mqtt-ir

A simple microcontroller firmware for controlling existing IR devices via MQTT (e.g. through Home Assistant).

Preamble

This project provides you with a simple IoT interface for devices controlled via a remote control. It is meant to bridge the gap between your Smart Home infrastructure and your legacy devices in a non-invasive way by building a kind of seperate internet-connected remote control.

Requirements

Hardware

A dedicated device must be put together to be used with this piece of software. The following are key requirements for your circuit:

• A development board supported by the Arduino SDK (recommendation: WEMOS LOLIN D1 Mini or other board incorporating an ESP8266 microcontroller)
• An infrared light emitting diode operating at the same frequency as your remote control (typically 940nm) connected to one of the GPIO pins (recommendation: GPIO 4)

Compilation

The following Arduino SDK libraries must be included for a successful compilation:

• crankyoldgit/IRremoteESP8266
• knolleary/PubSubClient

Infrastructure

This project is meant to be incorporated into an IoT network. The following components are required for this element to function:

• An MQTT broker (recommendation: Eclipse Mosquitto)
• An MQTT client and a front-end user interface (recommendation: Home Assistant)

Configuration

config.h

The config.h file must be edited to configure the following:

• Board model
• WiFi credentals
• Static IP address
• MQTT credentials
• MQTT base topic

main.cpp

NOTE: The requirement for the main.cpp file to be manually edited is temporary. A future update will mitigate this need via migrating the configuration into a separate file.

The main.cpp file must be edited to configure the following:

• Amount of remote control "buttons" to be virtualized
• The protocol used
• The codes to be associated with given MQTT topic (button)

Home Assistant

This section will focus on configuring Homeassistant, should that be your chosen front-end. The configured MQTT topics must be added to the configuration file as follows:

mqtt:
  button:
    - unique_id: bedroom_ceilinglamp_on
      name: "Ceiling Lamp Power"
      command_topic: "/bedroom/ceilinglamp/on"
      availability_topic: "/bedroom/ceilinglamp/available"
    - unique_id: bedroom_ceilinglamp_lamp
      name: "Cealing Lamp Toggle"
      command_topic: "/bedroom/ceilinglamp/lamp"
      availability_topic: "/bedroom/ceilinglamp/available"
    - unique_id: bedroom_ceilinglamp_cycle
      name: "Ceiling Lamp Cycle"
      command_topic: "/bedroom/ceilinglamp/cycle"
      availability_topic: "/bedroom/ceilinglamp/available"
    - unique_id: bedroom_ceilinglamp_red
      name: "Ceiling Lamp Red"
      command_topic: "/bedroom/ceilinglamp/red"
      availability_topic: "/bedroom/ceilinglamp/available"
    - unique_id: bedroom_ceilinglamp_green
      name: "Ceiling Lamp Green"
      command_topic: "/bedroom/ceilinglamp/green"
      availability_topic: "/bedroom/ceilinglamp/available"
    - unique_id: bedroom_ceilinglamp_blue
      name: "Ceiling Lamp Blue"
      command_topic: "/bedroom/ceilinglamp/blue"
      availability_topic: "/bedroom/ceilinglamp/available"

The entities created this way can simply be added to your dashboard.

Automatic discovery will be added in a future update.