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Home automation, Bluetooth or NFC?
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Introduction
Home automation, Bluetooth or NFC? But why "OR" and why not "AND"? And finally, it may be a question that arises when we have not scratched a little more technical specifications of both technologies. But what are the perspectives in home automation? Why should we oppose and compare these two technologies? Is there a choice to make? We propose this article to clarify your lanterns and to introduce other articles and tutorials to come. This first article will clear the ground to offer you perspectives of home automation integration of these technologies in your infrastructure.
I would like to introduce the bluetooth Transmitter Technology here, if you want to learn about that you can visit here. A small comparison of technologiesWe can admit that the first versions of Bluetooth have not responded to many other functions than to set up communication links with your headset, your car or your GPS with autonomy often crippling. That being said, what more does the latest version of this technology bring? NFC is everywhere and even in our phones but ultimately who uses it on a daily basis? Here are some technical comparison points in the table below:
2 - The service functions of both technologiesThe spectrum of generic service functions (common usage) of Bluetooth 4 and NFC is quite broad. Let's try to list the uses that the two technologies can generally bring:
Without being exhaustive this table summarizes the generic functions most often implemented. The real value-added technology BT4 (understand Bluetooth 4) also called BLE (for Bluetooth Low Energy) seems to be its lighter consumption in its version 4 as we saw in the table above. But not only because the BT4 has the ability:
Apart from the cost that remains "the" determining factor, the main advantage of the NFC is ultimately in its main handicap according to critics: I explain, the scope is in my opinion the big advantage against Bluetooth technology. Indeed, this object remains under the control and initiative of its owner. If the frank and deliberate action of tag detection on the drive is not accomplished, the triggering processes do not have places. It remains under the exclusive control of its owner. On the other hand, for Bluetooth, the device is more often autonomous in terms of triggering. NFC thus has the intrinsic advantage of its main constraint. 3 - Functional explorationA few weeks ago, I decided to focus on this exploration of different functions that can be useful for my home automation infrastructure. After a lot of research, and buying to experiment a little, I am able to put into practice some technologies in my home automation ecosystem. The technical level useful for the implementation of these technologies is not insurmountable, but uses a lot of different knowledge to consolidate them on a hardware platform such as Raspberry PI, Synology, Cubieboard and others. The first directions of exploration were: The "stack" Bluetooth (stack) In this field I was a "Noob", but over time I was able to grasp the essentials for my purpose. The main problem encountered was the multiplicity of tutorials on the one hand, but most of all (for almost all) very few are up to date with the latest BT4 stack management software on Linux. I therefore encountered 80% of useless information to the development of my project. After a few selections, the course was taken. Essentially, we will focus on the following processes:
In this area I was also a Newbie. My-Domotics (Official Sponsor) provided me with the "NFC Explore Card for Raspberry" kit and Myfox tags (RFID 13.56Mhz Mifare) to clear the way. Similarly and for the most part, we will focus on the following processes:
As we can see, NFC seems to offer fewer functional perspectives. It is certain NFC does not offer the same spectrum of possibilities, but this technology is not necessarily less relevant than BT4. Admittedly, it responds less to the development of domotic service functions, but it offers under more precise conditions a certainty of intention to trigger. Here is a video of the uses of a PeebleBee for those who have not followed the Kickstart project: |
5 - Conclusion
NFC vs. BT4 is ultimately a match that does not exist. The comparison stops at the uses and not at the technologies. Once this is accepted, we can consider the best of each technology in order to best exploit each of them in its or more relevant service function (s) with a home automation infrastructure. In consequence I will retain the following points:For that, I propose you to develop in other tutorial articles the implementation of a platform dedicated to both technologies, which I personally will install in my entry. Articles following this one in the FHEM series will be:
- NFC is the most relevant solution in a given situation because a voluntary action on the human initiative makes it possible to activate or deactivate a scenario.
- BT4 is a versatile solution in terms of possibilities but remains dependent on its range and its power supply.
- FHEM: A BT4 home automation gateway [Chapter II] - Setting up a system to make your Bluetooth devices interact with your home automation infrastructure.
- An NFC home automation gateway [Chapter III] (Linking future articles) - Establishment of a system allowing your NFC tags to interact with your home automation infrastructure.