I just wanted people's thoughts on how I could go about this. I would like to track people's movements in and out of different rooms in the house. I eventually plan to implement this into a system that tracks each individual's power usage while they are in different rooms in the house.
I did think of using an RFID sensor in a wrist strap, but this would require swiping yourself in and out of each room which would get annoying. What I want is something that will automatically detect someone's presence in a room and log it.
Maybe a low range RF module of some kind. I am not sure if low range versions exist. Aren't there some RFID modules that works if you only walk by the detector?
Maybe like those used on those anti-shoplift tags?
maybe a wide-angle infrared LED could go on that wrist strap. every so often each strap sends out a unique sequence of pulses. a conveniently placed detector in each room could figure out who's where.
kind of a half baked idea though. is that a lot of equpment to have on your wrist? will the detectors be able to pick up the pulses on a bright day? will you need to change a battery on each wrist strap every 20 minutes? who knows.
I think the shoplifting sensor makes more sense. for visitors you need to make it sound an alarm every time they change rooms
What happens when you have two people in a room sitting at a table, one listening to his battery powered ipod, talking to his friend at a soldering station, running the AC to stay cool ?
