Next step: develop a BLE device, that looks like a potatoe chip and make a contest out of it. “If you find the BLE device, you can win $xx.” Here in Germany this is a well known pattern to get personal data from customers.
Coming back to the beacons. I’m currently using the MAC addresses from my G-Tags via monitor.sh, sending them over MQTT to HA. In HA I’m generating a device_tracker
out of these MQTT messages.
Something along the lines:
mqtt:
device_tracker:
- name: mobile_pat_garage_bt
unique_id: mobile_pat_garage_bt
state_topic: 'myhome/garage/mobile_pat/device_tracker'
source_type: 'bluetooth'
On the other hand, there are two integrations, where one of them in theory should work, depending on what the “beacon” is sending.
And last, but not least, I’m experimenting with something different via the companion app of HA:
I’m using a few tablets (old FireHDs) around my home, where I have the companion app installed and using the “beacon monitor” from it. The “beacon monitor” is sending something like an ID for every device as an attribute to it’s sensor. As soon as the attribute is listed, the BT device is there and I set it via a `template sensor´ as “home”.
This is a screenshot of the sensor:
And this is how I use it in a template sensor:
# Note: I'm using the sensor and it's attribute as well as two binary_sensors
# I'm generating via two ESPs
template:
- binary_sensor:
- name: Presence Pat Mobile Beacon
unique_id: presence_pat_mobile_beacon
device_class: presence
state: >-
{% if state_attr('sensor.tablet_flur_beacon_monitor', '066af314-ce57-xxx_100_1') != None
or state_attr('sensor.tablet_kitchen_beacon_monitor', '066af314-ce57-xxx_100_1') != None
or is_state('binary_sensor.presence_pat_mobile_beacon_bedroom', 'on')
or is_state('binary_sensor.presence_pat_mobile_beacon_livingroom_cabinet', 'on')
%}
on
{% else %}
off
{% endif %}
Btw. Thomas (@BlueCharmBeacons) are you open for a short message exchange? If so, I’d like to send you a PM.