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  • chris_j_hunter
    Automated Home Legend
    • Dec 2007
    • 1713

    Rfid ...

    when I first saw this :



    wasn't sure what to make of it ...

    then I recalled how my mother used to put a model duck on the corner of the table, by which she frequently walked, to remind her that she had the immersion heater switched-on ...

    and then Kevin (on the Cooking ... thread) mentioned how he'd found single-purpose buttons better than more complicated arrangements ...

    ie: push-buttons & LCD screens are not the only way to communicate with Cortex ...

    we used to put our keys & money in a bowl when we got home, so something like the Violet Mirror idea might work well ... and all the better if it could be linked into Cortex, with all the other possibilities it would enable !

    and having a rabbit with movable ears (or other such device - less silly, hopefully) that could be configured & positioned here & there might also be a good way to signal things - and all the better if it could be linked into Cortex, with all the other possibilities it would enable !!

    ie: things we understand, intuitively, that have ways of letting Cortex know, too ... to improve its context awareness, at least, if nothing else !
    Last edited by chris_j_hunter; 1 April 2009, 06:34 PM.
    Our self-build - going further with HA...
  • Gumby
    Moderator
    • May 2004
    • 437

    #2
    I had one of the first versions of the rabbit and intended to do exactly what you suggest. However, at the time the API was limited and 802.11b/WEP didn't fit in my wifi anymore, so it went in the recent attic clearout.

    If they updated the security I'd be tempted to get another one though.
    ----------------------
    www.gumbrell.com

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    • KirasHome
      Automated Home Jr Member
      • Oct 2006
      • 37

      #3
      Dal:dal - The Lamp which turns the Internet into lights

      They've also got the Dal:dal coming soon, which says:

      "By converting the world's ebb & flow and endless stream of events into halos of living colours and audio micro-messages, Dal:dal offers a peaceful new way of staying informed, unfettered by screens."



      Details are sparse (ie the above), but the halos and audio micro-messages, could be interesting. Could it be used for audio annoucements from Cortex? Simple colour coded halos? Green - all is well. Blue - it raining. Blue(flashing) - it's raining INSIDE the house (the kids have left the bath running again). Orange - the dinner is burning. Red(flashing) the mother-in-law is at the front door. :-)

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      • chris_j_hunter
        Automated Home Legend
        • Dec 2007
        • 1713

        #4
        >802.11b/WEP didn't fit in my wifi anymore ...

        IIUC, Apple are moving to multi-network on Wi-Fi - eg: new Time Capsule etc - not sure of the practical details, though - ie: exactly what would be possible !
        Our self-build - going further with HA...

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        • chris_j_hunter
          Automated Home Legend
          • Dec 2007
          • 1713

          #5
          >converting the world's ebb & flow and endless stream of ...

          >details are sparse ...

          aye, must be the French sense of humour (in their advertising), 'cos I didn't recognise the potential, until it dawned yesterday !
          Our self-build - going further with HA...

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          • Gumby
            Moderator
            • May 2004
            • 437

            #6
            Originally posted by chris_j_hunter View Post
            >802.11b/WEP didn't fit in my wifi anymore ...

            IIUC, Apple are moving to multi-network on Wi-Fi - eg: new Time Capsule etc - not sure of the practical details, though - ie: exactly what would be possible !
            The new Apple TC and AE can run 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks at the same time, rather than only a single frequency. Theory is you put "old" stuff on 2.4GHz and just your laptops on 5GHz to get less interference and hence higher throughput.

            However, 5GHz propagation in my house sucks, and I think EU band at 5GHz is half the US band, so not really a useful solution to me.

            At one point I had a WEP net, a WPA net and a WPA2 net. In the end I decided this was getting silly, and a bit greedy on channels. Now I wire everything that I can and check WiFi compatibility carefully before buying.
            ----------------------
            www.gumbrell.com

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            • chris_j_hunter
              Automated Home Legend
              • Dec 2007
              • 1713

              #7
              just to mention this, too :



              RFID & 2D barcodes to do something similar - latter could be handy with a camera-'phone (iPhone figures in some of the promo' photo's, but wasn't able to confirm it would be OK - barcode apps on iPhone get mixed reviews, too) ... website seems not to be quite up to speed yet, some patience is needed - there's a tour that helpful, when it comes up - hope the product is better, certainly looks promising !
              Last edited by chris_j_hunter; 3 April 2009, 07:54 AM.
              Our self-build - going further with HA...

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              • chris_j_hunter
                Automated Home Legend
                • Dec 2007
                • 1713

                #8
                'see TouchTag have updated web-site & their Mac OSX interface, to cover Leopard, too :




                also, there's a good intro' & some ideas here :




                and a good picture of the reader here :

                If so, in what issue can I find it? —Name withheld ——— No, that article was published online (here). The […]



                and here :




                pricing looks interesting :



                has a starter pack with one USB reader & ten tags for £26.98+VAT plus twenty-five extra tags for £17.97+VAT ...

                as compared with the Violet offerings, here :



                Mir:ror + 2 nano:ztag + 3 ztamp:s (English) at £49.99 incl'VAT, plus extra Ztamp:s in twelves at £19.90 inc'VAT

                NB: Amazon has these at £36 & £16 incl'VAT & delivery, respectively ...


                wonder if either could be used to give some limited / poor-man's 'Surface (*) type capabilities - using multiple readers (one of the applications available for Touchatag allows different responses, from the same card, according to which reader does the reading) some quite complex interactions might be possible - although, at a fiftieth of the cost of Surface, we shouldn't expect too much ! ?

                ---

                (*)

                ie: this :



                responds not only to touch, but also to coded objects - so there is some similarity !

                looks like it's now appearing in a few AT&T stores, on a trial basis :




                best review 'could find was :

                Microsoft's Surface has been shipping out to corporate customers for a year now, but we haven't heard much about the backend setup of the $17,000 table -- sure, we know it's fun when it's up and running all those custom apps, but what's it like after the unboxing? Incredibly frustrating, says FD kinesis's Gordon Miller. Hired to implement a Surface solution for a client, Miller and his team first spent 30 minutes on the phone with MS phone support trying to locate the power socket, and another lengthy period of time poking at an unresponsive touchscreen before realizing that the Surface doesn't respond to touch out of the box. Yep, you read that right -- Microsoft's $17,000 big-ass touchscreen table requires a keyboard and mouse to set up, something which isn't noted in any of the marketing or manuals. Ouch. Hopefully that'll get fixed before this thing ships to consumers in 2011, but in the meantime, hit the read link for the entire harrowing tale -- it's a pretty fun read for a Friday afternoon.P.S.- We actually talked to Gordon on the phone for a quick minute and he said that Microsoft's been in touch about the experience -- he's working on an new post about that which we'll link when it goes up.Update: As promised, here's the followup, which includes Microsoft's response.[Via Daring Fireball]


                see particularly the comments (near bottom of first link) by az_runner (ie: he's actually got one / used one)

                and also :

                Last edited by chris_j_hunter; 3 May 2009, 03:33 PM. Reason: clarity
                Our self-build - going further with HA...

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                • chris_j_hunter
                  Automated Home Legend
                  • Dec 2007
                  • 1713

                  #9
                  On the subject of uses for RFID in the consumer world & HA ... it seems there's some disappointment about how things are going - eg:



                  Everyday millions and millions of people use NFC technology to connect to things and the world around them. It’s the super-fast and secure way to pay for things, ride the train, unlock a door, start your car, and even connect to the brands we all love.



                  hmmm ...

                  How about :

                  people wear a personalised tag - as a ring, on a chain, as a lapel-badge, on a head-band - and optionally (key point, v.important) use it to identify themselves whenever they want personalised responses - showing it or not showing it, as they want, to a reader on the wall (flush or otherwise), on the arm of a chair, on the side of a bed, in a strategically placed Mir:ror, whatever's convenient ... eg:

                  when pass through a door and/or come into a room, Idratek would know someone had done-so - now, as & when desired, it could know who, & work accordingly ...

                  when standing on the bathroom-scales - remain anonymous & just get a reading, identify yourself & get an increment, too ...

                  when sitting in a recliner-chair (or bed) - remain anonymous & work it manually, identify yourself & have it go to your favourite position ... and maybe have two tags - the second for telling it to remember for next time !

                  have the kitchen or any other room or space work (lights, oven settings, whatever) your way ... could also use token objects, placed on a Mir:ror, making the situation visible to all, and allowing changes with mucky hands ...

                  have a shared computer start-up & log-in your way ... ditto the Mir:ror ...

                  and (more difficult to arrange) the car (seats, mirrors, heating, etc) ...

                  house heating & ventilation, lighting ... ditto

                  radio / hi-fi / TV ... ditto

                  in every case, there's always the choice - be anonymous, and have generic responses, identify oneself & have personalised responses - free choice, all the time !

                  of course, the Violet & Touchatag readers are all USB devices - so will need a way of having them work away / at a distance (up to 30m, as the wire goes, maybe) from the host computer - see the section on maximum useful distance, the preceding section on USB cables, and the beginning of the overview, in :



                  NB: Ztamp:s measure 23mm x 23mm x 1mm, and presumably Touchatags are similar (have not been able to find-out) ...

                  NB: Ztamp:s & Touchatags are HF RFID devices - with a range of about 40mm !

                  NB: the Cortex API could be useful here (!) ... and the Naz' API, too :




                  ? ? ?

                  any more ?
                  Last edited by chris_j_hunter; 4 May 2009, 05:47 PM.
                  Our self-build - going further with HA...

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                  • toscal
                    Moderator
                    • Oct 2005
                    • 2061

                    #10
                    I remember test driving an RFID system for equipment tracking, but there was so much noise from the RFID tags all talking, that it was almost impossible to track the equipment. Reducing the range of the readers meant that the odd RFID tag wouldn't be read if it was facing the wrong way or went a bit too fast past the reader.
                    What you are talking about I think are iButtons.

                    Last edited by toscal; 4 May 2009, 07:41 PM.
                    IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
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                    • chris_j_hunter
                      Automated Home Legend
                      • Dec 2007
                      • 1713

                      #11
                      iButton - interesting ... but don't think so ...

                      metal & liquids aren't good with HF RFID devices ... so far as I understand it, anyway ...

                      IIUC, RFID comes in two forms - RFID & HF RFID, the former long-ish range & much used in logistics etc, the second short-range & useful here ...

                      still, must look into iButton some more ...
                      Last edited by chris_j_hunter; 4 May 2009, 08:27 PM.
                      Our self-build - going further with HA...

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                      • chris_j_hunter
                        Automated Home Legend
                        • Dec 2007
                        • 1713

                        #12
                        iButton ... thanks for the links ... not quite the same - eg: have actively to push it home onto a receptor, so not quite so convenient ...

                        nor so versatile, in that the connection is transitory (unless it's actively held on) ...

                        but it does other things (eg: data-logging), as well ...

                        uses 1-Wire protocol - must check if that's already linked into Cortex, in some way, already ...
                        Last edited by chris_j_hunter; 4 May 2009, 09:40 PM.
                        Our self-build - going further with HA...

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                        • toscal
                          Moderator
                          • Oct 2005
                          • 2061

                          #13
                          Have you seen this shop http://www.iautomate.com/rfid.html?T...41d17863b1014a
                          Bluehost - Top rated web hosting provider - Free 1 click installs For blogs, shopping carts, and more. Get a free domain name, real NON-outsourced 24/7 support, and superior speed. web hosting provider php hosting cheap web hosting, Web hosting, domain names, front page hosting, email hosting. We offer affordable hosting, web hosting provider business web hosting, ecommerce hosting, unix hosting. Phone support available, Free Domain, and Free Setup.

                          Or this one which seems a little cheaper


                          I also know the homeseer forums have quite an active RFID section which may give you some pointers etc.


                          Many RFID tags can store simple text pages. So you could store a person's profile in the tag. Possibly as a kind of XML
                          Something like
                          <id> Johnny Doe</id>
                          <display> Hello Johnny </display>
                          <comfort> 22 degrees </comfort>
                          <lights> lounge on, hallway 50% </lights>

                          Then you just get the system to parse the text and act accordingly.
                          IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
                          Renovation Spain Blog

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                          • chris_j_hunter
                            Automated Home Legend
                            • Dec 2007
                            • 1713

                            #14
                            yep - the first two (iAutomate) are offering longer-range RFID, as is the third (Cliste), not sure why the price difference !

                            Homeseer RFID is (SFAIK) only long-range ... and so the forum, too, presumably ...

                            But Naz' & Touchatag are short-range, HF RFID, which allows lower prices !

                            long-range being measured in metres ...

                            short range being measured in millimetres ...

                            AIUI, anyway ...

                            short range would be better, for us anyway, because it allows choice - ie: it's up to the user to make contact or not, as he / she chooses !

                            So far as I can see, the Naz' & Touchatag tags are just identifier devices, with all associated information information being stored off-tag - ie: on the server (which, at least in the Naz' case, means not the local server, but the company one) ... again, AIUI ! Presumably, though, the APIs would allow some variation on this ...
                            Last edited by chris_j_hunter; 5 May 2009, 12:40 AM.
                            Our self-build - going further with HA...

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                            • chris_j_hunter
                              Automated Home Legend
                              • Dec 2007
                              • 1713

                              #15
                              for something on HF RFID, see :

                              IDTechEx Research Article: Last year, about $2.5 billion was spent on tags and systems at HF (13.56MHz), ten times the amount on RFID at any other frequency and representing 50% of the global RFID market. Now IDTechEx tracks a rush of technology innovation and new market opportunities.


                              difficult to be sure what frequency particular brands & types are working at, because it's rarely mentioned, but the Touchatag works at 13.56MHz, and I'd be surprised if the Naz' was different ...

                              power, of course, is also a factor in determining range ...
                              Our self-build - going further with HA...

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