Bluetooth Beacon

Projects General Guidance
1

Hey guys,

I recently purchased an Arduino Uno, a Wi-Fi shield, and a Ethernet Shield. Can anyone tell me if it would be extremely difficult to make the Arduino into a Bluetooth beacon if I purchase a Bluetooth shield?

To be more specific, I live in a Frat house and would like the arduino to activate the beacon if the bedroom door is opened after 11pm. I want it to broadcast a message that says "if you brought her home from the bar, might be a good idea to ask a more sober room mate for approval first".

However, I haven't found any references to anyone using an Arduino as a Bluetooth beacon. Can this be done? Is this something someone that just started learning programing two weeks ago can do?

Can anyone offer any advice on which Bluetooth shield would be best? I haven't been able to find an Arduino shield that has Bluetooth 4.0 which to my understanding is the best out there. In fact, all the shield i've seen don't really state which version of Bluetooth they support.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated and I will post a video as a follow up if I get it working.

2

Wouldn't a microswitch work?

3

Yes,

I plan on using a microswitch to detect if the door is open. I feel confident that I can get that part to work.

The part i'm not sure about is the Bluetooth beacon. Can an Arduino support a Bluetooth beacon? Can I hook Bluetooth 4.0 to the arduino? If so can anyone recommend a Bluetooth 4.0 shield, or some sort of chip? Has anyone seen any code that would allow a Bluetooth device to work as a Bluetooth beacon for the arduino?