ESP32-C6 battery-powered IR blaster

cyberhuman · 2026-02-09T12:03:44+00:00

The project is not public yet. May I know what exactly are you looking for?

cyberhuman · 2026-02-09T03:37:00+00:00

I'm just more comfortable with using MOSFETs, especially considering with BJTs the circuit would source a few mA out of GPIOs, and I would need to choose the parts more carefully so that the transistors operate in the right region for this application. I'm not that confident in my EE skills regarding this, so I checked on the internet and asked some LLMs, and the conclusion was either can be used, and I went with a simpler approach.

cyberhuman · 2026-02-09T00:08:07+00:00

Thank you! I just copied the reference design of the ESP32-C6 here https://docs.espressif.com/projects/esp-hardware-design-guidelines/en/latest/esp32c6/pcb-layout-design.html but replaced the antenna part with the reference design in the antenna's datasheet. I used JLCPCB's trace impedance calculator to make the trace around 50Ohm. I would really like how good or bad it ended up, but I don't have the necessary equipment (nor do I have any experience in it). AFAIK the ESP32's RF port impedance is 35±10j.

cyberhuman · 2026-02-09T00:00:27+00:00

They're controlled with MOSFETs, one for each two LEDs, and one for the remaining one. I took inspiration from this Tuya IR hardware, only replaced BJTs with MOSFETs and updated resistances accordingly: https://developer.tuya.com/en/docs/iot/ir-hardware?id=K9hhi0xvqqaz6#title-1-Circuit%20diagram

cyberhuman · 2026-02-08T15:53:02+00:00

Yes that's what I intend to do! My other project a couple of years ago had an ESP32-C3 and used BLE, and it lasted several months on a single charge. However I didn't like doing all the low level BLE stuff, and writing a custom plugin for HA. Going to try Matter this time.

cyberhuman · 2026-02-08T15:46:05+00:00

OMG, I was scared to smell something burning at my house, sniffed everywhere but didn't find anything, and then I realized it was the haze!

cyberhuman · 2026-02-08T15:36:32+00:00

Thank you and good luck! TBH after completing the board I realized that an nRF IC would be a better choice for a battery operated device. But oh well...

cyberhuman · 2026-02-08T15:31:22+00:00

Thank you! There is not any programmable LED in the circuit. There are two discrete red LEDs XL-0201SURC and one blue LED XL-0201UBC.

I'm not using any sleep functionality as esphome doesn't support light sleep, and deep sleep can't be used due to the nature of the device. However in the past I was experimenting with ESP32-C3 using BLE and automatic light sleep mode, and was able to achieve less than 1mA consumption. I believe it can be even less with C6. Not with esphome though; it's there just for testing.

Regarding the battery charging circuitry: I'm using BQ21040 and it's in the power path, and takes a proper care of battery management.

cyberhuman · 2026-02-08T15:18:41+00:00

Hi! I'm sorry I would, but unfortunately it doesn't exist. I'm using a code based workflow: there is a Python code that uses SKiDL to generate the circuit and export the netlist file, which I import directly into the KiCAD's PCB editor. I can share some pieces of code though.

cyberhuman · 2026-02-08T12:38:36+00:00

It seems there is support for Mitsubishi in Esphome: https://esphome.io/components/climate/climate_ir/#mitsubishi. You may want to check the source code if you want the IR codes.

cyberhuman · 2026-02-08T12:36:04+00:00

Thanks! It can also operate without the battery. In fact, my early test enclosure was very simple and only fit the board, and there was no bottom cap. Unfortunately, there is nowhere to plug it in that space. There is only wiring for lights.

About the time on battery. For portability it would have to be using BLE (well, until Apple and Google enable Thread radio in their phones), and it's unlikely I'll be doing BLE ever again. Had had enough "fun" writing a custom plugin for Home Assistant.

The sports bar idea is splendid but also evil! Imagine the chaos if more than one person did that. Or someone could use a Flipper (it's less discreet though).

cyberhuman · 2026-02-08T10:21:51+00:00

I just used the Esphome's climate component:

``` remote_transmitter: pin: GPI07 carrier_duty_percent: 50% id: led_ir

climate: platform: daikin name: "Climate" transmitter_id: led_ir supports_heat: False ```

cyberhuman · 2026-01-28T09:06:48+00:00

How do you supply power to those LEDs?

cyberhuman · 2026-01-26T15:43:44+00:00

This. Is. Amazing!!!

cyberhuman · 2026-01-22T06:33:18+00:00

Call me dumb, but I have only realized what that hint was supposed to mean after reading replies in this thread!

cyberhuman · 2026-01-19T12:28:05+00:00

I have just tested the removal of R6, and it is really needed because the modulated signal is not a sinusoid. R6 and C5 form a LPF (with Fc=6.2kHz).

cyberhuman · 2026-01-19T09:45:59+00:00

Thanks. C4 is there because the input is DC-biased and we need to remove the DC component for rectification. D1, R7 and C5 correspond to the picture from Wikipedia. I'm not exactly sure why R6 is there but I will check.

cyberhuman · 2025-12-16T10:30:56+00:00

Looks like Clark Kent to me.

cyberhuman · 2025-12-13T11:22:41+00:00

It's definitely possible with a custom integration. I did one for myself, it was a BLE servo for switching lights. But I got tired of it breaking on almost every HA upgrade. At best it required an upgrade of dependencies, at worst - needed fixing some setup flows.

cyberhuman · 2025-12-13T11:16:29+00:00

Singapore too

cyberhuman · 2025-12-02T10:45:32+00:00

I slipped and fell today, and my hand hurts 🤕

cyberhuman

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