PIR to trigger video clip on big LCD display

Using Arduino Project Guidance
#1

I have been asked by my son to make a device to trigger a video clip from a usb stick, whenever somebody walks near the screen.

I have searched the forum, and it seems most questions have been about feeding video through the arduino - which of course it cannot handle.

The Rasberry Pi comes to mind , or the new 17 Devices And New Technologies as Small as Computer Chip or Business Card , but I have no idea of how to write code for them, and no time to learn !

I asked him what device he has in mind to play the video, and he reckons the usb stick can be plugged into the monitor ( I am so out of touch with these things, we are still watching a 26" CRT tv at home ! )

If he can get a monitor with a usb stick storage mode, it seems at first glance that it would be best for me to emulate the remote control with the arduino and send them infrared ?

Any advice from you guys who have played with multimedia ?

#2

That makes sense: my colleague has an LED projector which plays video direct from a flash drive, and it has a remote, so that's entirely do-able.

On Dave Whatsisname's EEV blog, he has a few video clips about reverse engineering a remote's codes. Iirc, he fires the remote at Arduino, analyses on scope, then programs Arduino to transmit those very codes as if it was the remote. You'll need to search his blog.

#3

If the display is just a standalone monitor then using an PRi would be a good approach.
(USB plugged into RPi & RPi plugged into display vis HDMI)

If the display is a PC or MAC etc, then adding a Leonardo with PIR acting as a keyboard(HID) for the PC would work well.

#4

what code did you use?

#5