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I am trying to implement a Building Automation System where I would like to implement web-based or mobile based control of all ir/rf based devices like tv,a/c,sound system, etc. The PI will be placed in a centralized location in the building from which it transmits signals to all devices.

I have done thorough research on many possibilities. I can interface a IR transmitter with the PI and make it transmit signals but my problem is:

  1. I want higher range of transmission of signals since the PI is centralized which is not possible with IR without a extender/blaster (I hope)
  2. I am not sure if RF signals can control IR based devices. If it can, i dont know how.
  3. I went through facilities like Zigbee but i dont want to make the setup too costly for the users since Zigbee would need another receiver for every device (I hope)

Please help me on how to make this possible with any links to schematics (if possible). I dont mind using any technology as far as I am able to control the devices with nominal cost in a long range.

I am new to stack exchange. Hope I have not made any mistake in the process of asking this question. Thanks in advance

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  • Would you not be better setting up a wifi network? USB wifi adaptors are pretty cheap and you could extend it almost infinitely. – rob Jan 19 '15 at 11:29
  • i am already using wifi. but i want ir control for controlling devices like tv,sound systems, etc. which cant be done using wifi – Vignesh T.V. Jan 25 '15 at 15:36
  • OK, so I see two problems. Get IR signal from the Pi to n devices that may not be the in same room/building? and get RF from the Pi to n devices with different RF requirements. First, the IR is just light we can not see with the naked eye. Powerful IR emitters can cause a whole area to "light up" but ideally you want line of sight to the devices receivers. In which case you want a physical emitter in each location, which may indicate multiple Pis. RF is a quite different requirement and I have never seen any indication that IR devices can be controlled directly with radio. What RF devices? – rob Jan 25 '15 at 17:43
  • thanx a lot for the reply @rob That is exactly my problem. The line of sight for operating IR devices. I just want to have a single pi controlling all IR devices from a single place which is sadly not possible due to the range. so, i need to have separate IR transmitters/receivers and as u said multiple PIs. Or i have to send signal using RF/zigbee and then decode it to get info and then transmit IR signal. But i did not want to do any of these cause it will not be economical. Any other alternative? – Vignesh T.V. Jan 27 '15 at 16:07
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's not pi-specific. Many issues could be better addressed at electrical engineering (EE.SE). – Ghanima♦ Nov 29 '15 at 12:45

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