xapmcsRFID xAP Node

[Michael McSharry]

xapmcsRFID is a xAP node that processes RFID tag information to determine presence of absence of the RFID tag using Active RFID technology based upon CheaperRFID-like hardware.

It employs an adaptive signal processing algorithm that is user-tunable to satisfy various applications of RFID technology. The processing provides a Figure Of Merit that can be used to assess the quality of the transmitter/receiver communications.

It operates as a standalone RFID processing node and acts cooperatively with other instances of xapmcsRFID to provide multi-receiver composite tag assessments.

A manual is included that describes the setup and signal processing strategies. A Browser-based UI is provided to setup the desired operating parameters.

PR 1 1.1.6 Defaults updated
PR 2 1.1.7 xAP subaddress has variable last nibble. Change to always "switch"
PR 3 1.1.11 Animate tray icon when tag info received
PR 4 1.1.11 Settings lost when hide parameters checkbox checked
PR 5 1.1.12 Tag reception reported at midnight due to wrap aound calculation error
PR 6 1.3.0 Add support for signal strength of 9315 receiver
PR 7 1.3.0 Add database support to collect raw receiver data for later analysis
PR 8 1.3.1 Accept signal strength of from 1 to 3 digits
PR 9 1.3.2 Added substitution strings for user-defined DisplayText formatting
PR 10 1.3.3 Show correct comm status code on debug output
PR 11 1.3.5 Add option to ignore the COM event status from serial port

xapmcsRFID is available at http://mcsSprinklers.com/xapmcsRFID.zip

[martynw]

RFID address

Hello Michael,

I've just started to use you xapmcsRFID node, but my RFID receiver has addresses in the following format:

1ZSn255 (followed by a space)

where "1ZSn" represents the tag address and "255" represents the RSSI value of the tag.

Would you be able to modify xapmcsRFID to account for this format?


Thanks,

Martyn

[Michael McSharry]

I have already done the upgrade to the 9315 receiver. Let me update the manual so new users are not confused and then I will post it.

[martynw]

Thanks Michael, it works really well!

Martyn

ps, the download link needs to change from .exe to .zip

[martynw]

Not quite there

Hi Michael,

Sorry, I spoke too soon!

It looks like the addressing is going funky when the RSSI is 3 digits?

<CODE>
13:12:25 | 1
13:12:25 | (2.2) ZSn100 | Discard of 1 trying to sync on space termination 0 1 100 ON
13:12:26 | (2.4) 1ZO9103 | Discard of 1 trying to sync on space termination 3 2.9 100 ON
13:12:27 | 1
13:12:27 | (2.4) ZSn102 | Discard of 1 trying to sync on space termination 2 1.5 100 ON
13:12:29 | 1
13:12:29 | ZO9
13:12:29 | (2.3) 102 | Discard of 1 trying to sync on space termination 2 2.5 100 ON
</CODE>

Thanks,

Martyn

[martynw]

I find that if I position the transmitters so that the RSSI value is less than 100 (i.e. 2 digits) then it works fine but if the RSSI value is more than 100(i.e. 3 digits) then the application gives spurious addressing / results.

Martyn

[Michael McSharry]

The byte stream that you look to be showing is the following with 7 printable characters plus space. It looks like your receiver is providing a 3 digit signal strengh in these cases which is not within the range advertised. I can easily update to handle 3 digits, but before I do this can you confirm my analysis is correct? You indicated that you believe it was a single digit strength rather than a 1 digit one. If it is 1 digit then what are the RFID IDs for the byte stream you posted?

In my testing I never experienced values greater than mid-70's no matter how close the tag was to the receiver.

1ZNS100 1Z09103 1ZSN102 1Z09102

[martynw]

The receiver I have appears to send between 5 and 7 characters depending on signal strength.

The first 4 characters are the address and characters 5 to 7 are the signal strength from 0 to 255 according to the documentation.

So:
1ZSN1
1ZSN12
1ZSN100

would all be valid values where "1ZSN" is the address of the transmitter.

Hope I've explained it adequately.

Thanks,

Martyn

[Michael McSharry]

I allowed the 3rd digit to be recognized with V1.3.1. Give it a try.
Where did you get the receiver that has a 3 digit strength?

[martynw]

Hi Michael,

That did the trick, thanks for your help.

Is there a way to change the "displaytext" that gets sent in the BSC message?

I got my kit from a seller off eBay (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWNX:IT)


Martyn

[Michael McSharry]

Same place I got mine. Did you connect an antennae or otherwise improve its reception ability? If not then there seems to be a big variation in the sensitivity of the units that are being shipped.

No user-way to change DisplayText. What are you thinking of?

[martynw]

Nope, no modifications. I've got a couple of the 40m transmitters though, so maybe that accounts for it? I'll spend the next week or so testing the combo an report back on accuracy / sensitivity.

With DisplayText, on xAP Floorplan (my HA central software of choice) the DisplayText is used as mouseover data on any graphic associated with the BSC device, so it looks a bit odd with HTML.

I also use DisplayText in scripting sometimes (e.g. to send to a display device like a SqueezeBox).

It's no big deal really, only cosmetic, but having it user configurable would be a bonus.

Martyn

[Michael McSharry]

Can you give me some ideas of what the user configuration options should be on defining what the format of the DisplayText would be or are you indicating to make this an optional field?

[martynw]

Hi Michael,

If possible, it could be "free-text", but with the ability to insert data from the application by using pre-defined variables.

e.g.

"Transmitter $$transmitterlocation$$ ($$transmitterucode$$) on $$receivername$$ is now $$state$$ ($$figureofmerit$$ [$$signalstrength$$])"

This would be very flexible indeed, the above example would become..

"Transmitter martyn_car (1ZSn) on Garage is now on (100 [109])"

..in the DisplayText of the BSC message.


Hope that makes sense!


Martyn

[Michael McSharry]

I made the updates for DisplayText substitution. The substitution parameters are defined in the updated manual. V1.3.2