Are you tired of carrying around one remote for the TV, one for the DVD player, one for the sound system and the list can go on. There is the possibility to buy one “good for all” remote control but it will cost you a few hundred dollars, off course there is an alternative for less money, make your own DIY universal remote control.

Any valid RC5/RC6 will be displayed on the LCD, and any code can be sent with the on board IR led’s, the LCD is the common 2×16 HD44780 compatible type.

The hardware is very simple, the software is written in basic and made available by the author. The Dell TV deals page sometimes has universal remotes like the Logitech Harmony One for heavily discounted prices.

I recommend this project for those interested about the RC5/RC6 codes, it can be a great alternative for radio based remote control for robotics, as you can see in one of my previous articles: IR remote robot

Universal remote control: [Link]

This can be considered an old project, and yes you can buy the commercial version quite cheap too, but in case you want to build one, this is a working project. The source code isn’t made public, but since it was written in assembler language probably wouldn’t be any use at all.

It is a compact and clever dimmer, with capacitive power supply and a small PIC micro controller, it can be mounted in very small space. The learning process is straight forward and explained step by step. It has also a 110V/60Hz version of the hardware and complied firmware.

Keep in mind that this device uses the potentially lethal mains voltage, care should be taken when testing and mounting, use good quality isolation and disconnect from mains when handling.  When powered up, please don’t touch the triac to see if it gets hot because you will get zapped, this is a basic mistake, and maybe the most common among hobbyists.

IR light dimmer: [via] [Link]

This is an advanced robotics project, the robot arms follows a moving object, anyway that’s the idea. The arms moves a little sloppy, it surely isn’t in the final stage of development, but the author explains what problems encountered.  The motion is detected using IR leds and receivers, and subtracting the ambient light from the readings to get the reflected light from the object which is tracked.

If you are interested in motion tracking this is a good place to start, my opinion is that the analog part needs to be reviewed, the IR leds should be mounted inside a tube, otherwise interferes with the reflected light and reduces the sensibility.

Object tracking robot: [Link]

the led board
Unfortunately i wasn’t paying attention on a small paragraph from Ladyada that was saying “Use 940nm IR LEDs.” so without knowing i bought 860nm IR LED’s (L53SF6C from Kingbright). I did not knew at that time that this is going to affect the distance at which the device works. Why L53SF6C ? they seemed nice because at 50 mA they have typical 100 mW/sr so allot more power than the F3(940 nm) series which had 30 mW/sr at 50 mA.

I arranged the LED’s in 4 rows of 12 pieces and the resistors fit quite nicely between the LED’s. I used four BD139 NPN transistors to drive the rows. It took me hours to drill and then solder this board(48 LED’s and 48 resistors mean 192 holes plus the other parts)

the controller board
The controller board contains an ATmega8 chosen because of it’s 8k memory needed to store all the codes, an 8 MHz crystal, an LED, a tact switch and some resistors and capacitors. I designed the board so that it can also be used for other projects.

the code
It took me some time to adjust the code from tiny85 to ATmega8, getting the timers right was tricky but i managed to get it done. Also i had to delete a couple of codes to fit it in the 8k’s of the ATmega8.

the power
The whole project is powered from a Nokia BL-5B battery which was ugly fitted onto a peace of PCB . I can’t seem to find a decent socket to hold such a battery. I’ve run the circuit for over a week every day and the battery is keeping up, and when it gets discharged I’ll simply charge it inside of an old nokia phone.

Testing it
Well as you can imagine the first thing i did was to test it on the TV’s in my place, it worked perfectly. Next i wanted to test it on a larger scale so i took the device onto a nearby supermarket were they have a bunch of Tv’s onto a wall. I had to conceal the device somehow so they don’t kick me out of the store so i placed the device inside a CD case. I don’t know how much the case is obstructing the signal, but it was turning off TV’s from a distance of 20 meters.

Probably choosing the right wavelength LED’s would double the distance, and by using a clear case the distance would double again, but that’s just a guess.

The boards were designed in Eagle and fabricated by me using the photo etching technique.

I’m planing to build a newer version, in fact i already sent the files for PCB fabricating. This new version will use only 4 LED’s just like the original design, and will be smaller thus easier to conceal and it will also use ATmega8 for the controller. I’ll post pictures as soon as i get it done.

some more pictures..

downloads

• Eagle schematics and board
• Source code

The function of the device is very simple. Any IR remote than can be programmed to use the Sony protocol will work. The module outputs the device code (TV/VCR/DVD/AUX) and the button pressed, so the device can be used on as many different projects as your remote has devices (usually four). It is simple and cheap to make, and works really well.

Basic Stamp IR remote interface: [Link]

This project has two main functions on the one side you can read the RC5, RC5X and RC6 codes from remote controls on a LCD and on the other hand you can send all thinkable RC5, RC5X and RC6 codes to a device.

When the TSOP1736 (IR receiver) receives an infrared (IR) signal from a RC5 or RC6 remote control (like Philips) burns LED1 (green). The LCD shows when it receives a new type of code for one second which protocol is received (RC5, RC5X or RC6). After then the LCD shows the RC5 or RC6 system- and command code in decimal as wel in binair. The toggle-value is shown by LED3 (yellow). LED2 (red) burns if the received signal is poor or if it’s not a RC5, RC5X or RC6 signal.

With the IR-transmitter it is possible to send every possible code from the RC5, RC5X and RC6 protocol, like a remote control does.

Universal RC5/RC6 transceiver: [Link]

The goal of this project was to build a normal dimming lamp that is also controlled wireless with a tv remote control. When you switch the power on there will follow a soft-start till the lamp burns at the previously adjusted dim level. With the P+ and P- button from a system at choice you can adjust the maximum and minimum dim-levels and with the ’1′ button the start-up brightness. The next time when the 230V power is switched on the lamp starts up at the adjusted dim-level.

Wireless Controlled Lightdimmer Using TV Remote Control: [Link]

This robot doesn’t look too good, but it servers its purpose, it proves that it can be done at home. The bot its based on Qwerk, a robot processor board very popular these days. The Qwerk is made to control myriad robots; it can control up to four motors and sixteen servos, while interfacing to sensors with eight analog ports, sixteen digital I/O, and an i2c bus. It also has two USB sockets so that robots may include a USB webcam and a wireless 802.11 network adapter.

The home linux robot its built mostly of what was around a computer webcam taken apart and modified to see infrared light, some wheels from a toy airplane, etc.

The Home Linux Robot: [Link]

Choose one key on your remote controller (from tv, video or similar), memorized it following a simple procedure and with that key you will able to turn ON or OFF any electrical device you wish. So, with every short press of that key, you change the state of relay in receiver (Ir-switch).

Memorizing remote controller key is simple and you can do it following this procedure: press key on Ir-switch and led-diode will turn ON. Now you can release key on Ir-switch, and press key on your remote controller. If you do that, led-diode will blink, and your memorizing process is finished.

IR – relay control: [Link]

The dsPIC30F3010-based Ultimate IR Controller (UIRC) can control virtually any IR device through the Internet. It can recognize any IR signal in an infrared passband of 32 to 70 kHz in several protocols. Rather than using common IR receiving modules, the system uses a phototransistor and DSP techniques to process the signal digitally.

The ultimate IR controller: [Download Project] – [View Project PDF]