Universal Raspberry Pi Remote
I am getting mad of the remote controller in the house.
Actually I use three:
- The TV remote
- The Radio/iPod/CD Player remote
- The Air Condition remote
Some time ago I fell on this post. It is an IR receiver & emitter circuit attached to a Raspberry Pi. I had some spare time so I decided to build it!
Circuitry was fairly easy.
Parts I used:
| Infrared LED | : Had a spare one but you can use any from an old remote |
| IR Receiver | : I used a TSOP382. You can use any BUT check the datasheet! |
| NPN Transistor | : I don’t know the part code |
| 1.5Ω Resistor | : It just has to be really low |
| 220Ω Resistor | : Nothing to say here |
You can see the connections clearly here:
After the first assembly and testing I made it smaller using a strip board:
And this is what we end up with:
LIRC
LIRC stands for Linux Infrared Remote Control. And does exactly what it says.
LIRC is now included in Raspbian’s official repositories for Raspberry Pi and you can install it with:
sudo apt-get install lirc
Append this on your /etc/modules:
lirc_dev
lirc_rpi gpio_in_pin=23 gpio_out_pin=22
Change your /etc/lirc/hardware.conf to:
########################################################
# /etc/lirc/hardware.conf
#
# Arguments which will be used when launching lircd
LIRCD_ARGS="--uinput"
# Don't start lircmd even if there seems to be a good config file
# START_LIRCMD=false
# Don't start irexec, even if a good config file seems to exist.
# START_IREXEC=false
# Try to load appropriate kernel modules
LOAD_MODULES=true
# Run "lircd --driver=help" for a list of supported drivers.
DRIVER="default"
# usually /dev/lirc0 is the correct setting for systems using udev
DEVICE="/dev/lirc0"
MODULES="lirc_rpi"
# Default configuration files for your hardware if any
LIRCD_CONF=""
LIRCMD_CONF=""
########################################################
And now restart your LIRC daemon:
sudo /etc/init.d/lirc stop
sudo /etc/init.d/lirc start
Transceiver
Now that we are all set up lets check if our IR transceiver works
# Stop the lircd so /dev/lirc0 is not in use
sudo /etc/init.d/lirc stop
# Get RAW data from the transceiver
mode2 -d /dev/lirc0
When you press some buttons on a remote control you should get something like:
space 12300
pulse 590
space 19395
pulse 540
space 7024
pulse 495
space 402351
pulse 560
space 7085
pulse 480
space 29043
If not then check your wiring. It is possible that you crossed the wires on the Pi.
IR LED
It’s really easy to create add a new remote on LIRC.
# Stop lircd so /dev/lirc0 is not in use
sudo /etc/init.d/lirc stop
# Create a new remote control configuration file (using /dev/lirc0) and save the output to ~/lircd.conf
irrecord -d /dev/lirc0 ~/lircd.conf
# Edit ~/lircd.conf and add edit the name of the controlled device
nano ~/lircd.conf
# Make a backup of the original lircd.conf file
sudo mv /etc/lirc/lircd.conf /etc/lirc/lircd_original.conf
# Copy over your new configuration file
sudo cp ~/lircd.conf /etc/lirc/lircd.conf
# Start up lirc again
sudo /etc/init.d/lirc start
Do not forget to check irrecord --list-namespace for the valid key names. If something doesn’t meet your needs just put it on a KEY_ value that you will not use for this remote.
Now let’s test the remote:
# List all of the commands that LIRC knows for 'samsung_tv'
irsend LIST samsung_tv ""
# Send the KEY_POWER command once
irsend SEND_ONCE samsung_tv KEY_POWER
# Send the KEY_VOLUMEDOWN command once
irsend SEND_ONCE samsung_tv KEY_VOLUMEDOWN
# Send the KEY_VOLUMEDOWN command 10 times lowering the volume for 10 units at once
irsend --count=10 samsung_tv KEY_VOLUMEDOWN
Here is a video where I change channels from command line:
You can add more remotes just by appending a new lircd.conf at the previous one.
For the LIRC configuration I followed this guide.
I also made an Android application using the web interface provided here but the code needs a lot of polishing so I can’t share it yet.
It was cool for an evening project :)