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-   -   [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app (https://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=82243)

Copernicus 2013-05-16 16:52

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by stickymick (Post 1344091)
:EDIT: As an afterthought. What are the chances of extending Pierogi to control robots? ;)

I've already got a keyset for the Roomba, although I've been told that it isn't working. :( I've also gotten an e-mail from someone hoping to attach an N900 to a Lego RC car that uses IR; I've got documentation for it, but I'm still trying to determine whether I can legally use those docs to create a keyset in Pierogi. (Also, his project is much better suited for use with LIRC than with Pierogi.) But yeah, in theory, robots would work fine. :)

(But I would think most remotely-controllable robots these days would be using wi-fi or bluetooth for communications, wouldn't they?)

Estel 2013-05-16 17:01

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Copernicus (Post 1344099)
I've also gotten an e-mail from someone hoping to attach an N900 to a Lego RC car that uses IR; I've got documentation for it, but I'm still trying to determine whether I can legally use those docs to create a keyset in Pierogi.

Despite lego being *itchy about... Well, everything, I don't see any legally possible way to block anyone from recording IR signals from their remote and implementing it in other software. If in doubt, you can call it "some plastic bricks remote control set", and other users will kindly report, that it seems to work with certain lego vehicles *too* ;)

/Estel

Copernicus 2013-05-16 17:44

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Estel (Post 1344107)
I don't see any legally possible way to block anyone from recording IR signals from their remote and implementing it in other software.

Yes, that's my understanding, given the way in which universal IR devices have been built over the last few decades. I really don't want to get into any legal tangles, so I'm pretty much sticking to configuration data derived in that manner...

quailstorm 2013-05-17 12:45

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 
User report: An old Mitsubishi projector is uncontrollable with every Mitsubishi keyset in Pierogi. Sorry, no model type, I had only two minutes to try it out...
Anyway, I really like the app. Now after the lesson is over I can just touch my phone, and don't have walk to the digital board.

Also, I've got a Nokia N95 8GB RM-320, and there's a remote control app for the built in IrDA port.
I dunno what database is it using, but it's internet based. There are some built in keysets too(which work with the samsung TV's) but you can search in the internet database too. They have Toshiba air conditioner keysets too(and again, bad luck, exactly on the day, I've installed irRemote, the air conditioner stopped working)...
On the site they marked this site as database source: http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin...to&db=discrete
But you can also manually define and upload a keyset, which others can rate if it's working or not.
Pierogi is absolutely easier to use, more sophisticated and advanced than this payware, the keyset selector is a mess in Psiloc's work.
I hope you'll find some useful information/idea.

Copernicus 2013-05-17 13:42

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by quailstorm (Post 1344310)
User report: An old Mitsubishi projector is uncontrollable with every Mitsubishi keyset in Pierogi.

Yeah, unfortunately, my usual sources just don't have a lot of Mitsubishi projectors. :(

Quote:

Also, I've got a Nokia N95 8GB RM-320, and there's a remote control app for the built in IrDA port.
Yup, I've checked out Psiloc's "irRemote" website already. They've got a nice selection of config files, but the licensing terms they give don't seem compatible with an open-source project, so I've not been using them as a source for data...

Quote:

On the site they marked this site as database source: http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin...to&db=discrete
"RemoteCentral" is also one of my main sources for keyset data. They have fewer codes defined than either LIRC or hifi-remotes, and their data is messier, but they do sometimes have codes for models that can't be found elsewhere -- and yeah, they've got some of the only Mistubishi projector codes I can find. Unfortunately, some of their Mitsubishi codes are truncated, and so are unusable. :(

Thanks for the kind words, and please do tell me if some keys are missing or incorrect for the projectors that do work! :)

malfunctioning 2013-05-17 18:09

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 
The closest I have found to a Mitsubishi HC1500 is an HD1000. Copernicus, is this one of your Mitsubishi projector sets? If not, it can be found here: http://lirc.sourceforge.net/remotes/mitsubishi/HD1000

Quick question also: Is it possible to capture IR codes with a computer with an IR sensor, something like a Thinkpad?

Copernicus 2013-05-17 18:33

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by malfunctioning (Post 1344398)
The closest I have found to a Mitsubishi HC1500 is an HD1000. Copernicus, is this one of your Mitsubishi projector sets?

Yup, that one happens to be "Mitsubishi Projector Keyset 1". :)

Quote:

Quick question also: Is it possible to capture IR codes with a computer with an IR sensor, something like a Thinkpad?
Absolutely; that is how all of the LIRC config files are created (as well as a fair number of the ones on hifi-remotes, although most of those folks have connected a "learning remote" up to their computers). There are a number of ways to do it, but the one I'm most familiar with is to use the LIRC server itself. It is, of course, designed to run on Linux, but there are ports available for Windows and Mac as well...

Copernicus 2013-05-17 22:50

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 
Pierogi 1.1.24 is now heading into the extras-devel repository, with the "Remote Flash" feature. I've gotta say, it was a heck of a lot easier to implement than I had expected; connecting to the /dev/video0 device driver is not a lot different than to the /dev/lirc0 driver, and as far as I can tell, it's always up, so I don't need a sudoer-enabled script to "modprobe" for it. In short, I just open the driver, tell it to "strobe" the flash leds, and close the driver.

I was even able to open it in "non-blocking" mode, so the flash can strobe even if there's another camera app running! (Not sure why you'd want to do that, but it's nice not to have to step on the toes of other apps.)

I've set the LEDs to their "maximum brightness" level, and I'm leaving them on for half of the "maximum timeout" value. (If I'm reading it right, the max timeout value is a half a second, so I'm setting the strobe on for 1/4 of a second.) This seems to work fine with my test N900; but I really don't know enough about the camera hardware as a whole to determine exactly what the best parameters would be.

I should note that you'll want to hold down the "open shutter" button to get the whole quarter second; if you release the button after less than 1/4 second, the LEDs will immediately turn off.

(Also, I should say that the strobe-test code from that website looks a little dangerous; when I query the hardware to see what the minimum and maximum brightness values are for the flash, it returns a minimum of "12" and a maximum of "19". However, the code on that page ignores those values and sets the brightness to "25". I have no clue whether that could damage your hardware, but it certainly makes me nervous...)

Also in this release, a first pass at keysets for Insignia. As always, be prepared for bugs (and tell me when you find them)! Thanks.

malfunctioning 2013-05-18 00:22

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Copernicus (Post 1344402)
Yup, that one happens to be "Mitsubishi Projector Keyset 1". :)

I see, thank you. In that case, they must have completely changed the IR codes between the HD1000 and HC1500.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Copernicus (Post 1344402)
Absolutely; that is how all of the LIRC config files are created (as well as a fair number of the ones on hifi-remotes, although most of those folks have connected a "learning remote" up to their computers). There are a number of ways to do it, but the one I'm most familiar with is to use the LIRC server itself. It is, of course, designed to run on Linux, but there are ports available for Windows and Mac as well...

OK, this is good! I have a number of Thinkpads (I won't discuss the extent of my fondness for classic IBM Thinkpads here), and most of them are running Linux. As a matter of fact, I'm typing this post on a Thinkpad X24 running Ubuntu which has an IR port. I'll look into setting things up, and I'll follow up on this soon. Hopefully a working Mitsubishi HC1500 set will be ready soon. :)

EDIT: Thank you for your new release of Pierogi!

Copernicus 2013-05-18 10:47

Re: [Announce] Pierogi - a universal infrared remote control app
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by malfunctioning (Post 1344446)
I see, thank you. In that case, they must have completely changed the IR codes between the HD1000 and HC1500.

That is quite possible, some manufacturers do start over with a new remote each time they release a new product. Of course, there is also the possibility that the config file is messed up, and the possibility that I made a huge mistake somewhere in translating it. :)

Quote:

OK, this is good! I have a number of Thinkpads (I won't discuss the extent of my fondness for classic IBM Thinkpads here), and most of them are running Linux.
Ah, I gotta agree, the Thinkpad was quite possibly the best laptop made, back in the day. :)

After a bit of googling around, I located a Thinkpad wiki page with some instructions on how to do it. It looks like you'll need to set some things up in the BIOS to allow the LIRC to access the IR port, and even after that, the range might be restricted to less than half a meter, but it looks like it will work...


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