Using Flora as a general purpose ID badge

[mawg]

hi, I am a s/w guy, only just getting into embedded programming, with little or no knowledge of hardware </disclaimer>.

I love the look of the new Flora wearable Adurino (https://www.adafruit.com/products/659) and would like to try a few simple projects to teach myself some new skills, maybe a new hobby.

With BlueTooth and GPS, I can see some possibilities as an intelligent Id badge. And here come my dumb h/w questions ...

1) could I add Wifi to this? Is it cheap and easy to do, both in terms of hardware and software?

2) what about RFID? I suppose I could just stick a passive Id tag on to it an leave it at that. But, can I attach an active RFID tag and have the MCU be aware that the RFID tag has been scanned by a read?

I hope that doesn't sound too dumb and thank you in advance for any help.

[adafruit]

we dont have anything we're ready to announce re: wifi or RFID modules at this time, but an experienced arduino hacker could probably get anything arduino-compatible to work

[zenwebb]

1) could I add Wifi to this? Is it cheap and easy to do, both in terms of hardware and software?

There is a roughly inverse relationship between cost and ease here. If you pay upwards of $80, you can get a nice, easy to use break-out board or shield that you can hack together with a FLORA to get WiFi going. If you really know what you're doing, you can probably get the cost down to $20 or less for the WiFi interface, but its not going to be fun for a beginner.

2) what about RFID?

Similar story as for the WiFi, but RFID does use cheaper tech than WiFi.

In general, any protocol-based technology that you want to play with (Bluetooth, GPS, WiFi, RFID, etc) will more or less require that you understand a certain amount of fundamental knowledge of electronics. Once you're feeling comfortable with the Arduino platform as a microcontroller dev platform (not just a fun toy), then doing more complicated projects like this will become more trivial.

Some people prefer to learn by doing, and will have no problem dropping a good amount of cash on buying many parts, but you're going to need to keep your head up; you will hit many brick walls and dead ends, and you will have to find a way to keep yourself motivated through the process. It's just my personal recommendation that if you have the time, start small and work on projects that are at your skill level (get an LED to blink, then get several LEDs to blink, then use a button to control them, etc.). Good luck!

[mawg]

Thanks for putting it in perceptive.

In that case, I will take this as a learning project and will take a phased approach. I can start with the built-in BlueTooth functionality and later add on WiFi/Zigbee and also look at having an active RFID detect when it is scanned; so, maybe a 3 phase project.

As I said, I am new to this; just starting embedded (with Atmel UC3) at work, and looking to jump-start my skills.

I am not aware if there is anything other than the Flora which will run from a battery and offer such functionality. Nor, being a pure s/w guy, am I sure what sort of battery life to expect (although I expect to learn a lot about sleep mode )

Thanks again!