Run remote commands with an old VCR remote and a Raspberry Pi Zero W

[Russ]

I followed this tutorial to get my Pi Zero W on wifi without even connecting a keyboard and monitor to it.

I followed this tutorial to get it setup with lirc to run commands when I press corresponding buttons on an old VCR remote.

I setup the lircrc file to call the TRIGGERcmd API using curl commands when I press those buttons.

I found the curl commands to be much faster than these commands.

I also found that some remotes work better than others - like my Window Media Center remote works, but each button alternates between two different IR codes, so it works every other time you press a button. I settled on an old Toshiba VCR remote.

My /etc/lirc/lircrc file looks like this:

  begin
       button = KEY_PLAY
       prog = irexec
       config = export HOME=/root ; /root/triggertest.sh calculator downstairs
  end
  begin
       prog = irexec
       button = KEY_RIGHT
       config = export HOME=/root ; /root/triggertest.sh notepad downstairs
  end

My /root/triggertest.sh file looks like this:

#!/bin/sh

trigger=$1
computer=$2
token=`cat /root/.TRIGGERcmdData/token.tkn`

curl -X POST https://www.triggercmd.com/api/run/triggerSave \
-H "authorization: Bearer ${token}" \
-H 'content-type: application/json' \
-d "{\"computername\":\"${computer}\",\"triggername\":\"${trigger}\"}"