remy_python
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A Raspberry Pi infrared remote control. The Python app has three parts: Functions to send commands to the infrared transmitter. A Flask web service to accept television command requests (e.g. volume d...
Purpose
Make a Raspberry Pi infrared remote control. The device can programmatically control television sound bar audio volume. The Raspberry Pi uses LIRC (Linux Infrared Remote Control) to send commands to an attached infrared transmitter.
The Python app has three main parts:
- Functions to send commands to the infrared transmitter, which then transmits the commands to the television sound bar
- A Flask web service to accept television command requests (e.g. volume decrease, volume increase)
- A scheduler that automatically sends remote control commands at programmed times (e.g. mute during TV commercials)
Results
TV Sound Bar
Polk audio
Infrared transmitter
LED IR light is invisible to human eye. iPhone 12 front facing camera doesn't filter IR. It will show IR LED blink.
Install hardware
Raspberry Pi IR Control Expansion Board. This uses gpio pins 17 out (IR LED), pin 18 in (IR receiver). http://www.raspberrypiwiki.com/index.php/Raspberry_Pi_IR_Control_Expansion_Board
I bought Icstation 38KHz IR Infrared Remote Control Transceiver Shield for Raspberry Pi 2 3 Module B B+ https://www.amazon.com/IR-Remote-Control-Transceiver-Raspberry/dp/B0713SK7RJ/ref=pd_cp_147_1?pd_rd_w=nydwe&pf_rd_p=ef4dc990-a9ca-4945-ae0b-f8d549198ed6&pf_rd_r=NPTQR2NR66SZXGEC1CFF&pd_rd_r=dc222ec9-1d1f-11e9-82b3-7117715d74e2&pd_rd_wg=OnVSD&pd_rd_i=B0713SK7RJ&psc=1&refRID=NPTQR2NR66SZXGEC1CFF
Install Raspberry Pi OS
I erased an 8 Gb SD card and installed latest version of Raspberry Pi OS. Then put it in a Raspberry Pi 3.
connect to raspberry pi
Can attach keyboard and monitor to pi. Alternatively, can connect from another computer on local network via ssh.
ssh -v [email protected]
install dependency LIRC
Michael Traver's excellent "Raspberry Pi IR Remote Control" https://github.com/mtraver/rpi-ir-remote has helpful up to date suggestions for configuring current versions of LIRC (0.9.4) and Raspbian (Stretch) and warnings about outdated online info.
sudo apt-get install lirc
The following additional packages will be installed:
<list differs from 2019>
sudo apt autoremove
Removing python-colorzero
don't install package lirc-compat-remotes
This package is outdated, contains remote definitions which were part of lirc up to 0.9.0.
enable lirc-rpi
In /boot/config.txt says # uncomment this to enable infrared communication.
Uncomment 2 lines. Required sudo.
NOTE: Swap pins 17 and 18 to match my ICStation board. Transmit tx should be pin 18.
sudo vi config.txt
dtoverlay=gpio-ir,gpio_pin=18
dtoverlay=gpio-ir-tx,gpio_pin=17
don't add or edit hardware.conf
LIRC >= 0.9.4 does not use hardware.conf
Add remote control config files
Background: lirc looks in a configuration directory for files ending in .conf
/etc/lirc/lircd.conf.d
Don't disable /etc/lirc/lircd.conf.d/devinput.lircd.conf
This is not necessary to use polk.lircd.conf https://learn.adafruit.com/using-an-ir-remote-with-a-raspberry-pi-media-center/using-other-remotes To disable a configuration file change extension from .conf to e.g. .dist
cd /etc/lirc/lircd.conf.d
sudo mv devinput.lircd.conf devinput.lircd.dist
https://sourceforge.net/projects/lirc-remotes/ has config files for many remotes. You can try any of these to see if they work with your device.
I tried cxa_cxc_cxn.lircd.conf but it didn't work with Polk sound bar. For more info see Appendix - cxa_cxc_cxn.lircd.conf
Create a custom configuration file for Polk sound bar.
Put in this repo remy_python/config for version control, and copied to /etc/lirc/lircd.conf.d For more info see Appendix - Create polk.lircd.conf
Add polk.lircd.conf
Copy from repo remy_python/config to /etc/lirc/lircd.conf.d For more info see Appendix - Create polk.lircd.conf
cd /etc/lirc/lircd.conf.d
sudo cp ~/beepscore/remy_python/config/polk.lircd.conf .
list polk configuration defined keys
irsend list polk ""
terminal output
unknown remote: "polk"
I rebooted pi, now irsend list works.
irsend list polk ""
terminal output
0000000000000001 KEY_MUTE
0000000000000002 KEY_POWER
0000000000000003 KEY_VOLUMEUP
0000000000000004 KEY_VOLUMEDOWN
0000000000000005 KEY_UP
0000000000000006 KEY_DOWN
send a key
irsend SEND_ONCE polk KEY_VOLUMEDOWN
"hardware does not support sending.
Error running command: Input/output error"
enable transmitting
This is necessary to avoid error "hardware does not support sending". Reference https://raspberrypi.stackexchange "LIRC won't transmit (irsend: hardware does not support sending")
Make a backup copy
cd /etc/lirc
sudo cp lirc_options.conf lirc_options.conf.bak
In /etc/lirc/lirc_options.conf
change driver
driver = devinput
to
driver = default
The right hand side may be delimited by " i.e. driver = "default" String delimiter is not necessary (at least for filenames with no spaces) so I didn't do it.
I rebooted pi. Now hardware message doesn't appear.
Keep device = auto
device=/dev/lirc0 works but isn't necessary.
install python dependencies
venv virtual environment
This project doesn't have many dependencies, and venv is an easy way to manage them. Anaconda / conda / miniconda may work better for projects with more dependencies. If using venv, in .gitignore add a line to ignore the directory:
venv/*
Then in terminal
cd remy_python
python3 -m venv ./venv
activate
source ./venv/bin/activate
pip3 install apscheduler
pip3 install flask
To run Flask web service
connect to raspberry pi
ssh -v [email protected]
cd to project directory
cd ~/beepscore/remy_python
activate environment
If using venv
source ./venv/bin/activate
If using conda (e.g. via miniconda)
source activate remy_python
start Flask web server
python3 service.py
* Running on http://0.0.0.0:5000/ (Press CTRL+C to quit)
* Restarting with stat
Now clients on local network can see the remote control service.
Can add a bash script e.g. start_remy_python.sh
give user permission to execute script
chmod u+x start_remy_python.sh
Example script
cd ~/beepscore/remy_python
# activate python virtual environment
source ./venv/bin/activate
python3 service.py
endpoints
GET
http://10.0.0.4:5000/api/v1/tv/ping/
POST
Send a remote control command.
http://10.0.0.4:5000/api/v1/tv/mute/
/api/v1/tv/power/
/api/v1/tv/voice-decrease/
/api/v1/tv/voice-increase/
/api/v1/tv/volume-decrease/
/api/v1/tv/volume-increase/
client
GET requests can be made via a browser such as Firefox or mobile Safari. POST requests can be made via clients such as terminal curl or POSTMAN or iOS Remy.app
curl --request POST http://10.0.0.4:5000/api/v1/tv/volume-decrease/
server log
pi terminal shows client's ip address and request info
10.0.0.3 - - [23/Jan/2019 23:39:22] "POST /api/v1/tv/volume-decrease/ HTTP/1.1" 200 -
10.0.0.3 - - [23/Jan/2019 23:39:26] "POST /api/v1/tv/volume-increase/ HTTP/1.1" 200 -
Scheduler
install apscheduler
On macOS, can install via conda navigator. However I couldn't find conda apscheduler for raspberry pi. So install via pip.
source activate remy_python
pip install apscheduler
run
To run server and scheduler
source activate remy_python
python service.py
To run scheduler but not server
source activate remy_python
python scheduler.py
adwords.txt
Currently unused. Could be used together with closed caption text or speech recognition to detect commercials. Some commercials don't say product/service/company name until late in the commercial.
unit tests
Can run tests on macOS by temporarily commenting out service.py subprocess.call(irsend). Not sure how to run tests on pi yet.
python -m unittest discover
throws RuntimeError: working outside of request context
Appendix - cxa_cxc_cxn.lircd.conf
First I tried lirc configuration file cxa_cxc_cxn.lircd.conf
pi@raspberrypi:/etc/lirc/lircd.conf.d $ sudo cp ~/beepscore/rpi-ir-remote/config/lirc/cxa_cxc_cxn.lircd.conf .
list cambridge_cxa configuration defined keys
Use lirc command irsend
irsend list cambridge_cxa ""
000000000000140c KEY_POWER
000000000000140e KEY_POWER_ON
000000000000140f KEY_POWER_OFF
000000000000140d KEY_MUTE
0000000000001432 KEY_MUTE_ON
0000000000001433 KEY_MUTE_OFF
0000000000001410 KEY_VOLUMEUP
0000000000001411 KEY_VOLUMEDOWN
send a key
irsend SEND_ONCE cambridge_cxa KEY_VOLUMEDOWN
The front facing camera on iPhone showed the raspberry pi is lighting the transmit infrared LED. However the remote configuration cambridge_cxa doesn't work with my Polk sound bar receiver.
Appendix - Create polk.lircd.conf
Create a custom lirc config file for Polk sound bar.
Disable incorrect remote configuration files
https://learn.adafruit.com/using-an-ir-remote-with-a-raspberry-pi-media-center/using-other-remotes To disable a configuration file change extension from .conf to e.g. .dist
cd /etc/lirc/lircd.conf.d
sudo mv devinput.lircd.conf devinput.lircd.dist
Use infrared receiver to generate a new configuration file.
lirc-remotes has lots of files, but none named polk. Could try existing ones but this could be time consuming. Instead use an existing handheld remote transmitter to "teach" the Raspberry Pi how to act like that remote. The Raspberry Pi IR Control Expansion Board has an infrared receiver. LIRC command irrecord records button press infrared signals. http://www.lirc.org/html/irrecord.html
irrecord error need to stop lirc daemon
irrecord -d /dev/lirc0 ~/lircd.conf
Using driver default on device /dev/lirc0
Could not init hardware (lircd running ? --> close it, check permissions)
view running processes
htop
^C
stop lirc daemon process by name
sudo killall -9 lircd
list valid key names that are available to be assigned to a remote configuration file
irrecord --list-namespace
irrecord -d didn't work with polk remote, it never got enough info to make a .conf file.
In repo remy_python I added directory config to keep polk.lircd.conf in version control.
cd remy_python/config
irrecord -d /dev/lirc0 ./polk.lircd.conf
fix recording failing using option -f --force raw mode
irrecord -f -d /dev/lirc0 ~/polk.lircd.conf
Enter valid key names e.g. KEY_VOLUMEDOWN
For LIRC to use configuration file, copied it to
/etc/lirc/lircd.conf.d/polk.lircd.conf
add more keys using option -u --update
cd remy_python/config
irrecord -f -u ./polk.lircd.conf
Then copy updated file to
/etc/lirc/lircd.conf.d/polk.lircd.conf
list polk configuration defined keys
irsend list polk ""
0000000000000001 KEY_MUTE
0000000000000002 KEY_POWER
0000000000000003 KEY_VOLUMEUP
0000000000000004 KEY_VOLUMEDOWN
0000000000000005 KEY_UP
0000000000000006 KEY_DOWN
References
Raspberry Pi infrared remote control for a television sound bar
http://beepscore.com/website/2019/02/03/raspberry-pi-infrared-remote-control-tv.html
Network enabled Raspberry Pi tv remote control
http://beepscore.com/website/2019/02/05/network-enabled-raspberry-pi-tv-remote-control.html
Python Data Analysis to Automatically Detect and Mute Television Commercials
http://beepscore.com/website/2019/04/21/automatically-detecting-television-commercials.html
tv_commercial_silencer
https://github.com/beepscore/tv_commercial_silencer
Remy
Remote control television by sending commands from iOS device to a server. https://github.com/beepscore/Remy
Similar remote control projects
Turning Raspberry PI into Remote Controller
Justin Yoo 12 August, 2020 https://devkimchi.com/2020/08/12/turning-raspberry-pi-into-remote-controller/
Raspberry Pi IR Remote Control 2018, uses Go
by Michael Traver https://github.com/mtraver/rpi-ir-remote
LIRC Debian Stretch Raspberry Pi 2018
https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=202375
How to get LIRC running on the Raspberry Pi 2017
https://andicelabs.com/2017/11/lirc-raspberry-pi/
Setting up a remote control using lirc
https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/70945/setting-up-a-remote-control-using-lirc
Raspberry Pi IR remote 2015
http://www.raspberry-pi-geek.com/Archive/2015/10/Raspberry-Pi-IR-remote
Creating A Raspberry Pi Universal Remote With LIRC 2017
https://www.hackster.io/austin-stanton/creating-a-raspberry-pi-universal-remote-with-lirc-2fd581
Open Source Universal Remote 2013
http://opensourceuniversalremote.com/
Open Source Universal Remote - Parts & Pictures 2013
http://alexba.in/blog/2013/06/08/open-source-universal-remote-parts-and-pictures/
pylirc
https://github.com/project-owner/Peppy.doc/wiki/Pylirc
lirc_node
lirc_node is an npm module that acts as a very thin shim between LIRC and Node. https://github.com/alexbain/lirc_node
LIRC Linux Infrared Remote Control
http://lirc.org/
Infrared remote control hardware
Raspberry Pi IR Control Expansion Board
http://www.raspberrypiwiki.com/index.php/Raspberry_Pi_IR_Control_Expansion_Board
Icstation 38KHz IR Infrared Remote Control Transceiver Shield for Raspberry Pi 2 3 Module B B+
https://www.amazon.com/IR-Remote-Control-Transceiver-Raspberry/dp/B0713SK7RJ/ref=pd_cp_147_1?pd_rd_w=nydwe&pf_rd_p=ef4dc990-a9ca-4945-ae0b-f8d549198ed6&pf_rd_r=NPTQR2NR66SZXGEC1CFF&pd_rd_r=dc222ec9-1d1f-11e9-82b3-7117715d74e2&pd_rd_wg=OnVSD&pd_rd_i=B0713SK7RJ&psc=1&refRID=NPTQR2NR66SZXGEC1CFF
Raspberry Pi IR Control Expansion Board
http://www.raspberrypiwiki.com/index.php/Raspberry_Pi_IR_Control_Expansion_Board
Raspberry pi 3 B+ 38KHz IR Infrared Remote Expansion Board
https://www.amazon.com/Raspberry-Controller-Transmitter-Transceiver-Geekworm/dp/B076BDR34K
WINGONEER 38KHz IR Infrared Remote Control Transceiver Shield for Raspberry Pi 2 3 Module B
https://www.amazon.com/WINGONEER-Infrared-Control-Transceiver-Raspberry/dp/B072QWXLK2
How to send and receive IR signals with a raspberry pi
https://www.digikey.com/en/maker/blogs/2021/how-to-send-and-receive-ir-signals-with-a-raspberry-pi
Raspberry Pi Zero Universal Remote 2018
https://www.instructables.com/id/Raspberry-Pi-Zero-Universal-Remote/
IR Board for Arduino
SparkFun WiFi IR Blaster (ESP8266) https://www.sparkfun.com/products/15031
ir blaster software
https://github.com/mdhiggins/ESP8266-HTTP-IR-Blaster
Flask
Build a Python-powered web server with Flask
https://www.raspberrypi.org/learning/python-web-server-with-flask/worksheet
basic_flask
https://github.com/beepscore/basic_flask https://www.raspberrypi.org/learning/python-web-server-with-flask/worksheet
Serving Raspberry Pi with Flask
http://mattrichardson.com/Raspberry-Pi-Flask/
Using a Raspberry Pi to end an iPhone phone call
http://beepscore.com/using-raspberry-pi-to-end-iphone-phone-call/
Raspberry Pi GPIO projects
pi_gpio_service
A simple Python flask web service to read and write Raspberry Pi GPIO. https://github.com/beepscore/pi_gpio_service
Raspberry Pi GPIO API
https://github.com/CorrosiveKid/raspberrypi-gpio-api
Raspberry Pi Web Server using Flask to Control GPIOs
http://randomnerdtutorials.com/raspberry-pi-web-server-using-flask-to-control-gpios/
Inspirational projects
Enough Already by Matt Richardson
https://makezine.com/2011/08/16/enough-already-the-arduino-solution-to-overexposed-celebs/
TV-B-Gone Kit
https://www.adafruit.com/product/73
TV-B-Gone
https://www.tvbgone.com/