AV system automation (IR + RS232)

[-Matt-]

Hi Everyone,

This is my first post here. I hope to receive my raspberry pi very soon. (A birthday gift from my brother; we both love gadgets etc)!

I have in mind to try to use the raspberry pi as an AV system controller. Similar in concept to very expensive systems provided by the likes of Crestron. Essentially I would like to send commands to the raspberry pi via lan (it will be plugged into my router). The raspberry pi will then send commands to all of the components in my av system via IR transmitters, RS232 serial and LAN. This will allow me to control my whole av system (amplifiers, cable box, tv, etc) from my android phone via wifi.

For example press the "TV" button on the android app the raspberry pi will:

Turn on the TV (IR)
Turn on the AV amp (IR / RS232 / LAN)
Turn on the front channel amplifiers (x2 IR)
Turn on the video processor (IR / RS232)
Lower the room lights (X10 via IR)
Set the TV to the correct input (IR)
Set the AV amp to the correct input (IR / RS232 / LAN)
Set the video processor to the correct input and output (IR / RS232)
etc etc

My first questions are related to the hardware capability. I have done a bit of reading and I can see that the gpio port can be extended with various cards. How many ports does the raspberry pi have without resorting to USB devices?

How many Serial ports and RS232 ports can be configured on the gpio pins?
(Ideally I need 9 IR transmitters and 2 RS232 ports).

Which expansion card would be most suitable for my application?

At the moment I am just in the first stages of thinking about how to do this. If anyone can point me in the direction of similar projects or useful information then that would be a great help.

Also just as an aside; what type of SD card gives the best performance?

Thanks in advance...

Matt

[DexOS]

Have you seen this http://aron.ws/projects/lirc_rpi/

[ebdon]

Just wondering if you had any joy with your project. I have ordered my raspberry pi and want to use it to control a projector and some other devices using RS232. Any guidance would be appreciated.
Thanks.