AlteraBot Remote Control
Updates underlined and in red.
For the purpose of determining proposed usage of the remote control provided for you in the lab,
this document describes the capabilities at this time. These are subject to minor changes, so you
should check for newer versions of this document before completing your proposal. The figure
below shows the remote control, available in the user manual, a document available at the RCA
web site:
http://www.rca.com/documents/RCU300_700674_25.pdf
NOT ALL REMOTES HAVE THE “MENU” BUTTON
Although that user manual carries no explicit copyright notice, you should cite the original
source of this figure, if you choose to use it (this document you are reading now is NOT the
original source). Or you may choose to make your own drawing.
Four of the buttons are used to change the behavior of the remote itself, and should not be used
in your design (i.e., they do not actually send IR signals). If you were to change the behavior of
the remote, it would generate codes that could not be interpreted unless you rewrote the VHDL
receiver code. You can do that, but will probably find it too difficult. The four buttons that
should NOT be used are all near the top of the remote:

CODE SEARCH,

CABLE (or DBS/CABLE, depending on exactly which remote you have)

VCR (or VCR/DVD), and

TV
NEW!!! The exception to the list above has changed. Now, you can press “TV” to get a set of
TV codes and “VCR” to get a set of VC R codes. Unlike the earlier version, you can’t rely on
getting the VCR-only codes if you stay in TV mode. But the benefit is a larger number of codes.
Once you’ve done this, all of the other buttons are usable and will generate unique codes, except
for two buttons:

ENTER

TV-VCR

MENU
So don’t use those buttons in your design, either.
You will get the exact codes, along with information about how to use the VHDL module, in the
second project lecture.
Key repeat: Most keys, when held down continuously, do NOT auto-repeat. Some, like VOL
and CHAN, will auto-repeat, but only on the older remotes (without a “MENU” button). You’d
be better off to avoid this feature than to always have to hunt down the right remote). Conduct
your own experiments if you are in doubt about the behavior of a particular key
If you want your own remote control, they are available for less than $10 at Home Depot and
other retailers. This should not be necessary – there should be one per robot available in the lab.
Multimodal remote control
Some of you may want more functions than are provided here, so that you can change the
meaning of the keys under different circumstances. This generally makes for a more complex,
less user-friendly design, but you can do it if you like. The preceding isn’t EXACTLY true.
You can use both TV and VCR independently now. But you can’t use CABLE without the extra
work of programming.
Another way to implement multiple modes is to define some of the other keys on the remote to
change mode. For example, pressing REW could change the interpretation of keys by your robot
to “mode 1,” and pressing FF could change the interpretation to “mode 2.” Assuming your robot
“hears” that keypress, it would handle the interpretation of subsequent keys. In such a design, it
would be a good idea for the UP2 board to make some clear indication of what mode it is in at all
times.