Developing of General IrDa Remote to Wirelessly Control IR-based Home Appliances

A general IrDA remote controller for smart home system is presented. The aim of the research is to implement a remote controller capable of integrating infrared-based electronic devices those are normally difficult to be included into a smart home network without performing major overhaul, for example television and AC. The device utilizes STM32L100 as controller, which are connected to IrDa transmitter and receiver to exchange commands with infrared-based devices. In addition, to enable integration with smart home network, the remote controller is equipped with ZigBee module, allowing the device to be controlled using mobile phone through the central host. The components are then packed into a waterproof case. As of this paper, the functionality of the device is limited to switching on/off infrared device from distance. The developed remote controller is tested on some commercial AC units. Based on the result, it can be inferred the remote is able to control third party manufactured infrared-based devices, provided the infrared transmission from the remote device is not encrypted.