You could also opt for the other way around, Place a few beacons in your home and let your phone be the receiver, it then sends your location to a server.
That way a raspberry pi or almost any other Bluetooth LE device can be the beacon.
It does require everyone to have a smartphone and carry it around, something that might be problem with small children…
Can you explain better how this works?
Which programs to use on the smartphone to make it a detector?
Bluetooth? But in case of multiple beacon (one in bedroom, one in corridor, one in bathroom) will be able to signal correctly the position?
On iOS iBeacon technology is part of the SDK, Example of an app using it: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/particle-detector/id724226138?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D8. The best way would be integrating it in the home assistant ios app. But it wouldn’t be to difficult to build it yourself. https://www.raywenderlich.com/66584/ios7-ibeacons-tutorial
On Android there are apps and possibilities as well.
You give every beacon an id, major (building) and minor (sub location). This can be done on a raspberry pi or an official ibeacon for rpi: https://learn.adafruit.com/pibeacon-ibeacon-with-a-raspberry-pi/overview
iOS detects the bluetooth beacon when you are within 5 meter of the device, and triggers your app to perform an action. Based on the strength of the signal it knows how far you are from the beacon.
I think it’s common here for people to use OwnTracks to receive beacons on their iPhone. I have a few iBeacons in the mail and that’s what I’ll be trying to use.
Didn’t knew OwnTracks did iBeacons as well, that would make it much easier 
For anyone already running HomeAssistant on a Raspberry Pi 3 you can turn the RPi3 into an iBeacon that you then associate with GPS coordinates in OwnTracks. It works really well and doesn’t require any additional purchases. I followed this guide: https://andrewmemory.wordpress.com/2016/03/29/turning-a-raspberry-pi-3-into-an-ibeacon/
This is how I attempted it. I bought a few HM-10 sensors off ebay and set them up as ibeacons. I had very limited success in getting HASS to recognise them via owntracks, however. It was very inconsistent - possibly due to my configuration. I also noticed that it was significantly draining the phone’s battery which is why I have given up for the moment and relegated it to the back-burner
Hi everyone, nemik here from Happy Bubbles. I’m sorry for not responding sooner, I just discovered this thread.
First, thank you anilet for your review and I’m happy to hear to you got everything mostly working! I’m sorry though to hear about your beacon not working. I would advise perhaps changing the battery if possible, it’s a CR2025 coin cell.
Also, as a tip, if you have trouble finding which one is the beacon from the presence server’s list of available beacons, take a look at two things: first, the beacons I sell should be identified as iBeacons; second, you can see in which room or which detector is picking them up and also look at their distance or signal strength if you put it close to a detector. That might help narrow things down.
Otherwise if it really doesn’t work, I’d be happy to send you a replacement.
Thanks again for trying out the product and taking a chance on it! It’s still new but I tried hard to make it work well.
Lastly, I’m hoping to make more beacon-like devices that work with Happy Bubbles detectors and would love suggestions from you guys if you have any. The great thing about Bluetooth Low Energy is how little power it uses. One of the things I’ve done was create a little wooden box with a wall light-switch on it for my son. I wrote a custom firmware for a BLE module to only send a beacon when the light-switch changes, which is then picked up by the Happy Bubbles detectors. Right now, it lets him control the Christmas tree in the living room and he likes it a lot. The cool thing is, it’s been running for over a month now on a single coin-cell battery and can be moved around anywhere because it’s so low power and only turns on to send an advertisement when the switch changes.
If you guys are interested in stuff like this, I could cook up another board for these coin-cell-powered beacons that get triggered by buttons or switches or other stuff like that.
A simple button is one of the things I’ve not been able to find. I think that would be great.I was excited by Flic initially but it seems to require a phone running an app to be present. Logitech pop is expensive and not available in my country. Zwave wall switches etc are out as I am a renter and could be told I have to find a new place to live at any time.
I was going to buy a 4 pack a few months ago of your detectors and beacons but got the idea that I again needed an app running to use a phone as a beacon? I’m still not sure if I need to run an app broadcasting a signal. Will a detector pick up a phone or smartwatch if the bluetooth is simply on and the device is known? I’m considering it but not so keen on having to find somewhere to attach beacons.
Presence detection is something I’ve found terribly unreliable in my setup and I’d love to give you my money for something that just works for me!
I would suggest make a package that integrates well/easily with HA: beacon+detector
Thanks for the responses! BarryHampants, the Logitech Pop looks pretty interesting and kind of what I had in mind and had already built for myself. Pretty sure it can be done for cheaper than $40 as well it’s just not so easy for me to get the tooling in place for a fancy and nice-looking enclosure like they have. If you notice my kits, I don’t have an enclosure yet but hope to be able to make them one day.
For a phone, yes you would need some kind of app to make it act as a BLE beacon. The detectors pick up Bluetooth Low Energy advertisements, and can’t speak Bluetooth classic to just see them if their bluetooth is on, sorry.
I looked hard to find decent beacons and the ones I’m selling are, IMO, pretty good. But the nice thing about regular beacons is there are lot of manufacturers and you can find some that have a form-factor you like. Some are available as key-fobs, others as little button-like things (like mine), and others even have kids-style silicone wristbands with little cartoon animals on them.
Claudio, that’s kind of already what I hope I’m selling but I agree I do need to work harder on making the system more user-friendly for easier HA integration. Right now it requires a bit of setup to get the presence-server going and working. I’ve done my best to document things as well as I can but will try to write more, like a tutorial for Hassbian specifically.
Thanks again for all your feedback.
@happybubbles your website says the presence detectors are out of stock. Any idea when more will be available?
Yes, they should arrive late-December or early-January.
Great - I’ll order a pack when they are back in stock, I’ve signed up to be notified.
Would the beacons be thin enough to slot into a phone case?
you ship to Italy?
Which one are you selling. Sorry I am confused, I see only the detector/receiver without enclosure
BarryHampants, they are about 35.1mm in diameter and about 8mm thick. Not sure it would fit into a phone case but it depends on your phone-case I guess. There are companies that make smaller stick-on beacons that may work better on a phone case. The detectors work with any of them so you’re not obligated in any way to use the ones I sell.
These https://minew.en.alibaba.com/product/60211482787-220649015/Only_3_3mm_height_and_low_cost_BLE_iBeacon_sticker_with_Eddystone.html look like they might be pretty thin and could work well for you. I buy my beacons from those guys and could order more in my next shipment, or you could try to order from them directly.
Claudio, sure! I’ve already shipped an order to Italy in fact.
I am selling both. The detector is something I’ve designed myself, the hardware/firmware, and that is the one without an enclosure.
The beacons I’m selling are made by a Chinese company and have an enclosure and everything, they look like this: https://www.happybubbles.tech/images/beacon.jpg
Ok, your website is not clear, after putting in basket it directs right to a paypal payment (without notce if shipping cost are included, which kind of shipment tracking/no tracking express or not, nothing about custom duty or vat).
Like this you scare customer away, and is not good for your business
Sorry to hear that. But I’m just one person doing this right now and I rely on Paypal for all of that. I don’t have the resources to figure out duty and VAT for each country, it is a big challenge. I already have enough work developing/making this product, shipping it, etc.
Price includes shipping?
