Review by Official Pi Magazine - MagPi

Give Raspberry Pi a consumer electronics experience - programmable Pi power switch controlled by a single button or Infrared remote.

 

(Raspberry Pi not included)

       

While working our Raspberry Pi DIY projects, we need a simple on/off switch which can turn on (obviously) and gracefully shutdown the Pi.  Additionally we would also like to operate the switch with a remote control.  After searching on the market, we found that either they are too pricey or lacking the simplicity and feature that we need.

So we decided to build our own.

Using as a Raspberry Pi Switch

Having an on board removable attiny85 mcu, the switch is both Smart and Hackable! Out of the box, the Pi Switch has the following features:

  • Single button on/off or Infrared remote operation
  • LED light to indicate power status
    • Blinks twice when Switch receives power
    • Turn On when Pi is on
    • Blinks when waiting for PI to turn off
    • Turn Off when Pi is off
  • Use standard microUSB and USB female socket

Here's the operation sequence:

1. Press once to turn On

2. Press again to trigger shutdown of the Pi's Linus OS.  The script is supplied.

3.  Switch will monitor the Pi and wait for the Pi to be fully shutdown (halt state)

4. Once halt state is detected, cut the power to the Pi.

Using as a Attiny85 Arduino Development Board

Being Hackable, the firmware can be modified so that the switch can be used as a development board with these functions:

  • One output to trigger relay
  • One output to LED
  • One analog input to detect voltage between 0-5v
  • One input for push button
  • One input for infrared receiver which I have the code to distinguish all the buttons in the remote included
  • One output to trigger an external digital input (pull down)

You may also visit our Support Page for the Installation Guide & the Programming Guide

 

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