Can a nRF8001 or nRF8002 do this? (Proximity)

[Johh]

Ive searched thru a few of the communities out there for an answer to this, but I am still not sure. I appreciate any help with my newbie questions :)

I need a home automation system to recognize multiple users via their IOS or Android devices via BLE. I would like the nRF8001 or nRF8002 to see one of the multiple users, and upon detection of a particular user, give me a unique contact closure output on a connected microcontroller. RS232 communication would be even more useful for me, but not required. The BLE device would remain in a fixed location, and would recognize mobile devices in range and connect to one at a time.

Gathering from info ive seen this is possible. But I am not sure if I would need the 8001 or 8002 from all the research ive done. Ive poked around in nRFgo Studio a bit but still confused.

Also is there a recommended controller to use to accomplish this? Would a simple Arduino facilitate this? And is there sample code that accomplishes what I need?

[David Edwin]

This is definitely possible using nRF8001 and nRF8002, see the ble_proximity_template in our github Arduino code sample for nRF8001. ( github.com/.../ble-sdk-arduino ) See the code for the text "Do more stuff here. when your phone is detected".

Would a simple Arduino facilitate this? Yes

If you are using the nRF8002, it can activate pins when it has detected a phone can that can be hooked to the action that you want.

[Johh]

Thanks for the info. Someone elsewhere mentioned that the 8001 will not be able to differentiate between multiple phones though. Is this true? I need to be able to detect multiple phones but connect to only one at a time, and execute a unique action for each phone that connects.

If I cannot do that, then maybe another idea is have multiple 8001s which are only paired with one device and they act independently?

Is the 8002 more suitable for my needs? I cannot determine which is best for me.

[David Edwin]

The nRF8002 is constrained only to one phone. You can choose to use the nRF51822, which should be able to provide the this functionality on a single chip. To detect multiple users using the nRF8001, you would cycle through your list of users to see which of them is present. The detection would take a few seconds. . You can use the ble_HID_keyboard_2_bonds_template to see the usage with multiple users.

[Johh]

Ok great. I am going to order the nRF51822 Eval kit and have a go at it. Researching this online, I am seeing reference to a nRF51822-EK User Guide which I cannot find on the Nordic site. Is there a special location for this? Would like to take a look while I wait for the hardware to arrive.

Also I guess I have to wait for the hardware and key/serial# before I have access to the SDK?

[David Edwin]

The documentation for the SDK is here https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/documentation/nrf51/5.2.0/html/index.html , you need to wait for your Evaluation kit to get full access.