external - terminals for signal, 3.3V power and ground)
• Temperature (0-140ºF)
• Vibration (0-4g)
• Orientation (which side is facing up)

How it works

Twine is a wireless sensor block tightly integrated with a cloud-based service. The durable, rubbery block has Wi-Fi, on-board temperature and orientation sensors, and an expansion connector for other sensors. Power is supplied by micro USB or two AAA batteries that will run for up to 3 months (and Twine will email you when you need to change the batteries).

The Twine web app makes it simple to set up and monitor your Twines from a browser anywhere. You set rules to trigger messages — no programming needed. The rules are put together with a palette of available conditions and actions, and read like normal sentences: WHEN moisture sensor gets wet THEN text "The basement is flooding!"

Because the hardware and software are made for each other, setup is easy. There's nothing to install — just point Twine to your Wi-Fi network. Sensors are immediately recognized by the web app when you plug them in, and it reflects what the sensors see in real time, which makes understanding and testing your rules easy.

Technical specifications

Sensors

• Temperature (0-140ºF, ±2º)
• Vibration (0-4G)
• Orientation (relative to the earth)
• Sensor port for external sensors

Specifications

DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT

2.81" (71.4mm) high by 2.78" (70.6mm) wide by 0.80" (20.3mm) deep

2.60oz (74g) without batteries

CONNECTIVITY

802.11b wireless

POWER

Batteries: two AAA batteries, 2-3 months

External power: micro USB, 5V, 500mA

OPERATION REQUIREMENTS

802.11b-compatible wireless network with access to Internet

Web browser access to Internet for setup and configuration

ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS

Operating ambient temperature: 32° to 140° F (0° to 60° C)

Relative humidity: 5% to 95% noncondensing

FCC, ICC and CE certified electronic device

Requirements

FOR NORMAL OPERATION

Twine needs only a Wi-Fi network that is:

• compatible with 802.11b devices (not N-only or 5GHz-only)
• open, or using WPA/WPA2 Personal or WEP key security
• not extended or bridged

Twine is a standalone device. No computer needs to be present.

To view Twine dashboard and change rules, you'll need a compatible web browser with Javascript turned on: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Internet Explorer 9.

FOR SETUP

A computer, tablet or smartphone with Wi-Fi. Please make sure you have temporarily disconnected from wired networks and disabled manually entered DNS servers such as Google Public DNS.

Ports

From left to right: external sensor port, micro USB power, status LED.