I am currently working on a project where I have to write a computer program and I am also responsible to deliver an electronic device that needs to, upon the program request, to put a cylinder up or down. Since I know zero about electronics, I would like to hear from yall some ideas on how to assemble such a device.
The communication between the computer where my program is running and the device needs to be wireless and the cylinder in the device needs to move up about 5cm (2in).
Besides assembling the device itself, my main doubt is how to make the device to "understand" the commands. In my mind, it needs to "talk" tcp/ip. If this is the case, we are talking about an embedded thing, that needs to have a kind of operating system with a TCP/IP stack, is that right ?
Also, a nice to have feature (not really a requirement) would be to check the current state of the cylinder (up or down).
Any help is very welcome.
Thanks.