“Recently I’ve encountered an issue, that my laziness became tremendous problem for me at home. As soon as I go to bed, I like to put some nice LED powered light with some series playing on my PC. But… If I want to turn these things off I have to GET UP every time and turn them off by hand. Thus, I’ve decided to build a complete controller for the entire PC desktop, where I can turn monitors and light on and off, adjust speakers volume and LED strip lighting brightness by pressing a corresponding button on my remote.
The project is a PC desk / workbench controller box, that is operated by a IR remote. There are lots of types of IR remotes available these days, but that is not a problem. This controller is adjustable and can be paired with any type of IR remote that supports proper protocol for our used sensor (we’ll cover this later).
The controlled computer desk feature desk are:
AC Power Control: Switching power on/off the monitor that is plugged to 220VAC
DC Power Control: Switching power on/off the monitor that is plugged to DC power (up to 48V)
Audio Volume Control: Complete control of stereo volume that is passed to the speakers
LED Strip Lighting Control: Complete control of LED strip lighting brightness
Device has a proper designed user interface and adjustable mechanical compartments, which make it easy to build and easy to use:
Display: Real-time status of all the controlled systems are presented on the 16x4 LCD display
RGB LED: For an additional feedback for the system, purpose of this is to acknowledge for the user that there is an accepted signal received from the IR remote
Pairing system: Device contains single push-button, which has to be pressed for the pairing process. When the pairing process is initiated, we can pair any IR remote to our device by following the instructions shown on a display.
After we’ve covered the basics, let’s build it!”