Case Study - Your devices, controlled by voice
Mote replaces physical remote controls with a single mobile app and voice commands, using embedded systems to bridge the gap between your phone and your devices.
- Client
- Mote
- Year
- Service
- Embedded Systems / Mobile Development
The Challenge
Most homes in Uganda have multiple IR-controlled devices — TVs, decoders, air conditioners, fans — each with its own remote. Mote's vision was to collapse all of them into a single app with voice control, without requiring users to replace their existing appliances with expensive smart versions.
This required solving both a hardware problem (how to translate app commands into IR signals) and a software problem (reliable voice recognition that works offline and in noisy environments).
What We Built
We designed and built a compact hardware module based on the ESP32 microcontroller with an IR blaster and Wi-Fi connectivity. The module plugs into any socket near your devices and pairs with the Mote app over Wi-Fi in under two minutes.
The mobile app ships with a library of IR codes for hundreds of device models. Users add their devices by brand and model, then control them by tap or voice. Voice commands are processed on-device using a lightweight model — no internet connection required for control.