Internet of Things can be quite costly when you have to connect everything via WiFi. IR is a cheaper solution to making internet of things possible.
The idea is simple. Have a central control box with IR blaster connected to WiFi and control other devices through the IR Remote Signals.
This allows you to make internet of things at a cheaper price and also allows you to transform all existing devices that already use IR such as your TV, into the internet of things.
For this project, a motorized window controller was created for a demonstration and a practical use. I used Weaved Smart Plug and its IR blaster as the central control box to bridge WiFi with IR. ATtiny85 and IR receiver was used for receiving and processing the IR signals to control the window(motor).
The window can be controlled directly from a remote controller or from a desktop over the internet using an application developed with Unity3D that talks to Weaved Smart Plug to send out IR signals.
If you wish to test and see the demo yourself, i.e control my window over the internet from wherever you are, please send me an email at david.cheong@mail.utoronto.ca with specified date and time between 2:00pm ~ 5:00pm EST on any weekdays and I'll send you the IP address and port number with short instruction. This is just a precaution so strangers won't suddenly open and close my window without my knowledge. :P
Motorized window controller is just a start. What's to come next is to make a modular IR receiver/controller that will allow you to build or transform anything and everything you can think of into Internet of Things.
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