RFID projects

[peter grimes]

Not sure if this is better suited to OT, Science & Technology, or here - so I'll move it if the consensus is it's better suited elsewhere.

Have any of you done any Radio Frequency IDentification projects?

My phone has NFC (near field communication) capability, unlike the Apple branded devices

A common use is to use an RFID (pronounced AR-fid) to switch your phone's settings profiles automatically. Basically you can tap your phone to a badge stuck near you home's door to automatically turn on wifi, check for updates, service volume, sync with home computer, etc. Or at your work, set it to do whatever you need there.

I see a lot of keyless entry projects, but that's not useful to me in an apartment building.

I really want to play around, but I'm lacking a purpose. So I thought I'd ask here.

 

[Zelig]

I've been involved in some commercial/industrial projects involving RFID (equipment tracking type stuff).

I find NFC on my phone rather useless. I'm excited for August, but it works over Bluetooth LE anyway. (I'm not sure why it would be useless in an apartment building, unless you already have a keyless deadbolt?)

 

[peter grimes]

I'm not permitted to make alterations to the doors. We do have a buzzer system (solenoid) to buzz people in, but that's not a keyless deadbolt.

I used the NFC on my phone for transferring photos and such from my old nexus to my "new" one. I have yet to get the tap-to-pay google wallet feature to work, not sure what the problem is.

I particularly want to set up a home profile suite, since I routinely forget to turn wifi off when leaving to walk the dog or ride to work. And my phone handle data hand-off incredibly poorly, sometimes requiring rebooting. That's a separate issue, though.

 

[Zelig]

I'd probably just ignore any no-door-alteration directives. They can't tell from the outside, and if they give notice that they're performing an internal inspection of the apartment it takes about 2 minutes to temporarily revert to the old deadlock mechanism.

Problem with google wallet is that it takes an incredibly specific combination of hardware/software/cell provider/retailer. Part of the combination includes "must not be in any country other than USA" so it's of no real interest to me.

I'm pretty hostile to anything necessitating any manual control of wifi/nfc/bluetooth/cell service/etc. on a phone for normal operation. It's a computer in my pocket, it should be able to automatically deal with connectivity of any sort without any kind of action on my part.

 

[peter grimes]

Landlord lives in the building

And they've bent over backwards to accommodate us, they are wonderful to rent from and I have no interest in irritating them more than we already do. Plus, they could be charging about 33% more than they are. So, No, I'm not going to be messing with their doors.

That said, I really like the August gadget. Looks like it doesn't mate with surface-mount deadbolts.

 

[GoodGame]

Silly idea, but how about using RFID with automata robots, so they can align themselves into a formation, like soldiers on parade?

 

[peter grimes]

There are other better ways to do that, from what I understand.

For one thing, the range is limited on RFIDs. You have to be in pretty close contact. To see how close, just try your door card at work from 5 inches away. Won't work.