Infared remote control - help needed

Hi,
I am currently working on a school assignment, where I have to build a
fully working remote control and describe the process of building it
and the way it works over about 20 pages. The problem is that I am a
complete beginner when it comes to electronics. All I know about my
specific subject so far is:

- what infrared light is
- that you need an emitter and an infrared diode or photo transistor as
a receiver
- that you might need to modulate the signal and use some kind of
coding to be able to have a remote that works at the same range as TV
remotes do and have a number of buttons between which the receiver can
tell the difference
- basic electronics such as what resistors, capacitors and transistors
are, and how they work, but I don't really know how exactly they
interact with each other, especially in circuits that are more complex
than 2 or 3 components

The end-product musn't be too complex since 12th-graders should be able
to understand it, so I can't work with huge schematics. On the other
hand it'd be lame to use some kind of high-tech chips who already
include all the necessary components and I just have to put some wires
to it. After all, I'll have to fill 20 pages. I'd have to find a middle
way.

My problem is I don't have any idea what to begin with. Even if I was
able to build a remote, I still wouldn't know how to desribe it that
detailed.

I thought maybe some of you could help me out in any way, I'd
appreciate any guidance, whether it's just an advice, a link to a
website that offers instructions on the subject, or whatever...

M. Seifert

 

[Eric R Snow]

On 9 Sep 2005 04:35:15 -0700, flashbiter@gmx.net wrote:

Hi,
I am currently working on a school assignment, where I have to build a
fully working remote control and describe the process of building it
and the way it works over about 20 pages. The problem is that I am a
complete beginner when it comes to electronics. All I know about my
specific subject so far is:

- what infrared light is
- that you need an emitter and an infrared diode or photo transistor as
a receiver
- that you might need to modulate the signal and use some kind of
coding to be able to have a remote that works at the same range as TV
remotes do and have a number of buttons between which the receiver can
tell the difference
- basic electronics such as what resistors, capacitors and transistors
are, and how they work, but I don't really know how exactly they
interact with each other, especially in circuits that are more complex
than 2 or 3 components

The end-product musn't be too complex since 12th-graders should be able
to understand it, so I can't work with huge schematics. On the other
hand it'd be lame to use some kind of high-tech chips who already
include all the necessary components and I just have to put some wires
to it. After all, I'll have to fill 20 pages. I'd have to find a middle
way.

My problem is I don't have any idea what to begin with. Even if I was
able to build a remote, I still wouldn't know how to desribe it that
detailed.

I thought maybe some of you could help me out in any way, I'd
appreciate any guidance, whether it's just an advice, a link to a
website that offers instructions on the subject, or whatever...

M. Seifert
Try the Nuts & Volts web site. They have had many articles about

remotes and how they work. You can buy for pretty cheap the IR
xmitters and recievers. Also, try Google. Search for IR remote
control.
ERS

 

[Si Ballenger]

On 9 Sep 2005 04:35:15 -0700, flashbiter@gmx.net wrote:

Hi,
I am currently working on a school assignment, where I have to build a
fully working remote control and describe the process of building it
and the way it works over about 20 pages. The problem is that I am a
complete beginner when it comes to electronics. All I know about my
specific subject so far is:

- what infrared light is
- that you need an emitter and an infrared diode or photo transistor as
a receiver
- that you might need to modulate the signal and use some kind of
coding to be able to have a remote that works at the same range as TV
remotes do and have a number of buttons between which the receiver can
tell the difference
- basic electronics such as what resistors, capacitors and transistors
are, and how they work, but I don't really know how exactly they
interact with each other, especially in circuits that are more complex
than 2 or 3 components

The end-product musn't be too complex since 12th-graders should be able
to understand it, so I can't work with huge schematics. On the other
hand it'd be lame to use some kind of high-tech chips who already
include all the necessary components and I just have to put some wires
to it. After all, I'll have to fill 20 pages. I'd have to find a middle
way.

My problem is I don't have any idea what to begin with. Even if I was
able to build a remote, I still wouldn't know how to desribe it that
detailed.

I thought maybe some of you could help me out in any way, I'd
appreciate any guidance, whether it's just an advice, a link to a
website that offers instructions on the subject, or whatever...

M. Seifert

You may want to consider getting one of the IR kits from a site
like below and working with it. Most will have schematics and an
explination of how they work.

http://store.qkits.com/textcategory.cfm/IR
http://www.rentron.com/3-bit-infrared.htm
http://www.rentron.com/remote_control/tinyir.pdf
http://www.rainbowkits.com/kits/ir-2p.html

 

Yeah, well...the problem with getting one of those IR kits is that I
unfortunately happen to reside in Germany and shipping would probably
be a major financial disaster if possible at all. In Germany I've got
even fewer choices when it comes to information or products about the
subject. And I've been searching on Google for hours, without finding
anything valuable...But I guess I'll just have to keep trying.

But thanks anyways, guys.

 

[Jasen Betts]

On 2005-09-09, flashbiter@gmx.net <flashbiter@gmx.net> wrote:

Hi,

The end-product musn't be too complex since 12th-graders should be able
to understand it, so I can't work with huge schematics. On the other
hand it'd be lame to use some kind of high-tech chips who already
include all the necessary components and I just have to put some wires
to it.

maybe design a remote that produces bursts of IR with the modulation
frequency of the bursts dependant on which key is pressed

maybe use a 555 chip with different timing resistors connected to
each remote key, like one of those monophonic "organ" kits only modulating
IR instead of driving a speaker,

At the other end some sort of frequencyt-to-voltage circuit to decode it

My problem is I don't have any idea what to begin with. Even if I was
able to build a remote, I still wouldn't know how to desribe it that
detailed.

commercial remotes are digital and while digital signale like morse code
aren't beyond the understanding of 12th graders understanding a circuit to
generate and to deocde it built from discrete logic would probably be.

I thought maybe some of you could help me out in any way, I'd
appreciate any guidance, whether it's just an advice, a link to a
website that offers instructions on the subject, or whatever...

fill some of those 20 pages with theory like how LEDs and photodiodes
work, the inverse square law, filters...

--

Bye.
Jasen

 

[Rob]

flashbiter@gmx.net wrote:

Yeah, well...the problem with getting one of those IR kits is that I
unfortunately happen to reside in Germany and shipping would probably
be a major financial disaster if possible at all. In Germany I've got
even fewer choices when it comes to information or products about the
subject. And I've been searching on Google for hours, without finding
anything valuable...But I guess I'll just have to keep trying.

But thanks anyways, guys.

Do you still need help on this. If you do, I'll see what I can do. I
will post anything I have when I have it at:
http://notrocketscience.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/

Regards
Robert