Who here is using the iAutomate RFID hardware?

electron

Administrator
Staff member
I am really interested in hearing how this is working out for you, I could think of many uses in my own home, assuming there aren't any major problems with the technology.
 
I am using it. I have not had any problems with it since the actualy release. I'm sure I shared some of my beta stories with you already but all of those bugs have been fixed. I use it to keep track of daily events around the house such as...

Did my wife remember to empty the trash?
(Yeah I know its my job but she always does it first so I forget. And when she forgets then it doesnt get done.)

Did my wife move the vacume cleaner?
(This one is for when i am away on buisness and I want to know if i should expect to come home to a clean house or a dirty house. My wife likes to suprise me)

Porch Light?
(This one is the most used. Basically i triger an event to turn on the porch light if the cars arrive home after dark)

So far eveything has been working just fine. Triangulation is still something that I wish it could do but as of right now there isnt a practicle way. Perhaps with HS2.0 this will change.

Just yesterday I noticed that my wife had forced the closet door shut and smashed my cable whic powers the first receiver. I still have not looked to see if its working because i am afraid of what I might find out. Maybe I'll take a peak when I get home.

If you have the money the go ahead an buy a reader. I would just start with one reader because thats all you really need. Make sure the wife knows first because she might not like that you are spending hundreds of dollars on something that can track her every move :D
 
The car PC is probably way cooler than the RFID in my opinion.

What uses are you thinking about. Tell us and we will let you know if there are any problems with the ideas.
 
lol, I have no reason to hide things from my wife hehe. I want to monitor my mower (so if both I and the mower are outside, disable garage door announcements), monitor trashcan, car, myself, some tools I keep misplacing, stuff like that ...
 
All sounds doable. If all your tools are in the garage area then one reader should do you. I still say that its probably not worth getting rid of the carPC. Infact having both would probably open up new options.

Check you PM!
 
Perhaps I may have something to contribute (DavidL, try not to fall out of your chair).

I've found iAutomate's RFID hardware and HomeSeer plug-in to be quite useful, and with some tweaks, very reliable. The readers currently being sold are long-range. I'm using them at the moment for macro presence. HomeSeer knows if my car is here or not, where my keys are (relatively), if I'm here or not, and whether my daughter is here or not.

The most useful functionality so far has been with HomeSeer detecting my daughter's presence through her RFID tag. When she's here, almost all of the house routines (HomeSeer events) are altered. Lights, temp, announcements, and other day-to-day HomeSeer stuff are now macroed based on *who* is home. I guess that's kinda like your "super-trigger," Electron. Now, I know longer have to manually adjust events when we get off typical schedule. HomeSeer adjusts real-time. (OK, it wasn't that hard before, one button press in MainLobby, but hay, HA makes you lazy).

Having the garage door open or a gate open and lights or whatever activate when a tagged vehicle arrives is a no-brainer with this technology. Customize the routine based on individual vehicles, time of day, whatever your whim.

If I had a toddler, I'd be all over this for safety reasons. This will be especially important, I think, when iAutomate releases their short-range readers. I'd want to know precisely where that little tike was at all times - what room has she wandered into....You can accomplish this today - somewhat - with the long-range readers by understanding specific RF tendencies in your circumstances. I believe iAutomate's plan with the short-range readers is to make this type of functionality easier to implement.

I plan to use the short-range readers in lieu of motion sensors in my home. More information is gathered...not just motion/presence, but specifically who is where/moving.

This week, I'm adding an electric door strike that will be RFID triggered for custom entry to my home.

At 20ish bucks a tag, it starts to get affordable to add on other types of functionality like monitoring the trash can on trash day, tagging valuable assets, arming/disarming security for housekeepers, neighbors, pet sitters, house sitters.

You could accomplish these things by other means, but RFID has proven to be more straightforward and dependable for me (than say the W800).

Oh, and Squintz, I'd smash your cables too if you put an RFID tag on my vacuum cleaner!!
 
Oh, and Squintz, I'd smash your cables too if you put an RFID tag on my vacuum cleaner!!
:D

Those are some great examples mwhistle, I was thinking of having 'guest' badges, so the house can adapt and skip certain routines when we have people over. Thanks for sharing!
 
Hello iAutomate RFID Users,

The attached java utility for our RFID Plug In is almost ready for release. It will display the status of tags and can be sorted by Reader and Tag, or display all readers and tags. Of course it is used in conjunction with HomeSeer and our RFID Hardware.

v1.2 fixes a bug with the tag drop down list when a single reader is used.

rssi_capture.jpg


For the time being it is a simple standalone page; it will however be imbedded in HS Web Pages Next Week or so.

Extract to the Homeseer\html\iAutomateRFID directory. Windows should preserve directory structure, but here is what you should wind up with:

Program Files\Homeseer\html\iAutomateRFID\rfidstatus\ <--------rfidstatus.asp and rfidstatus.htm

Program Files\Homeseer\html\iAutomateRFID\rfidstatus\classes <-------All *.class files

Program Files\Homeseer\html\iAutomateRFID\rfidstatus\classes\images <--------all *.jpg files

The url should then be:

http://localhost:port/iautomateRFID/rfidst...rfidstatus.html

or

http://www.yourdomain/iautomateRFID/rfidst...rfidstatus.html

Thanks

Peter
 
Sounds like I could affix one of the Tags to my door on my mailbox out by the road. Then when the mailman opens the door, it would show motion detected - correct?
 
mcascio said:
Sounds like I could affix one of the Tags to my door on my mailbox out by the road. Then when the mailman opens the door, it would show motion detected - correct?
Several People are doing just that, in addition to tagging cars, etc.

How far is your mailbox from the house ??

Thanks

Peter
 
I think a reader mounted in the gargage would work fine for:

Mailbox
Automobile Detection, garage door operaration.
Trash Pail
Asset Detection, etc.

The T800-MS is the Tag that would work best on the metal mailbox, and has an integral vibration (motion) sensor. By rotating the tag to one of four 90 degree increments, you can adjust the sensitivity of the tag.

Peter
 
Peter,

Any interest in adding support via plugin for MainLobby if we can provide you with our SDK? We could pull off some pretty cool looking user interfaces using the existing library and some new ones that I'd probably create designed specifically around this technology.
 
mcascio said:
Peter,

Any interest in adding support via plugin for MainLobby if we can provide you with our SDK? We could pull off some pretty cool looking user interfaces using the existing library and some new ones that I'd probably create designed specifically around this technology.


I am always open to discussion.

Do you still have my cell phone number ??

If not, call the toll free number; I am at x102

Peter
 
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