[nickatredbox] has sent this interesting project with Arduino involving wireless comunication. The fun comes when you have to decide to buy something already done or DIY.

I wanted a remote control system of my own design for may various RC model projects planes and boats. I set about researching the options and and Xbee with / Arduino solution poped out as a viable option, having failed performance testing using both WiFi and TinyCLR. The other feature I get as the Xbee is a transceiver is real-time telemetery. I’m sure I could buy this functionality from HobbyKing but where is the fun in that.

More project on the [website]

If you’ve ever needed a short-range remote control for a project, [firestorm] is here to help you out. He put up a great tutorial on using an IR remote to do just about anything with everyone’s favorite microcontroller platform.

[firestorm] used the Arduino IRremote library to decode the button presses on his remote. After uploading the IR receive demo included in the library, the Arduino spit out hex codes of what the IR receiver was seeing. [firestorm] wrote these down, and was able to program his Arduino to respond to each individual button press.

After figuring out the IR codes for his remote, [firestorm] threw a shift register into his bread board and attached a seven-segment LED. Since [firestorm] knows the codes for the number buttons on his remote, it’s very easy to have the LED display flash a number when the corresponding button on the remote is pressed.

A single seven-segment display might not be extremely useful, but with [firestorm]‘s tutorial, it’s easy to give your Arduino some remote control capabilities with a simple IR receiver. Not bad for a few dollars in parts.

[Colin Bookman] lives in a Fraternity house and apparently the remote for the cable box has a way of walking off. He figured out a method to give everyone control of the TV channel in one form or another.

The cable box can be seen perched on that shelf, and [Colin's] addition is the wooden box sitting on the floor. Inside is an Arduino board, and the cable snaking out of the enclosure is an IR LED. This give the Arduino the ability to send remote control commands to the TV box. The two arcade buttons on the front will switch the channel up or down.

But this is hardly a remote control replacement since you have to get up to use it, so he went a few steps further. The Arduino board was paired with an Ethernet shield. It serves up a web page that has a virtual keypad. So anyone with a smart phone or laptop can log into the server and start changing the channels. We’re not sure if this provides relief from a missing remote, or promotes impromptu fist fights when brothers can’t agree on what to watch. It certainly opens up the possibility of long-distance trolling as you could be sitting in class and decide to change the channel to Lifetime every ten minutes or so.

If you don’t have an Ethernet shield handy we’ve seen a similar setup that uses Bluetooth instead the network.

The speaker system [Zurcher] bought was made by Klipsch. It is a surround sound unit but it’s intended to be used with a computer so there’s no wireless remote for it. Instead, a wired unit sits on the desk and lets you select between the speakers or headphones, and has a volume adjustment knob. The thing is he uses them for his home theater system and had to add his own remote control hardware to adjust them from across the room.

He started with some web searches that helped a lot. It seems others have mapped out the hardware in the past and he was able to use that information to find the volume chip inside the controller. A bit of signal sniffing let him work out the control commands coming in over the i2c bus. This was the information he needed to build his own controller. He grabbed his Arduino board, and IR receiver to take commands from just about any remote, and a four-digit 7-segment display to provide settings feedback. You can seen him showing off the final build in the clip after the break.

We love badges. And we’ve really got to thank [Charliex] for taking the time to write a huge post about this year’s LayerOne badges, especially since they’ve got their backs up against the deadline for pulling everything together in time.

Here it is, the stock badge on the left, with an add-on shield on the right. Now the original intent was to make this badge the chassis of an RC car. [Charliex] chewed through his development time trying to source toy cars that could be gutted for parts that would mount easily on the badge. This looked promising at first, but turned out to be folly. Instead what we have here is an Arduino compatible board with an RF transmitter which can be cut off and used separately if you wish. Attendees will be able to use the badge to take control of the toy cars (cases of them have been shipped to the conference), with the option to use the USB functionality to facilitate automation.

So what about stopping bullets? There is a bug in the module [Charliex] used to export the board design from Eagle. They came back from the fab house as 0.125″ substrate. That’s pretty beefy!

The conference is this weekend… better get on that!

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A lot of people who bought the TiDiGino ask me how to test it.
The Gsm Remote Control is provided with bootloader, so you have to insert the prefered sketch that you can find in code.google.
Daniele Denaro wrote a good sketch for TiDiGino, and I’m reporting his tutorial.
Ask me (and him) all do you need.
Author Daniele Denaro

Be careful, because you have to manipulate the environment of development (IDE) 1.0 to insert the new hardware.
In particular replace the file “boards.txt” (see below).
In this new version of the file has been added to the section on hardware TiDiGino.
You should also add the folder “tidigino” that “boards.txt” references (see below).
The changes will be visible to restart the IDE.

Changes from previous version 1.0:

- It was introduced double message mode for alarms. Meaning now is also detected the return to the base level (end alarm) with the possibility to be notified by a second message.

- It is advisable to perform a reset procedure to be safe pressing both the switch P1 and P2 on the first start after installation.

- Fixed some errors in the Java program.

NB. If you have an unmodified hardware TiDiGino, should arrange removal 100-ohm resistor R20 (near the USB connector). Because otherwise…
TiDiGino remains constantly in reset and will not start unless it is also connected to the USB.
(As distinct from the opening of the JP2 jumper that only affects the transparency serial link to the functioning of the operating TiDiGino)

The download includes:
- Installation of this file
- A Italian handbook pdf: TiDiGinoMan.pdf
- A quick Italian reference guide to the controls and the installation and startup: TiDiGinoShort.pdf

- A folder “FirmwareTiDiGino” containing the firmware for TiDiGino;
“TiDiGinoMainV12.ino”: main sketch;
5 modules in the folder “modules”:
“Commands.c”: Commands and their management
“Phone.c” Management Procedures GSM
“Pins.c” Definitions of corresponding pins of the Arduino and global variables
“StateVariables.c” Variables to store the state of the controller and procedures for EEPROM
“Utility.c”: Various procedures used by other modules

- An executable jar file “TiDiGinoW32.jar” and “TiDiGinoW64.jar”
(Containing the Java application interface for Windows32 or Windows64)
(Just extract the files in a directory and appropriate “to click” above)

- A “Library” folder containing (for convenience) Arduino libraries used.
To be installed in the directory “libraries” of the Arduino software (if not already present)

- File “boards.txt” that replaces the same name in the “hardware\arduino”. This file has been added TiDiGino the platform that you will find it listed along with the other (after restarted the IDE). This file is pointing to the directory “Tidigino” of “variants”

- The folder “tdigino” that contains the file “pins_arduino.h” which realizes the map particular hardware of TiDiGino. This folder should be added to other in the templates folder (the folder “hardware\arduino\variants” of the environment Arduino 1.0)

N.B.
To load the sketch of TiDiGino must first edit the path of inclusion forms.
In fact we used the absolute path to solve the problems with the Arduino compiler.
The inclusion of modules is obviously “TiDiGinoMain.ino”.
The easiest thing is to create a folder in the workspace Arduino “TiDiGinoMain”, copy the file “TiDiGinoMain” and the Forms folder, then edit the file, changing paths, and finally activate the upload.
Attention! At the first start after the upload, press P1 and P2 to reset and load the default values ​​to EEPROM.

N.B.
The application interface is in Java (and so you must have Java installed) but it is only for WINDOWS environment because of the library bill for the management of the serial port.
(If the jar was not associated with java you can run it from the console window command “java-jar TiDiGinoWxx.jar”, or creating a link using “javaw-jar TidiGinoWxx.jar”)
Keep in mind that every time you open the serial port you have a firmware restart unless you open jumper JP2 (near the USB connector) that prevents the software reset of Arduino.

N.B.
The software is “open source” and therefore disclaims any liability arising from its use.

This DIYer had a 1st generation iPhone lying around, so he decided to put it to good use.  You can use any phone to accomplish this, even a $10 prepaid phone.  An SMS to the iPhone goes through an Arduino which tells yours car to start or stop from anywhere.  There’s some custom circuitry and programming which is all included in the instructions. When a text message is sent to the iPhone, the iPhone tells the Arduino to start the engine, and the iPhone sends a message back reporting that the start has commenced. Check out the full details to make your own.

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