"wired" transport of IR commands

[Onepamopa]

Hey guys,

Wondering if someone has tried this - using an ESP+digital optocoupler, in essence - removing the IR receiver on the AC unit and connecting the optocoupler instead. I think it should work, both the IR receiver and the optocoupler work using the same principle - the ESP would control the LED side, the AC should receive the command on the other end of the optocoupler.

H11L1 or VOH1016AD should (imho) do the job.

Any thoughts?

[crankyoldgit]

The signal is not the same. The library produces (by default) a modulated IR signal, and the devices use a IR "demodulator" typically.

You would need to tell the library to produce a non-modulated signal. see the use_modulation parameter.
e.g.

#include <IRsend.h>

IRsend irsend(4,       // Set the GPIO to be used to sending the message. e.g. D2 on an ESP8266
              false,   // Don't invert the signal.
              false};  // Don't use modulation.

See also: #439 & #438
i.e. You're not the first to have this idea/line of thought, and the library helps you do it. That is, bypassing IR completely and coupling the circuits together to control the device. There are other issues etc where people have successfully done it.