[woutr_be]

Very cool project, I've been wanting to do something with my Raspberry Pi as well.

I mainly wanted to focus on turning my AC units on and off. I assume I'll need some sort of IR transmitter, and possibly a receiver to understand the signals the remote is sending.

[soylentcola]

If they use IR remotes, I imagine you could plug in a network connected Pi with a USB IR blaster next to each AC unit. Then stick the IR emitter LED on the little window where the IR receiver is on the AC unit.

Then it's just a matter of capturing the remote codes and setting up a way to remotely command a given Pi to send that pattern of pulses out of its IR emitter.

edit: I just did a quick search and Sparkfun sell WiFi IR blaster boards for $20. I'd imagine you could find cheaper ones on Aliexpress or other places where you typically find cheap electronics. This would probably be simpler to set up versus a Pi with less things to break since it's not booting a "full" general purpose OS.

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/15031

[isbjorn16]

I can't speak to the quality of this yet, but I just bought https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016D5L5KE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b... kit to dork around with myself. It comes with an IR transmitter and a whole host of other stuff to play with.

That said, I do love adafruit and sparkfun for most purchases. My bank account doesn't, but I certainly do.

[soylentcola]

Oh, nice! I hadn't thought to look for multi-part kits like that but the next time I am looking for a sensor or emitter or whatever, I might check some of these kits if only because "more stuff!!"

I am the same with Adafruit et al. Their stuff is tested, easier to exchange/return if broken, often ship quickly since it's domestic to the US, etc. But when I need a bunch of something I tend to order more direct/bulk. My early LED strip projects were fine with a meter or two of "Neopixels" but when I wanted many many meters for bigger stuff, it was time to order reels from Ali Express. Shipping was slower, but even if I paid an extra $20 for fast shipping, it was much, much less than ordering from Adafruit. I just had to be aware that some of this stuff may not work and returning will be next to impossible. Luckily I had no issues.

[isbjorn16]

Yep, that's my thought processes too; I usually go to Adafruit, and if they don't have it, I go to Sparkfun, and if they don't have it AND I know precisely what I want, Digikey, and then if all else fails, I go to amazon and buy a pack of "everythings" and see what I get.

Everything I've been doing is stepper motor related, and I didn't know what else I'd even use 3/4 of those sensors on, but for 25$ or whatever I figured I could buy them, try them, and see what comes out of it. They're like a flight of microbrews or something; just enough to tease me and get me started so I know what I actually want :D

[woutr_be]

I looked into the IR blasters before, was wondering if they're strong enough to transmit to multiple targets.

I've previously written a Telegram bot, so was thinking to reuse some of that.