Tag Archives: Infrared

Preview: A.IR Shield Photon, a high-end Infrared Shield for AnalysIR

January 11, 2016AnalysIR Blog, IR Sources, MakeIR Kits, ProductsESP8266, Hardware PWM, Infrared, IR LED, IR receiver, MakeIR, NodeMCU, Particle, Photon, pwm, WirelessUser Two

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.

A.IR Shield Photon block diagram RevA — A.IR Shield Photon block diagram

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.

MakeIR - AIR Shield Photon — MakeIR – AIR Shield Photon

Continue reading Preview: A.IR Shield Photon, a high-end Infrared Shield for AnalysIR →

IRremoteInfo a Helper utility for troubleshooting IRremote

November 28, 2015AnalysIR BlogAnalysIR, decoding, Infrared, IRremote, Remote controlUser Two

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

October 19, 2015AnalysIR Blog, ProjectsAnalysIR, Beaglebone, beaglebone Black, hack, Infrared, IR, Microchip, MPLABX, OSX virtual machine, PIC18F4620, Satellite, SKY, USB IR ToyUser Two

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‘.

Continue reading A hack for Hacks using AnalysIR →

Backdoor uPWM Hack on Arduino for Infrared signals using UART

October 12, 2015AnalysIR Blog, ProjectsAnalysIR, Arduino, Carrier frequency, Infrared, IR, IRLib, IRremote, LearnIR, pwm, uPWMUser Two

In this blog post we follow up on our recent article about generation of infrared PWM from the Photon’s UART where we suggested that it may be possible to achieve something similar with the Arduino. In our previous attempt the Arduino was only able to generate PWM at 40 kHz and 33 kHz using the same approach. After some investigations we discovered a new approach which provides an even better set of results using the Arduino’s USART. Yes, we were able to generate 30, 33, 36, 38, 40 , 56 and surprisingly the illusive 455 kHz which was not possible on the Photon (using this approach). Read on for the details. Readers should also study our original series of articles on ‘softPWM‘ for a better understanding of the source code which can be downloaded below.

Continue reading Backdoor uPWM Hack on Arduino for Infrared signals using UART →

LearnIR Video Tutorial GUI Introduction

October 10, 2015AnalysIR Blog, Products, VideosInfrared, IR, LearnIR, MakeIR, VideoUser Two

We have just posted a 25 minute LearnIR video tutorial introducing the GUI (Graphical User Interface) of LearnIR, which is available via YouTube. The tutorial covers the important features available with LearnIR through the GUI. We cover each of the feature tabs in the Windows application including Learning, Configuration, Utilities, Library, Debug mode and firmware updating.

Continue reading LearnIR Video Tutorial GUI Introduction →

Backdoor uPWM Hack on Photon for Infrared signals using UART

October 2, 2015AnalysIR Blog, Arduino, IR SourcesAnalysIR, Carrier frequency, Duty Cycle, Infrared, IR, IR LED, IR signals, IRLib, IRremote, NEC, Photon, pwm, Remote control, UART, uPWMUser Two

Since we received our Photon several months ago it has been difficult to find a working example of Hardware PWM on the Photon. Initially, we ported our softPWM approach to the Photon, which is excellent. However, we figured it must be possible to use at least one of the spare UARTs on the Photon to achieve our goal. So first we started prototyping on the Arduino and quickly got a working example with some limitations – only 40 kHz and 33 kHz carrier frequencies were possible with the UART without delving into the registers a bit more. Then we moved the code over to the Photon, leveraging our previous softPWM examples, upgraded with the Arduino code – EUREKA! The Backdoor uPWM Hack on Photon for Infrared signals.

uPWM Circuit diagram for Photon using UART

Continue reading Backdoor uPWM Hack on Photon for Infrared signals using UART →

AnalysIR Video Tutorial – Reverse Engineering Tool

September 28, 2015AnalysIR Blog, Products, VideosAir Conditioner, AnalysIR, decoding, Infrared, IR, LSB, LSB8, MSB, Remote control, Reverse engineering, Toshiba, VideoUser Two

We have just launched a short 11 minute AnalysIR video tutorial introducing the use of the Reverse Engineering Tool feature in AnalysIR, which is available via YouTube. The tutorial covers the important points in reverse engineering in infrared signal of a Toshiba Air Conditioner. We focus in on the temperature field and show the process to identify the bits within the signal related to the temperature. Users of AnalysIR can follow this process to reverse engineer their own signals using this powerful tool.

Continue reading AnalysIR Video Tutorial – Reverse Engineering Tool →

AnalysIR Video Tutorial – Checksum Calculator

September 28, 2015AnalysIR Blog, Products, VideosAir Conditioner, AnalysIR, byte, checksum, Checksum Calculator, crc, crc-16, crc8, Infrared, IR, nibble, Remote control, sum, tuturial, Video, xorUser Two

We have just launched a short 6 minute video tutorial for AnalysIR introducing the use of the Checksum Calculator feature in AnalysIR, which is available via YouTube. The tutorial covers the steps to verify the position and type of checksums that are typically found in Air Conditioner infrared signals. The types of checksums covered include:

XOR
SUM
CRC-6
CRC-16
…for both bytes and nibbles.

Continue reading AnalysIR Video Tutorial – Checksum Calculator →

Preview: BeamIR the Infrared Light Barrier

September 23, 2015AnalysIR Blog, MakeIR Kits, ProductsCarrier frequency, Infrared, Lap Timer, Light Barrier, MakeIR, Proximity, Wireless CNC ProbeUser Two

The sixth and last member of our first MakeIR series of devices & kits is BeamIR the Infrared Light Barrier. This pair of modules is based on an Infrared Light Barrier system with a range of additional applications. In addition to Light Barriers, BeamIR can also be used to deliver solutions involving Security projects, Lap Timers, Laser Tag – invisible trip wire, Photography, Photo Interrupter, Reflective sensors for hand dryers, towel or soap, Dispensers, water faucets, toilet flush, Vending machine fall detection, Virtual ‘fence’, CNC wireless Probes, Security and pet gates, Person or object vicinity activation. BeamIR is built with only the highest quality IR components available and includes constant current drivers, noise suppression circuitry and visual indicators on signal lock.

Simple Infrared PWM on Arduino, Part 3 – Hex IR Signals

September 1, 2015AnalysIR BlogAir Conditioner, AnalysIR, backer, Carrier frequency, Infrared, IR, NEC, Remote controlUser Two

In Part 1 of this series, we demonstrated how to send signals using soft or Simple Infrared PWM on Arduino. In our Part 2 post we looked at sending RAW IR signals – specifically a RAW NEC signal and a longer RAW Mitsubishi Air Conditioner signal using soft PWM. We have since improved the PWM method shown in Part 1 Part 2 to provide better performance and improve portability. In this Part 3, we will take the signals from Part 2 and show how to send them using their binary (or Hex) representation, which can save lots of SRAM in many projects, particularly when dealing with longer AC signals.

Original NEC 32-bit and Mitsubishi 88-bit Signals displayed using AnalysIR — Original NEC 32-bit and Mitsubishi 88-bit Signals captured using AnalysIR

Continue reading Simple Infrared PWM on Arduino, Part 3 – Hex IR Signals →