iAutomate announce the MIRACLE RFID Controller!

electron

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It's a Christmas miracle!

iAutomate is about to release the MIRACLE 5104 RFID Controller which will almost all HA controllers supporting ASCII strings to interface with the short and long range RFID hardware iAutomate sells.

http://www.iautomate.com/cgi-upload/ecomm4...acle_medium.jpg

The unit will run for $199, and if you order now before it ships (mid January 2007), you will get free shipping as well!

key features:
  • Stand alone processor and on board software ELIMINATES DEPENDANCE on CPU of connected computer.
  • Built in RS232 to RS485 Converter allows the First Reader to be installed at greater distance from PC than the limits of an RS232 Connection.
  • Operates with Any software capable of responding to ASCII Strings sent via the onboard serial port. Can be up and running in minutes !
  • Simple Open Protocol allows developers to write API that can read ASCII strings and program readers and tags on the network.
  • Built in Web Server and 10/100 Ethernet Connectivity allows for programming and communication over LAN. Developers can create “zones” of MIRACLE 5104s on a new or existing LAN.
  • No need to program tags or readers into database in order to operate !! Automatically Reads R500HA readers and all iAutomate T-Series RFID Tags.
iAutomate website
 
Electron,

I've been waiting for this for some time!

Pairing iAutomate's RFID directly with the ELK M1 will be a killer combo. I hope Elk jumps on the integration quickly... sounds like it may even be able to interface with the M1 over Ethernet as well as serially.

EXCELLENT!

Cheers,
Paul
 
So is this going to be the new "best" answer for vehicle control. Keeping track of which vehicles are home or away and trigging stuff when an "away" vehicle comes back in range?
 
Vehicles & people,

I've used it with great success for a couple years now coupled with HomeSeer, but have been waiting for this controller for stand-alone applications or direct integrateion with the Elk M1 for customers.

Cheers,
Paul
 
How good is the proximity reader in determining location around the house. For example, I have a large dog (80+ lbs), so using motion detectors seems like it would be problematic. Even the motion detectors that are "pet immune" tend to have a max weight that is far less than the size of my dog.

Could I use RFID and chip the dog and program the alarm system to ignore motion in any location that the dog is at?

Obviously the RFID would need to be a little more exact than just detecting if the dog was in the house.

I assume RFID isn't going to be exact enough to do this, but I thought I would ask.
 
upstatemike said:
So is this going to be the new "best" answer for vehicle control. Keeping track of which vehicles are home or away and trigging stuff when an "away" vehicle comes back in range?
Well, it will certainly be for the wealthy anyway. Most mortals will have to save for a while before they spend $700 for that.
 
I hear you with that Steve. I saw the announcement and thought it was a great idea, although as you noted when I started to add up the components there was a high price for this functionality.

I also did not see the level of accuracy that was achievable (can you tell where someone is?) or the like.

Definitely a nice addition, but the package is a little pricey for me at the moment.
 
Mike said:
I also did not see the level of accuracy that was achievable (can you tell where someone is?) or the like.
Looks like you would need to buy more than one reader to do that which makes it even more expensive.
 
I'm curious of what the cost will be for a house just over 2200 feet so thats it accurate enough to be able to tell what room I am in or what room my pets are in, I heard Squintz mention he has 3 readers..2 in the attic at the front and back of the house and one in the basement..possibly overkill but I do want this to be accurate if I'm even gonna spend the money.

We have two cats and a dog,one of the cats escaped a few years ago and was gone almost 3 weeks and lost 10 of his 18lbs but someone called one day and luckily we got him back.

The other cat is an expensive Maine Coone who would love nothing better to experience the great outdoors however they have been apartment cats all their lives and we just recently moved into a house and already have had one instance where we thought the cat escaped..we called for hours and then searched for hours in the snow following tracks that in the end turned out not to be his..he came crawling out of a mess of box's in the crawl space all blurry eyed after a deep sleep...I don't want to have to go through that again!

Will I need 3 readers at $449.95 each plus the 5104 RFID Controller at $199.00 to accurately be able to tell what room the cats are in? Thats almost $1550 without the pet collars and while I'm interested its huge price tag at this time if I need to have 3 readers to accurately cover a house this size.

Maybe I only need a couple but basically I want to be able to find the cats/dog if I need to and if they somehow escape I need to be notified within seconds that they have strayed more than say 20 feet from our lot if not less...we just moved from a penthouse on the 19th floor where more than once they escaped out the balcony door..hopped on a balcony ledge 19 floors up and visited other apartments and balconys..the landlords had to go to the other suites to basically rescue them because they wouldnt come back!

**The pet collars you have look like the quick release type where you pinch in the sides to unlock the collar..no idea how but my cats many times have escaped from these or they attempt to get them off and they get wedged around the back of their neck and in their mouth..is there other fob types that can be attached to a ring like license tags..perhaps the keychain ones?

Thanks for any answers Peter
 
The value of the system always seems to be very subjective to each person prior to purchase. There will always be a price argument, and I can't address them all. Each person has to make their own decision and I respect that.

We're coming up on two years for many of our systems being in service. I think that most all of present RFID users will echo my sentiment when I say that once you have the product installed it becomes the most indespensable component of their system.

I'm not just talking about the home; we've supplied Government, Military, Educational, Institutional and Commercial Customers as Well.

Most people will need two readers in a residence and our MIRACLE 5104, so the cost will be approximately $1,000.00 once the bundles are put together. In a 3,000 sq foot home (including driveway) that's .33 per square foot for an incredible amount of coverage and functionality. You can't get the house painted for that price.

Of course I am biased; For me... you can't put a price on me knowing when family members arrive, or when they leave. My daughters tag trips the garage reader when she passes on the school bus and so I can stand outside and wave to her if I'm home. She counts on that as much as I do. I know when the kids arrive for the weekend and they love that I am outside to greet them.

It still may be too much for some users, but that is where you have to make a personal decision because you have to make wise decisions as it relates to your finances and household or business.

We're going to have a 3 day sale soon, in advance of the MIRACLE 5104 shipping, so users can purchase their readers and tags in advance of their MIRACLE, or just to compliment their existing systems. It's only happened once before and may not happen again until next year.

Happy Holidays

Peter
 
Ripper99 said:
I'm curious of what the cost will be for a house just over 2200 feet so thats it accurate enough to be able to tell what room I am in or what room my pets are in, I heard Squintz mention he has 3 readers..2 in the attic at the front and back of the house and one in the basement..possibly overkill but I do want this to be accurate if I'm even gonna spend the money.

The good news is that you can start with one reader, add a second or even a third if you have to have more defined coverage. Every home is different.

Keep in Mind that the MIRACLE 5104 is not needed if you use Homeseer, that is directly supported via plug-in and a .NET plug in is under development presently.

It is awesome on an ELK, HAI or similar panel though...

Thanks

Peter
 
Ripper99 said:
**The pet collars you have look like the quick release type where you pinch in the sides to unlock the collar..no idea how but my cats many times have escaped from these or they attempt to get them off and they get wedged around the back of their neck and in their mouth..is there other fob types that can be attached to a ring like license tags..perhaps the keychain ones?

The Keyfobs will be too big and too heavy for a cat and would not be practical.

If you can post the type of collar that is most effective for cats, I'll have our manufacturer that assembles the pet tags look at it and see if it's possible to put our tag on that type of collar.

Do any of the cats ever wear a harness ?

Thanks

Peter
 
I'm one of those that's been using the iAutomate system for nearly 2yrs now and find it very valuable for automation.

I've had three readers and around a dozen tags working with HomeSeer since February 2005. This is in a single level ~2000sq ft house and we easily have coverage of the entire property with the garage reader picking up tags a couple houses away when we arrive.

As Peter mentioned, I think that most will want at least two readers to get accurate home/away status. I'm not doing anything right now that I couldn't do with 2 readers, but the third provides coverage in a small area in the Master bedroom,bath & closet (which is also overlapped by another reader). When the readers are set to high gain, a small dead spot developes near the reader (see the docs for a good description of the RF characteristics of these readers). Becasue of this, a second reader is almost necessary for some overlap and to allow for Home/Away status that is reliable enough to activate security, door locks, etc.

I'm not sure how practical it would be to use this RFID system to provide exact location in a home. There's no way I know of to reliably triangulate position using multiple readers as some have speculated. iAutomate does have directional antennas that can be installed in/on walls & ceilings that with some tunning can determine if your in a room, but to track movement in a home would require a directional antenna and reader for each room.

http://www.iautomate.com/an300.html

The other consideration for this is that you'd have to have your tag with you at all times. The sizes are small enough that this isn't a big deal, but we don't carry them on-person while home. I keep one in my wallet, Diane keeps one in her purse and we have a keyfob tag on a keychain for guests or house/pet sitters that visit while we're away.

The cost of the system may seem high, but the convienence it offers is priceless. For almost two years now our security, door locks & lights have all been controlled by RFID. This means that we never come home to a dark house and can just push the front door open when we arrive. The proper garage door will open depending on what car arrives, and we receive personalized greetings and reminders after walking in the door. The house also adjusts preferences for music, lighting & temp depending on who's home and we're always certain that the doors are locked, the alarm is activated, the lights are out and the music/tv are off when no one is at home!

To me, this is true automation!

Cheers,
Paul
 
FYI, Peter has agreed to be our guest speaker Jan 5th (on a Friday), starting around 9pm, so be sure to mark your calendars. I'll post another announcement when we get closer to that date.
 
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