Virtual Remote Control System Using Embedded Systems with Internet of Things

Abstract

There is a great deal of inconvenience in controlling digital set up boxes and the
constraint of being in a physical space with the setup boxes for satellite
televisions. The ways the users consume home entertainments have changed over
time. Users prefer to constantly choose more comfortable ways to control their
set up boxes. With over 51 million households with setup up boxes in Africa and
this number is to increase, there are many instances where the decoders are to be
controlled from another location where a modulated signal has been passed to.
This has created a quest for virtual remote control. This study proposes a virtual
remote control system with cost-effective and cheap solution for regulating a setup box from another location over a modulated signal. We propose a virtual
remote system integrated with embedded system and Interne of Things (IoT) for
the control of the set up box from various locations. The system combines an
advanced virtual remote which control setup boxes via WIFI Connection using
WebSocket technology and over the internet with smartphones and android
devices. The proposed system has two main components. The first main part is
ESP32, which controls and manages input of Wi-Fi module. The other main
component is Wi-Fi module and through a Wi-Fi module a web server can be
added to the module which will help in controlling of devices over Internet. The
result shows that the server running on the Esp32 can manage many hardware
interface modules as long as it exists on Wi-Fi network coverage