www.Robots and Computers.com

It occurred to me that if a universal remote control can learn the commands and emulate darn near the remote for any audio/visual device known, why can't it do the same for an infrared robot controller? And if I am going to go through all of that trouble, why not do it right? It'd be great if the universal not only emulated the IR patterns of the original, but also look and feel. Then what good what all of that trouble be if there wasn't some way to share the fruits of my labor with my fellow robo-heads?

That when I hit upon the idea of using a handheld computer (be it a Pocket PC or a Palm) to act as the host. All of the software that I was able to find was either device specific (ie. it would work on an iPAQ, but not a Palm Pilot, or vice-versa) or it didn't allow for any customization of the interface. Then I found...

With this wonderful little software package, you can use your Pocket PC or Palm to control ALL of your infrared robots! Not only that, but you can share the codebase that you create with other users who may have lost their original. That was my reason for creating this project. Perhaps a little selfish, but I am hoping that by sharing the codebases I've created for the remotes I have, I will encourage others to share their own. You don't even have to design the appearance of the remote - just label each button with function recorded and I will do all of the work designing the layout!

Download either the Pocket PC version or the Palm OS version of the Deluxe software and install it to your device. Then import the codebase(s) of your choice and enjoy!

Currently Available CodeBases
   Cyber Dragon (WowWee)
   Cyber Spider (WowWee)
   i-Cybie (Tiger/Silverlit/Hasbro)
   Robopet (WowWee)
   Roboquad (WowWee)
   Roboraptor (WowWee)
   Robosapien (WowWee)
   Roomba Discovery SE (iRobot)
   Rumble Robots - Bitor (Trendmasters)
   Rumble Robots - Me-Fisto (Trendmasters)
   WeeBots (Sharper Image)
   Wiser the Robot ODY1815 (Odyssey)
   Wiser the Robot ODY2006 (Odyssey)

You can download this blank codebase to use as a starting point if you'd like. For some reason, Novii does not have an option for starting from a blank template otherwise. After you select Add New Device, choose Make Copy of Existing Database and select blank.pdb from the list - assuming that you already have the blank template copied to your handheld.

Please, don't forget to record your own robots infrared control signals and email them to us so we can post them here for everyone to share! If you need help using these files or creating your own, email me and I will try to walk you through it. If there is a large enough need, I will develop a step-by-step instruction page...