Building An Infrared Remote To Control Triacs

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SUMMARY

This discussion focuses on building an infrared remote control to operate triacs for a "remote control power bar." The design utilizes a 4013 flip-flop to toggle circuits and a MOC3011 optoisolator to manage high AC voltages. The user aims to integrate an infrared remote to send clock pulses to the 4013, allowing for both remote and physical switch operation. Current challenges include lacking a programming board for a 14-pin PIC and needing assistance with PICBasic programming.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of 4013 flip-flop operation
  • Familiarity with MOC3011 optoisolators
  • Knowledge of infrared remote control systems
  • Basic programming skills in PICBasic or Arduino
NEXT STEPS
  • Research how to program the 14-pin PIC microcontroller
  • Learn about interfacing infrared remote controls with PIC or Arduino
  • Study the functionality of the MOC3011 and its alternatives
  • Explore clock pulse generation techniques for microcontrollers
USEFUL FOR

Electronics hobbyists, embedded systems developers, and anyone interested in remote control applications for AC devices.

Lancelot59
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Hey there PF!

I'm currently working on building an Infrared Remote to control a series of triacs. The objective is to create a "remote control power bar". The original plan was to use push button switches to toggle the Q lead of a 4013, each of which houses two switching circuits.

Q and NOT-Q toggle when CP receives a clock pulse. R is a reset so I can turn all of the circuits off at once.

The 4013 triggers a MOC3011, which isolates the 4013 from the large AC voltages/currents. Inside inside the 3011 is a LED and a photo-transistor. The LED gets turned on when Q goes high and in turn activated the photo-transistor. In turn the IC triggers a triac.

What I want to do is design the setup to work with either the touch-switches or be triggered by an infrared controlled setup.

Here is a schematic of the original circuit. I've crossed out the touch switches at the top because they didn't work properly. Now there is pair of resistors, a capacitor, and a schmit trigger that generate the clock pulse.

scan.jpg


What I'm thinking of doing is having the infrared remote send a clock pulse to the 4013 instead of directly triggering the MOC3011. That way I can still use physical switches if the remote fails.

I found this schematic on the internet:

tx.GIF

rx.GIF


The IC ULN2830 is a typo apparently, I think it's supposed to be 2803, which makes it a bunch of darlington pairs. I figure I can eliminate that and program the PIC to generate a clock pulse and trigger the 3014

Current Problems:
1. I don't have a programming board for the 14 pin PIC
2. I don't know how to write in PICBasic

Actually the same site that schematic is from (HERE) has some code for the transmitter and reciever, but I don't know how to modify it to do what I want.

Does anyone here have past experience with this?
 

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I would use a PIC or an Arduino to do the control. It's worth learning more about it and putting the tools together for this and future projects, IMO.

You can still use an IR remote control to control the project, if that seems to be the best ergonomic choice here. Have you looked to see if there is an interface circuit for IR remote controls for the PIC or Arduino?
 

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