IRlicht/README.md

# IRlicht

A 4-channel (RGBW) controller for LED-lamps, based on Arduino and controlled
via infrared by a universal remote.

Copyright 2014 Ronald Schaten <http://www.schatenseite.de>


## Circuit

You can see how to connect your Arduino in the enclosed Fritzing files and
their rendered breadboard schematics. Basically, it's just the IR receiver
diode, and one MOSFET per output channel. The Arduino can live quite well with
the 12V on it's Vin, so no more voltage regulation is necessary.

The receiver doesn't necessarily have to be an TSOP31238. After frying two of
those, I dissected an old DVD player and desoldered the enclosed IR receiver
diode from that. Worked like a charm. :-)


## Software

After installing Ken Shirriff's IR receiver library in your Arduino
environment, everything you need is the enclosed sketch (irlicht.ino).
Depending on the setup of your hardware, you may have to adjust the pins your
receiver and your MOSFETs are connected to.

Use the examples that are shipped with the IR remote library to find the codes
that your remote is emitting, and set up the defines according to this.

With the initial brightness levels given in the sketch, you can select which
mode and colors should be active when the device is switched on.


## Usage

If your remote is set up like mine, you get the following functions:

Some keys for basic color selection:

* 1 -- red
* 2 -- green
* 3 -- blue
* 5 -- white
* 7 -- yellow (red and green)
* 8 -- cyan (green and blue)
* 9 -- magenta (blue and red)

On the first press, the channel is turned on to 1/5 of maximum. Repeating the
key enhances the brightness, after five levels the channel is turned off again.

* 4 -- all channels on
* 6 -- all channels off

This turns the whole setup on or off with one single press of a button.

* Flash -- Hard cycle through all colors (except white).
* Fade -- Soft cycle through all colors (except white).
* Strobe -- Turn the currently selected color on and off.
* Soft -- Fade the current color from dark to a certain level and back.

* Dim -- Decrease the maximum brightness of the lamp.
* Bright -- Increase the maximum brightness.

* AllLightsOn -- Misleading name: this speeds up the current animation.
* AllLightsOff -- Also misleading, although consistent: slows down the
  animation.


## Comments

Feel free to drop me a line at <ronald@schatenseite.de>.