We have posted a brief 4 minute “Using AnalysIR with Flirc – Video tutorial” showing how to use the Flirc USB device as an Infrared remote control signal source for AnalysIR. The video is available now via YouTube, by clicking the image below. The tutorial covers the semi-automatic method we have used to support this feature, which should greatly enhance the Flirc Device and enable more troubleshooting with problematic signals or just simply as an additional powerful feature for the Flirc device. There is no need to update your Flirc installation or firmware, provided you have the latest revision installed. {See update notes below}
Preview: A.IR Shield ESP8266 TRx, a high-end IR Shield
The latest member of our MakeIR series of devices & kits is the A.IR Shield ESP8266 TRx.
This shield works out of the box with AnalysIR and is essentially plug & play, with additional custom Firmware options. The shield plugs into a Wemos D1 Mini (ESP8266) with headers or any pin-compatible clone. Although designed specifically for AnalysIR, users can also upload any sketches that run on the Wemos for Infrared remote control projects by customising the included firmware. A.IR Shield ESP8266 TRx is built with only the highest quality IR components available and boasts dual Infrared emitters with configurable IR Power. The supplied firmware uniquely supports hardware PWM for sending IR signals.
We have provided a link below to the product data sheet and would welcome feedback on additional, nice to have or missing features, if any. Please read the data sheet for a more detailed description of the A.IR ESP8266 TRx shield. The shield is now available to purchase via our web shop.
Custom Firmware
Although designed to work with AnalysIR, users can customise the provided firmware to send and receive IR signals via web requests, thus making integration into projects easy. More advanced users can integrate into platforms like Alexa or similar.
Also check out our example for creating your own IR send sketch for a variety of Signals (Air Conditioner, HEX, RAW & protocol based) using this shield with a Wemos D1 Mini or any ESP8266.
Continue reading Preview: A.IR Shield ESP8266 TRx, a high-end IR Shield
Updated ESP8266 NodeMCU Backdoor uPWM Hack for IR signals
In our previous post we showed how to generate stable IR carrier signals using the ESP8266 NodeMCU module. A feature of the original approach was that the output IR signal was inverted and required some additional circuitry to invert it again before transmission. Since the original post we have figured out a method to output a non-inverted or standard IR signal thus removing the need for the additional circuitry. This is achieved by using what turned out to be a very simple setting hidden deep in the ESP8266 UART registers which is covered below. Like all simple solutions it also threw up some other quirks of the ESP8266 NodeMCU, which were eventually overcome with the addition of a simple resistor. The Updated ESP8266 NodeMCU Backdoor uPWM Hack for IR signals is detailed below – including updated source firmware, new circuit diagram and explanation of the ‘quirk’. Read on….
Continue reading Updated ESP8266 NodeMCU Backdoor uPWM Hack for IR signals
ESP8266 NodeMCU Backdoor uPWM Hack for IR signals
We received our ESP8266 NodeMCU several months ago it has been difficult to find a working example of Hardware PWM to generate crisp Infrared carrier signals. Most posts we have read suggest that there is no PWM readily available on any of the supported platforms. As we have already shown with Arduinos and the Particle Photon we figured it would be possible to use a spare UART pin on the ESP8266 NodeMCU to achieve our goal. After some initial success we encountered some watchdog timeouts/resets and it seemed like the uPWM hack would not be possible on the ESP8266 Node MCU platform. For a few weeks we ‘parked’ the effort and today we decided to try again with all of the latest and updated firmware available from the ESP8266 community via the Arduino IDE. This time we were successful and the ESP8266 NodeMCU Backdoor uPWM Hack for IR signals using works!
Continue reading ESP8266 NodeMCU Backdoor uPWM Hack for IR signals
Sending long AC Signals from Flash with IRremote
One of the most popular projects involving Infrared remote control, is to use an Arduino to control an Air conditioner (AC) system. However, AC signals are usually very long and take up a lot of SRAM on a standard Arduino. Experienced users will go about reverse engineering the AC protocol to make the sketch fit within the 2K Bytes of SRAM. Many hobbyists will struggle, even with the help of tools like AnalysIR to guide them. In this post we cover sending long AC Signals from Flash with IRremote. IRremote (along with IRLib) is a popular open-source library for sending and receiving IR remote control signals with Arduino. The demo code covered in this sketch extends our previous sendRAW example by demonstrating how to store many long AC signals in Flash with little or no SRAM overhead.
Continue reading Sending long AC Signals from Flash with IRremote
ESP8266 NodeMCU Infrared decoding added to AnalysIR
A few months ago a new user to AnalysIR, from Canada, asked us to assist in adding ESP8266 NodeMCU Infrared decoding over WiFi into AnalysIR. We set about making some upgrades to AnalysIR for this and in double quick time he had AnalysIR accepting IR signals from the ESP8266 over WiFi. He stressed the ease of use of the support within the Arduino IDE for ESP8266 devices and he wasn’t kidding. This motivated us to go and order an ESP8266 for US$3.60 including shipping from Aliexpress. Just the other day the NodeMCU arrived, presumably delayed somewhat by the extended XMAS holidays & celebrations, in this part of the world. So we set about porting our existing firmware for Arduino & Photon over to the new device.
ESP8266 NodeMCU now joins a growing list of devices supported for use with AnalysIR, including: Continue reading ESP8266 NodeMCU Infrared decoding added to AnalysIR
Troubleshooting the Big Button Infrared remote control with AnalysIR
Marco is a volunteer for an organization (NSW Australia) that builds custom aids for people with disability, and has recently been looking at a project to create a ‘very large button’ IR remote control for a cable TV Set Top Box (STB). The custom unit needed basic functions (Channel Up/Down, Volume Up/Down and Power On/Off). Commercially available large button remotes have buttons that are still too small and/or they have too many buttons. Soon he hit a roadblock trying to capture some difficult Foxtel signals and searched all over the web looking for a solution. Needless to say, nothing worked out for him until he came across AnalysIR via Google. Once he started Troubleshooting the Big Button Infrared remote control with AnalysIR the root cause of his problems became obvious.
Continue reading Troubleshooting the Big Button Infrared remote control with AnalysIR
Preview: A.IR Shield Photon, a high-end Infrared Shield for AnalysIR
The final member of our first MakeIR series of devices & kits is the A.IR Shield Photon. This shield works out of the box with AnalysIR and is essentially plug & play, with additional prototyping options. The shield plugs into a (Particle) Photon with headers or pin-compatible clone. Although designed specifically for AnalysIR, users can also upload any sketches that run on the Photon for Infrared remote control projects by customising the included firmware. A.IR Shield Photon is built with only the highest quality IR components available and boasts dual Infrared emitters with configurable IR Power. The supplied firmware supports hardware PWM for sending IR signals.
We have provided a link below to the preliminary product data sheet and would welcome feedback on additional, nice to have or missing features, if any. Please read the data sheet for a more detailed description of the A.IR Photon shield.
Continue reading Preview: A.IR Shield Photon, a high-end Infrared Shield for AnalysIR
IRremoteInfo a Helper utility for troubleshooting IRremote
In recent years we have responded to hundreds of supports requests on the Arduino Forum, GitHub and elsewhere for many recurring issues with IRremote – the library for Infrared remote control. As many of the issues are similar we decided it was time to develop a ‘IRremoteInfo a Helper utility for troubleshooting IRremote’ that will help users resolve their own issues or failing that, provide solid support information to those who are providing free support services. Today we release the first version of IRremoteInfo, which prints the settings for most of the relevant parameters within the IRremote library, in the hope that users seeking support can post or upload this information when seeking assistance on-line.
IRremoteInfo a Helper utility for troubleshooting IRremote
Continue reading IRremoteInfo a Helper utility for troubleshooting IRremote
A hack for Hacks using AnalysIR
One of our users from Italy, Guido, was tasked with upgrading an old in-house WRC system to allow the team of Sport’s Journalists to access the rack of satellite receivers relaying the various sports events around the building. The challenge is that all of the STB (Set Top Boxes) are located in a dedicated room away from the Journalist’s desks and it is impractical for them to manually change the stations when working to tight deadlines. Previously there was a system in place to remotely switch feeds, but Guido needed to upgrade the system to handle the ever growing number of devices and Infrared protocols. Luckily, he found AnalysIR during his research to implement ‘a hack for Hacks using AnalysIR‘.
