5 ms·

Controlling My A/C with a Gameboy

144 points by cheeaun 6y ago

pseudosudoer 6y ago
Reverse engineering IR remotes, and implementing them into my own projects has been an interest of mine for the past few embedded projects I worked on at home. The hardware overhead for getting a wireless IR transceiver working is basically nothing, and there's something especially pleasing about requiring line-of-sight for accurate transmission. The novelty of line-of-sight works especially well for game-based projects!
jbergknoff 6y ago
This is amazing! I'd be interested in more details about capturing the IR signal, both by the invasive method and the "operate an LED in reverse" method. At one point I thought about trying to do something similar with my old garage door opener, but ended up not pursuing it.
- soylentcola 6y ago
  You can get cheap USB IR receivers specifically made for capturing the IR "codes" of remote controls for adding to third party remote control systems. I've used them at work in the past for setting up touch panels, etc. to control older equipment like DVD players and TV displays. Point remote at IR receiver, push "power" button on remote, record the string for "power on", then program your control surface to send that same set of pulses via IR emitter when you push the software button for "power on" on the touch screen. You can build something like this as well: https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Capture-Remote-Control-Codes-Using-an-Ardui/ https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Capture-Remote-Contr...
  - nonamenoslogan 6y ago
    I have a Casio CMD-30 that can ‘learn’ codes; its a fun watch.
Timpy 6y ago
I was recently toying with the idea of hacking on my old Gameboy Color, I'm excited to see this on the front page. Has anybody else had some positive experiences hacking their GBC?
butz 6y ago
Why are you using gifs instead of HTML5 video? Not only they take a long time to download for visitors, but you are using up your server resources too.
lostgame 6y ago
These are the types of articles I come here for. Fantastic work, and thanks for all the detail in the article!
seibelj 6y ago
Now THIS is Hacker News!
derefr 6y ago
Gameboys are neat, but I'm kind of sad that people are still mostly focused on hacking on the wimpy-microcomputing tech of 30 years ago. Nobody seems all that interested in hacking on the wimpy-microcomputing tech of today! (Well, except Arduinos—but is it still hacking if that's what they're for?) Imagine what can you accomplish by writing custom firmware for modern IoT devices, e.g. • a smart thermostat (Nest et al) • a smart speaker • a smart remote (Harmony et al) Another very under-explored device category is the Shenzhen knock-off portable game console (not the Bittboy; the cheap stuff.) These sometimes have surprisingly good hardware in them, but only use it to run (bad!) emulators that don't take full advantage of the CPU power / memory capacity / screen resolution / etc. Native code could get a lot done on these platforms!
- non-entity 6y ago
  Not sure how complex modern IoT devices, but I tried to get started hacking around in larger platforms, and it seemed impossible to get into. I wouldn't be shocked if these companies make it damn near impossible to hack around in these devices (for a hobbyist at least). Especially given how worried people get regarding IoT and security.
  - derefr 6y ago
    I mean, sure, it is relatively impossible to get into. I wouldn't expect newbies to embedded programming to get their feet wet with these systems. My complaint is that even the old hands in e.g. the demoscene aren't bothering to play with these modern embedded devices, when hacking on at-the-time-modern "happens to have a computer in it" embedded devices was exactly where the demoscene got started. Nowadays, for some reason, it's ossified into just building hacks for the same old retro devices that were popular in the scene 30-50 years ago; rather than exploring what can be done with modern appliances. I feel like the only modern "playfulness" in exploring the capabilities of these devices, comes when someone writes a funny "we did it" screen to be triggered by their PoC exploit chain for some "secure" device at DefCon. But they never bother to go further than that and actually make it to something neat—because they're security people and that's not their thing. Maybe it would be fruitful if there were an event where security folks and demoscene folks team up and collaborate—the security people to handle getting code to run on the device using known (if still only PoC) exploits; the demoscene people to explore the capabilities the resulting "access surface" of the device grants them, and create art demonstrating their findings.
AdmiralAsshat 6y ago
I always thought it was kind of a bummer that so few games leveraged the Gameboy Color's IR. AFAIK, the only game that did anything with it was Pokemon Gold/Silver and their "Mystery Gift" trading feature.
- jolmg 6y ago
  The PSP also had IR but was never used, as far as I know.
- frosted-flakes 6y ago
  The 3DS has an IR port, but almost nothing used it. Again, except Pokémon, which uses it for local trading/battling, presumably for at competitions when there would be too many people for wireless (that's what I found in a Google search).
beamatronic 6y ago
“National” brand is Panasonic. At least this is true for rice cookers.
matheusmoreira 6y ago
Awesome. I had a smartphone with an IR emitter once. Tried using it to control my air conditioners but for some reason it couldn't do what this Game Boy can do.
amelius 6y ago
Cool, but receiving an IR signal is a bit trickier than sending it.
p1mrx 6y ago
I just got some new air conditioners for the shelter-in-place summer, and I'd like to control them from a central thermostat, but it's annoying that the remote sends "next mode" or "toggle power", with no way to jump to a known state. The cool/fan/dehumidify/heat mode is indicated with a vertical column of LEDs (EdgeStar AP14001HS), so I can probably stick a photocell at the top, and have a program repeatedly send "mode" while watching the brightness level, to deduce the state and stop on the correct one. The fan speed uses a different column of LEDs, but stopping on "dehumidify" forces the fan to low. The temperature can be set blindly because it stops at the minimum/maximum value. I haven't actually tried to build anything yet, but it at least seems possible using a Raspberry Pi with 1 analog photocell and 1 IR transmitter.
- danimal88 6y ago
  We make a smart thermostat for minisplits using IR (flair.co/products/puck). We have solved for state problems but some brands were such a PITA!
  - p1mrx 6y ago
    According to [1], Flair doesn't work with stateless remotes, and EdgeStar is not on the manufacturer list. My units are dual-hose portables, because I can't put equipment outside the building. [1] https://support.flair.co/hc/en-us/articles/360004153852-Can-I-check-my-remote-control-to-see-if-my-AC-or-Mini-Split-works-with-Flair- https://support.flair.co/hc/en-us/articles/360004153852-Can-...
- tylergetsay 6y ago
  Monitoring the current draw may give some clues
- bobf 6y ago
  Unless you really want to dive into building it for fun, check out the Sensibo Sky. If your unit is compatible, I think that's the way to go. I honestly think they're slightly overpriced for what they are, even on sale, but I've also bought 4 and have been very happy. Basically you get all the control/features you want by app or API, based on the unit's thermostat and hygrometer. Remote control, scheduling, auto on/off based on your location if you want that, and the big thing for me: programmable event control with any settings (cool/dry/fan at X degrees and Y strength/angle). I mostly use the temperature based on/off programability because that feels the most like a traditional central air to me. I usually do: "when temperature is >24C, turn unit on to cool 20C medium fan strength" and "when temperature is <23C, turn unit off".

144 points by cheeaun 6y ago

Reverse engineering IR remotes, and implementing them into my own projects has been an interest of mine for the past few embedded projects I worked on at home. The hardware overhead for getting a wireless IR transceiver working is basically nothing, and there's something especially pleasing about requiring line-of-sight for accurate transmission. The novelty of line-of-sight works especially well for game-based projects!

jbergknoff 6y ago

This is amazing! I'd be interested in more details about capturing the IR signal, both by the invasive method and the "operate an LED in reverse" method. At one point I thought about trying to do something similar with my old garage door opener, but ended up not pursuing it.

soylentcola 6y ago
You can get cheap USB IR receivers specifically made for capturing the IR "codes" of remote controls for adding to third party remote control systems. I've used them at work in the past for setting up touch panels, etc. to control older equipment like DVD players and TV displays. Point remote at IR receiver, push "power" button on remote, record the string for "power on", then program your control surface to send that same set of pulses via IR emitter when you push the software button for "power on" on the touch screen. You can build something like this as well: https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Capture-Remote-Control-Codes-Using-an-Ardui/ https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Capture-Remote-Contr...
- nonamenoslogan 6y ago
  I have a Casio CMD-30 that can ‘learn’ codes; its a fun watch.

Timpy 6y ago

I was recently toying with the idea of hacking on my old Gameboy Color, I'm excited to see this on the front page. Has anybody else had some positive experiences hacking their GBC?

butz 6y ago

Why are you using gifs instead of HTML5 video? Not only they take a long time to download for visitors, but you are using up your server resources too.

lostgame 6y ago

These are the types of articles I come here for. Fantastic work, and thanks for all the detail in the article!

seibelj 6y ago

Now THIS is Hacker News!

derefr 6y ago

Gameboys are neat, but I'm kind of sad that people are still mostly focused on hacking on the wimpy-microcomputing tech of 30 years ago. Nobody seems all that interested in hacking on the wimpy-microcomputing tech of today! (Well, except Arduinos—but is it still hacking if that's what they're for?) Imagine what can you accomplish by writing custom firmware for modern IoT devices, e.g. • a smart thermostat (Nest et al) • a smart speaker • a smart remote (Harmony et al) Another very under-explored device category is the Shenzhen knock-off portable game console (not the Bittboy; the cheap stuff.) These sometimes have surprisingly good hardware in them, but only use it to run (bad!) emulators that don't take full advantage of the CPU power / memory capacity / screen resolution / etc. Native code could get a lot done on these platforms!

non-entity 6y ago
Not sure how complex modern IoT devices, but I tried to get started hacking around in larger platforms, and it seemed impossible to get into. I wouldn't be shocked if these companies make it damn near impossible to hack around in these devices (for a hobbyist at least). Especially given how worried people get regarding IoT and security.
- derefr 6y ago
  I mean, sure, it is relatively impossible to get into. I wouldn't expect newbies to embedded programming to get their feet wet with these systems. My complaint is that even the old hands in e.g. the demoscene aren't bothering to play with these modern embedded devices, when hacking on at-the-time-modern "happens to have a computer in it" embedded devices was exactly where the demoscene got started. Nowadays, for some reason, it's ossified into just building hacks for the same old retro devices that were popular in the scene 30-50 years ago; rather than exploring what can be done with modern appliances. I feel like the only modern "playfulness" in exploring the capabilities of these devices, comes when someone writes a funny "we did it" screen to be triggered by their PoC exploit chain for some "secure" device at DefCon. But they never bother to go further than that and actually make it to something neat—because they're security people and that's not their thing. Maybe it would be fruitful if there were an event where security folks and demoscene folks team up and collaborate—the security people to handle getting code to run on the device using known (if still only PoC) exploits; the demoscene people to explore the capabilities the resulting "access surface" of the device grants them, and create art demonstrating their findings.

AdmiralAsshat 6y ago

I always thought it was kind of a bummer that so few games leveraged the Gameboy Color's IR. AFAIK, the only game that did anything with it was Pokemon Gold/Silver and their "Mystery Gift" trading feature.

jolmg 6y ago
The PSP also had IR but was never used, as far as I know.
frosted-flakes 6y ago
The 3DS has an IR port, but almost nothing used it. Again, except Pokémon, which uses it for local trading/battling, presumably for at competitions when there would be too many people for wireless (that's what I found in a Google search).

beamatronic 6y ago

“National” brand is Panasonic. At least this is true for rice cookers.

matheusmoreira 6y ago

Awesome. I had a smartphone with an IR emitter once. Tried using it to control my air conditioners but for some reason it couldn't do what this Game Boy can do.

amelius 6y ago

Cool, but receiving an IR signal is a bit trickier than sending it.

p1mrx 6y ago

I just got some new air conditioners for the shelter-in-place summer, and I'd like to control them from a central thermostat, but it's annoying that the remote sends "next mode" or "toggle power", with no way to jump to a known state. The cool/fan/dehumidify/heat mode is indicated with a vertical column of LEDs (EdgeStar AP14001HS), so I can probably stick a photocell at the top, and have a program repeatedly send "mode" while watching the brightness level, to deduce the state and stop on the correct one. The fan speed uses a different column of LEDs, but stopping on "dehumidify" forces the fan to low. The temperature can be set blindly because it stops at the minimum/maximum value. I haven't actually tried to build anything yet, but it at least seems possible using a Raspberry Pi with 1 analog photocell and 1 IR transmitter.

danimal88 6y ago
We make a smart thermostat for minisplits using IR (flair.co/products/puck). We have solved for state problems but some brands were such a PITA!
- p1mrx 6y ago
  According to [1], Flair doesn't work with stateless remotes, and EdgeStar is not on the manufacturer list. My units are dual-hose portables, because I can't put equipment outside the building. [1] https://support.flair.co/hc/en-us/articles/360004153852-Can-I-check-my-remote-control-to-see-if-my-AC-or-Mini-Split-works-with-Flair- https://support.flair.co/hc/en-us/articles/360004153852-Can-...
tylergetsay 6y ago
Monitoring the current draw may give some clues
bobf 6y ago
Unless you really want to dive into building it for fun, check out the Sensibo Sky. If your unit is compatible, I think that's the way to go. I honestly think they're slightly overpriced for what they are, even on sale, but I've also bought 4 and have been very happy. Basically you get all the control/features you want by app or API, based on the unit's thermostat and hygrometer. Remote control, scheduling, auto on/off based on your location if you want that, and the big thing for me: programmable event control with any settings (cool/dry/fan at X degrees and Y strength/angle). I mostly use the temperature based on/off programability because that feels the most like a traditional central air to me. I usually do: "when temperature is >24C, turn unit on to cool 20C medium fan strength" and "when temperature is <23C, turn unit off".