Automating IR AC/Heater with Raspberry Pi and Google
Objective Automate my existing apartment climate control system by adding a remote web interface to pre-cool my room on my way home during the summer and easy scheduling to warm my room before getting out of bed in the winter. AC interface Most Japanese air conditioner/heater units use IR controls incompatible with Nest so controlling over IR was the only option. Unfortunately reverse engineering the IR protocol would prove to be challenging. These IR remotes are completely different than those for TVs and other appliances. Most IR remotes send single commands like "on" or "volume up" but these AC units are stateless, it's the remote that has the brains, so each time a button is pressed the remote will send the entire list of settings values. For instance, if you just press the button to increase temperature+1 say from 24 to 25, the remote will actually send [power:on, mode:heater, temp:25, air-speed:2, air-diffuser:on, timer:off...] I won't go into