Remote Control for PC..!!

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Do u watch lot of movies on your PC, ever thought of having a remote control so that you can sit far and enjoy the movies... read further

Lot of IR receiver devices are available online for purchase.. But what is you are not able to spend thousands for them..

Here a simple Do It Yourself IR receiver is explained..

BASIC NEEDS
1. Some soldering skills
2. Few electronic components
3. Backpanel RS232 serial port or internal serial header on motherboard.
4. WinLIRC freeware  ( http://winlirc.sourceforge.net/ )

Almost all motherboards have serial ports on backpanel or Serial header on motherboard.
In domestic uses these ports are never used..  So we use this port for the communication part.
Use can use any remote at your household (TV, DVD player, TV tuner remotes etc.)

HARDWARE PART

1. CIRCUIT DIAGRAM


2. EXPLANATION
 
Sensor SM0038 is a common purpose IR signal detector centered at std 38khz range.
We provide a stable 5v supply to it using LM7805 voltage regulator and C1 capacitor.
The regulator gets input from RTS line (swings b/w 12v to -12v) of Serial port using a diode 1N4007 (diode protects the port from reverse current)

The output line of SM0038 is pulled up using R1 resistor to get the desired sensing voltage swing. This is connected to the DCD pin of serial port.
The whole circuit is grounded to GND pin of serial port.

To make connections you can use a DB-9 mate connector to backpanel of motherboard
OR
use some harness like ones used to connect front panel power and USB connectors on motherboard


Assemble the circuit in a proper way suitable for your PC.. Connect it ..
Be carefull not to confuse various pins and hence connecting improperly to the motherboard.
It may damage your motherboard.


 2. SOFTWARE PART

WinLIRC is an open source project for IR control of PC's . It is the Windows derivative of original project LIRC for Linux  http://winlirc.sourceforge.net/

What this software does is that. Upon running it.. (no installation is there, so add it to startup folder)
it will make the RTS line high (roughly around +12v). So this will make the IR sensor (SM0038)active. On detection of IR signals from a remote ,it will be send to DCD line, which is monitored by WinLIRC.
We need a configuration file so that WinLIRC will lookup for a similar IR pattern in it for successful decoding of input signal.
That means you need seperate configuration file for each of your remotes..

So if the hardware part is done.. 3 things remains
1. check the proper working of your hardware.
2.  you need to create a configuration file for your remote and load it to WinLIRC
3. Integrate  WinLIRC software with a media player software for playback controls, volume             controls etc.. as you wish. (MPC, Winamp, etc..)

For all these needs you can read and follow the Usage Guide of WinLIRC at below link
http://winlirc.sourceforge.net/usageguide.html


PS: I have photos of my receiver prototype, which will be added soon..


 

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