IR Receiver + LCD + LED + Arduino

Here is the groundwork for being able to take signals from any IR remote control (TV remote, VCR remote, DVD remote, SAT remote, etc)... and then after that, the idea is that you'll think of something to do with those buttons presses, and then write code that does what you want it to do...

it decodes the IR signals, and displays them on an LCD screen... as well as blinking an LED to let you know that the signal is received...

Here's a link to the Arduino code:

and the circuit itself is very simple.

just hook up the Infrared receiver component to 5v and ground, with the output signal going to digital pin 10 on the arduino.

connect the high power LED (or any other LED for that matter) to the arduino through digital pin 6, connect a 330 ohm resistor between the LED and ground.

as far as the LCD goes, just hook it up in the following sequence:
LCD RS - digital pin 12
LCD Enable - digital pin 11
LCD D4 - digital pin 5
LCD D5 - digital pin 4
LCD D6 - digital pin 3
LCD D7 - digital pin 2
LCD R/W - ground

last but not least, take a 10k ohm potentiometer and hook up the ends to 5v and ground, and then connect the wiper (the middle pin usually) to the LCD VO pin on the LCD display... this will control the contrast of the LCD, which is actually surprisingly very sensitive and needs to be dialed in just right to be able to see anything at all on the display.

once you connect everything together, upload the code, and get it going for the first time, you'll see the letters start to appear as you slowly turn the potentiometer dial... once you find the sweet spot, just leave the dial alone and don't touch it or breath on it or anything...

at this point, you should be able to see the words 'hello, world!' and if you happen to have a tv remote or any other sort of infra red remote control, point it at the receiver and push a button... you should see the hexadecimal value of the IR code that the remote is sending... you can write this value down and use it later on when you decide to program your arduino to do your bidding at the push of a button...

there are alot of possibilities for something like this... alot of different uses for being able to control something remotely... especially an arduino... think of all the things you could do with this...

as for me, this is just another step on my way to creating an awesome midi controller...

thanks for reading. subscribe and comment please. suggestions and feedback appreciated.