[quote author="rct"] USB IR Toy V2, son of IR toy, ir toy++ * More I/O, more output "zones" on header connectors, header connectors for additional/different IR detectors. * Ability to determine carrier frequency (+1).[/quote] Or simply the USB Toy?
As following up on the suggestions shared at http://dangerousprototypes.com/2010/01/ ... /#comments and on adding RF (less complex actually than IR) at http://dangerousprototypes.com/forum/in ... opic=431.0 it would open up a whole new spectrum (literally:)) to allow software-selectable output pins and a transmit carrier frequency of 0 to connect (country-specific) RF modules as well. They usually have simple TTL I/O and only require baseband OOK as they generate their own carrier (e.g. typically 433 MHz AM in Europe).
Moreover, the UART could be put to general use (as in http://www.irtrans.de/en/shop/usb.php) for driving e.g. a VFD (cashier's display, simple 8o1@9600 baud output; often the USB Toy could also nicely "hide" in its housing and transmit IR from there) or to control a HiFi amplifier (using the serial port for the latter might require bi-directional communications and therefore be more difficult to build into the protocol) in particular with a little extra hardware (optional MAX232) appealing to the VDR/MythTV crowd, besides the Home Cinema / Home Control enthusiasts who'll like the thought of remote-controlling their RF power sockets and roller blinds along with their AV gear anyway.
[quote author="cuagn"]There is enough room to add a lot of functions ...[/quote] One useful addition besides the much-requestedRF support (i.e. actually -optionally- doing less: just keying the output without generating a softcarrier, to enable communications with all the gear linked from http://www.wetterstationen.info/phpBB/v ... hp?t=16538) would be a way to communicate through the serial port (perhaps with the chip&PCB "real estate" used to throw in the option for a MAX232 or similar) to drive LCDs or VFDs, which often need nothing but TX (e.g. at 9600 baud 8o1 XON/XOFF for cashiers' displays) and also make nice and convenient housings for the USB IR(+RF) Toy. LIRC/libirman may need some kind of tweak to allow packets of serial output data to be sent to the USB Toy's UART, but then so it will for adding an option to choose between different(ly [un]modulated) outputs to make best use of the previously unused pins.
In the attachment, you can see a USB Toy's predecessor for illustration: an amplified serial LIRC transmitter (and receiver for a VDR), sharing its housing with a VFD, both USB-powered, and actually transmitting RF to the 433MHz-controlled fans and awning in parallel to the IR remote control of roller blinds already, albeit by means of an http://www.airwave.com.tw/IR-Extender.html (kludge instead of software-selectable transmitters and modulation).
[quote author="ian"] As I recall, 50%+ of the codespace remains, the 18F2550 is a huge chip.
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll try to work I/Os into a future board.[/quote]If you do, it might be most interesting to use them not just with (different) carrier modulations (i.e. 36/56 kHz for some manufacturers), but also without any modulation at all:
This would allow to connect ISM-band RF transceivers as well (typically 433 and 868 MHz AM) to also record and replay the commands for e.g. wirelessly controlled sockets/dimmers/blinds - as well as to extend the reach of IR remote control to other rooms using emitters such as the Marmitek PowerMid.
The inputs and outputs could be made software-selectable to determine which receiver would be listened to, and to which device(s) each of the transmissions should be sent.
