Introduction: Automating an Air Conditioner Remote Control

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I purchased a floor model air conditioner several years ago to cool my living room during the hot summer days. All was good until I wanted to automate the ON/OFF switch with some kind of Wi-Fi pushbutton device that would start the A/C automatically, on some kind of schedule, before I got home from work to arrive to a cool room.

I bought a Wi-Fi pushbutton device that promised to do just that. Except that the model of air conditioner I have has a special type of ON/OFF switch that only responds to a finger push and not to a robot of any kind (for some reason?).

So basically, the device was worthless for this purpose until I considered that the remote control for the air conditioner had a regular ON/OFF button that could be made to work with the pushbutton robot. And thus, I set off to build an apparatus to hold the bot onto the remote control so that it could push the ON/OFF switch on a scheduled routine at least several times a day. And it worked after much testing.

Supplies

The supplies you will need are:

  1. The remote control of your air conditioner (or any remote from any device you want to automate).
  2. A Wi-Fi pushbutton robot device (mine is a "SwitchBot").
  3. Measurements of your remote control to create a holder/caddy for your it in a 3D modeling program (I used SketchUp).
  4. A 3D printer to print out the model remote control caddy. (could be made from wood, cardboard or plastic strips).

Step 1: Design a Remote Control Caddy

Take the measurements of your remote and create a 3d model on your computer. There should be a slot or opening to allow the arm of the Wi-Fi Pushbutton Device to depress the button on your remote. Any configuration of slots and/or holes are allowable to make you remote control caddy comfortable to use even with the Pushbutton Device mounted on it. Also allow sufficient room around the remote to easily slip the remote in and out of it for servicing the batteries or access to extra buttons.

Step 2: Time to Print It.

Once your 3d model design is finished and ready to print. Prep it in a slicing program and save the modified model to a SD card and print it in your 3D printer. The settings should be for regular printing, and it should be printed so no supports are needed. As seen in the above picture.

You could also build this very easily out of thin wood sheets, plastic sheets or cardboard.

Step 3: Prep Caddy for Remote

After the remote caddy is finished printing remove any filaments, burrs and errors with sandpaper if necessary. Add some self-adhesive backed velcro to the inside of the remote to help hold the remote inside securely.

Step 4: Fit the Remote in Caddy

If all had been done well the remote should slip into its new caddy. And the velcro with hold it in too. You should be able to depress the ON/OFF button through any slots or holes you designed in advance for this purpose.

Now place the Wi-Fi Pushbutton Device on the top of the caddy and move it around to make sure it's arm can extend and press the ON/OFF button easily.

Follow the instructions in the bot's manual and download the app into your smartphone. Then connect the bot to the app.

Now send an "ON" command through the app to the Pushbutton bot while holding the bot on the caddy. Look to where the arm descends to the remote's ON/OFF button and adjust its location accordingly. When you are certain of the proper placement of the bot on the top of the caddy remove the film from the adhesive backing on the bottom of the bot and press it in the best location.


Step 5: Adjust Settings for Unattended Functions

Once you become familiar with the bot's smartphone app and how to set it up for automatic functions such as a daily ON/OFF schedule, you will enjoy the convenience of having devices that were once not capable of being automated now working for you without you physically operating them to run. Hope you enjoy this tutorial and thanks to my patrons.