Pretty awesome. I first assumed these badges were love getties, from the wild stories I have heard from Burning Man, but these are much cooler. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovegetty
Reproducing (no pun intended) their concept would be a little challenging using the IR. On the other hand, I suspect the burning man badges had large batteries or required frequent recharging.
Thats a novel software concept. Even now users of the Parallax Hackable Badge that might be feeling blue, could "collect" all 6 blue leds, then win a nice rewarding pink rgb glow.
OT... Wonder if anyone has tried pov on those blue leds yet? Hmm, can 3 in a row be enough? Would be fun to attach a servo to the back of the badge to find out!!
Reproducing (no pun intended) their concept would be a little challenging using the IR. On the other hand, I suspect the burning man badges had large batteries or required frequent recharging.
Those badges use low-power radio, which unlike IR, works fine in daylight and is fairly omnidirectional. I recently experimented with those cheap 433 Mhz radio modules and they worked great. 9V at just 9mA on full transmit power, ~40-50 foot range, very reliable. Perfect for something like this. But from what I understand, not legal in the US, even at such low power.
These low power radios can be legal in the US if they're manufactured with appropriate FCC type approval. SparkFun and others sell transmitter modules and receiver modules (see here).
You get what you pay for though. These modules have no noise or interference protection. You have to provide that in software. If you want easy "plug and play", something like xBee modules would be better. They have module addresses, automatically do error checking and retransmission on errors.
Actually, I was thinking something that's even lower tech: physical contact (think pogo pins). Sure, you don't get any range, but you get some benefits in return:
* No interference.
* No information leakage.
* Can support full duplex.
* Simple detection (also low-power?)
In the case of the "stock" badge software, contacts could be transferred just be touching two together, face-to-face (or maybe back to back).
In the case of the referenced badge article, this would take care of the sharing of genetic data, with the added bonus that it's a bit more biologically based/inspired.
If you still need "discovery" capabilities, that might be a place where you could use the RF and/or IR...
Now, who knows of a contact interface that would work well for this?
At close range, you wouldn't even need an RF transceiver. The Prop is perfectly capable of transmitting and receiving radio signals on its own. A loop antenna on each board with the right front end and software could easily provide reception up to a foot or so with minimal radiated power.
As to FCC regulations, I assume the current badges are already skirting the Part 15 requirements for "unintentional radiators." Although the added intentionality might entail another wrinkle, I doubt that it would render the regulatory situation bad enough to draw attention.
Seairth
Posts: 2,474
Comments
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovegetty
OT... Wonder if anyone has tried pov on those blue leds yet? Hmm, can 3 in a row be enough? Would be fun to attach a servo to the back of the badge to find out!!
Those badges use low-power radio, which unlike IR, works fine in daylight and is fairly omnidirectional. I recently experimented with those cheap 433 Mhz radio modules and they worked great. 9V at just 9mA on full transmit power, ~40-50 foot range, very reliable. Perfect for something like this. But from what I understand, not legal in the US, even at such low power.
You get what you pay for though. These modules have no noise or interference protection. You have to provide that in software. If you want easy "plug and play", something like xBee modules would be better. They have module addresses, automatically do error checking and retransmission on errors.
* No interference.
* No information leakage.
* Can support full duplex.
* Simple detection (also low-power?)
In the case of the "stock" badge software, contacts could be transferred just be touching two together, face-to-face (or maybe back to back).
In the case of the referenced badge article, this would take care of the sharing of genetic data, with the added bonus that it's a bit more biologically based/inspired.
If you still need "discovery" capabilities, that might be a place where you could use the RF and/or IR...
Now, who knows of a contact interface that would work well for this?
As to FCC regulations, I assume the current badges are already skirting the Part 15 requirements for "unintentional radiators." Although the added intentionality might entail another wrinkle, I doubt that it would render the regulatory situation bad enough to draw attention.
-Phil
Unless garage doors start opening by themselves, or you get all green lights in your commute.