Remote control Free/Busy light

Hi,
I'm looking to build a remote-controlled Free/Busy light that will toggle between the two lights when a button on the remote control is pressed.

I've considered using a proprietary remote controlled mains light switch, but see two issues with that. 1) This would presumably be powered by stepped-down mains voltage and I want to have a purely battery-powered unit. 2) It would also only switch one light on and off, rather than toggle between the two.

I have found suggestions online for circuits using transistors to toggle the power between two lights, which would seem to address the second problem. Another solution might be a relay, but then I run into the issues of higher voltage required, reduced battery life, mechanical wear/failure etc.

Any suggestions, whether circuits for both remote control and switching, or a solution using a proprietary remote controller and receiver then connected to a custom-built switching circuit, would be most welcome.

Many thanks,

J

Push-On-Push-Off toggle circuit. You'll need to use inverter-gates that run on your battery voltage. Possibly 4049 or 4069 or 4069UBE

Arduino based remote control will be easier.

I think before looking at bi-stable circuits, it would be wise to tell us what medium is used to send the signal, is it wired, RF or IR ?

Brian.

Thank you for your replies.

The signal would be sent by RF. It is for a clinic so the door has to remain closed, which rules-out IR. Wifi might be overkill.

Thank you for clarifying it would be RF. Your post mentioned "a button" which implies it switches from one state to the other at each press of that button. That requires you to know what the present state is or you could be doing exactly the opposite of what you intended. In your application, can you tell which light is currently on, bearing in mind you said it was behind a closed door?

If you can't tell which light is on before pressing the button there are still solutions but a different strategy is needed.

Brian.

Hi,

clinic rooms including X-RAY may be protected with a layer of Pb. It will shield RF ...

In clinic there usually is WiFi in every room. Using a simple ESPxxx with a tiny web server can be controlled form any PC, Laptop, cell phone... and can give feedback about current state. So no need to design a remote control. And you will find simple ON/OFF code in the net.

In either case it makes sense to send two commands: "red", "green".

*****

IR will go through windows .. and the IR receiver may sit on the inner side of the wlll, while the lights may sit on the outside. Drilling a small hole should not be a big problem - I think.

Many options you have to chose from.

Klaus

There exists a simple logic IC called a dual D Flip Flop (FF) which when used to clock or sample the inverted output, you automatically have a toggle switch function.
The symbol for a D FF below left and the internal inverted AND gates to show how it works as a memory register.

The current used with common CMOS static registers is 1 uA.