I was wondering if there were any designs for an infrared remote control that could control two different devices. IE one to turn on a light and the other to turn on a computer.

thanks

edit: while I think about it the transmitter if possible should be in one circuit but the two recievers should be seperate.

 

If you do it with microcontrollers you could control as many devices as you wish from one remote control. My PIC tutorials include one on IR remote control, using the Sony SIRC system - all you need to do is use different device ID's for different buttons - many Sony remotes already do this (VCR buttons on TV remotes etc.).

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I can see that getting very complicated...I was hoping for a cheaper and easier solution...all the remote is going to be doing is transmitting a signal that will make a relay close. (if it matters for one of the relays the input is going to be made to change between a on/off state).

surely there is a solution that does not require a pic on both sides of the circuit...for one thing as well the remote will not need a reply situation to say that it is sending the signal.

 

There are many ways to do any particular job, but for IR remote control it's important that you don't get spurious triggering - this is why you use 38KHz modulation and digital coding (of device and function, as explained in the tutorial).

There's no need for a reply path, and my remote tutorials don't actually do it - but the hardware is there to do it if I want (I'll probably add another tutorial where I do this).

But the PIC solution is very simple, a single PIC for the transmitter, with the switches, one transistor, two resistors, an IR LED and two capacitors. The receiver is also very simple, depending on what outputs you want from it - a PIC solution also makes it very easy to add latching capability, even storing the latched value in EEPROM if required, to restore it after power down.

Certainly you're not going to find a solution any simpler (hardware wise), it's just the software which makes it more difficult for you - although the tutorials already do almost exactly what you require.

Holtek make IC's (nice and cheap as well) for remote control, either radio or IR - have a look at http://www.holtek.com.

__________________
PIC programmer software, and PIC Tutorials at:
http://www.winpicprog.co.uk

 

ok so i take it that i can just leave out the reciever on the remote and the emitter on the receiver?

also would it work properly having two receivers and one transmitter? they are not going to be connected together in any way so i was hoping that it is possible

 

Yes, that's fine - the two sections were only on one board for the purposes of the tutorial.

Yes, again that's fine - you need to have each receiver set to a different device ID, and the transmitter needs to transmit the relevent device ID for the respective buttons. You could have as many receivers as you like, if you give each one it's own device ID they can all operate in the same room.

__________________
PIC programmer software, and PIC Tutorials at:
http://www.winpicprog.co.uk

 

I'm doing a similar IR project which uses an AVR micro to receive and 'translate' Phillips RC5 codes. The receiver is supposed to use a Radio Shack 38kHz Receiver module to capture the signals. The module works fine alone, but it fails whenever the AVR is introduced to the circuit. When this happens, the module's output pin is permanently driven to the ground state and becomes useless (this also happens when the pin is left floating). The AVR continues to function normally.

Right now, both of these circuits operate off a 7805T regulator. And as far as I know, all the components are operating within their recommended limits. Has anyone else had this experience with Radio Shack IR decoders?

Also are there any good guides on the RECS80 IR standard?

 

Are you feeding power to the IR receiver via a series resistor and with a decoupling capacitor? - if not you are probably introducing noise into it.

Check the hardware pages in my PIC tutorials for suitable values.

__________________
PIC programmer software, and PIC Tutorials at:
http://www.winpicprog.co.uk

 

Dang, you're good Nigel! I just inserted a 1k resistor between the supply lead and Vcc and now it works perfectly. I had no idea the micro noise could have such an extreme effect on the receiver. And here I was about to blame the AVR! :lol: You just saved me from shelling out another $3.29 for a replacement! I'll install a different decoupler cap for good measure.

 

Every TV you see has such a resistor and decoupling capacitor, so when I started using IR receivers I used them as well - if they were not important they wouldn't be used :lol:

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PIC programmer software, and PIC Tutorials at:
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