About: One of my hobbies is taking stuff apart and seeing how I can customize it.

Is there an appliance in your house that you wished could be turned on easier? That hard to reach light that you need every day or a fan? With the LinkIt ONE we can do just that! Specifically we can control an AC appliance with a remote control! There are many different appliances around the house that this would work for. There are also many different ways of automating your home. I chose to use an Infra-red remote control.

Do I have to have a specific remote you may be wondering? No! Any and every infra-red remote will work. In the code I made the IR receiver look for any infra-red signal. Once, received it turns the light on.

How does it work? The LinkIt ONE is programmed to listen for infra-red signals. If it gets one, it will then activate a relay which will then turn on the light. Because we are dealing with AC voltage we cannot simply use a digital pin directly. Thats where the relay comes in. A relay is basically a switch capable of switching on and off high voltages with small voltage inputs.

WARNING: I am not responsible for any harm that you experience because of this instructable. High voltage is dangerous! Straight from Wikipedia, "Voltages greater than 50 V applied across dry unbroken human skin can cause heart fibrillation if they produce electric currents in body tissues that happen to pass through the chest area.[citation needed] The voltage at which there is the danger of electrocution depends on the electrical conductivity of dry human skin. Living human tissue can be protected from damage by the insulating characteristics of dry skin up to around 50 volts. If the same skin becomes wet, if there are wounds, or if the voltage is applied to electrodes that penetrate the skin, then even voltage sources below 40 V can be lethal." U.S. homes have voltages of 220!

Also, I want to upfront apologize for any blurry pictures! Sorry about that!

Now that I have scarred you, lets get started!