Advice needed on Components for a Laser Tag-like project I want to try and complete (detect person with tag, then speak notification)

[GTP01 (Greg)]

I’m looking to make something. Here are the requirements.

Much like a laser beam (or something that gives straight line of sight) from one end to the other.

That only detects and triggers when someone that has a tag, or some device on their person. Everyone else would be fine except those that have this tag or device.

When the device triggers after passing the beam (or whatever), there is a speaker on the device where it has a pre-recorded message (my voice)

Can someone list the part names (at a high level) I might be interested in looking at?

Thanks

[JDRoberts]

You could certainly use a wearable IBeacon to distinguish one person from another. These are becoming quite common for large conventions where they act as your entrance ticket to various areas. You can set the detection zone to be very near (within a few inches) a medium range of about 10 feet, or a longer range of about 30 feet. But these are Omni directional and the signal does pass through walls, so I’m not sure if that exactly fits what you’re looking for.

RadBeacon Dot

You will also need a phone or tablet or server device to act as the receiving station to recognize the IBeacons as they pass through the zone.

As far as a voice announcement, sure, you can do that. There are several different ways depending on the exact equipment that you want to use.

Before we go any further, though: this forum is for people who are using the Samsung smartthings home automation platform. So we do need to ask a few questions:

1. which exact model of the smartthings hub do you have?

2. what country are you in?

3. which version of the SmartThings app are you using?

The features and rules engines do vary somewhat depending on these answers.

[GTP01 (Greg)]

Thanks for the reply. So I don’t have any smart-hub. I’m in the US, and I thougt smart-things was just a forum, my bad.

Basically what I am trying to do is put a low cost solution to keep my dog out of a room(s). When the dog walks past the trigger (beam or detector), I want a pre-recorded message to play, Like "OUT!!!), or something to that affect.

I apologize if I didn’t post this in the right board.

Thanks

[JDRoberts]

Thanks for the reply. So I don’t have any smart-hub. I’m in the US, and I thougt smart-things was just a forum, my bad.

Basically what I am trying to do is put a low cost solution to keep my dog out of a room(s). When the dog walks past the trigger (beam or detector), I want a pre-recorded message to play, Like "OUT!!!), or something to that affect.

I apologize if I didn’t post this in the right board.

Thanks

Yeah, I think the cost is going to be too high relative to the effectiveness. Most dogs would be through the door into the room by the time the voice played; they wouldn’t understand what was going on.

To be honest, the simplest solution for most people is just a baby gate. There are a lot of different styles, including some that a cat can go through but a dog can’t, some that attach permanently which allow you to lift it up off the floor so a wheelchair can go through, or your standard tension gate.

Amazon.com: Carlson Extra Tall Pet Gate with Small Pet Door: Pet Supplies

We have different styles of these on five different rooms in our house, and they work great.

[bamarayne (Jason "The Enabler" as deemed so by @Smart)]

We use window screens to keep our cats out of rooms.

[GTP01 (Greg)]

Gates and screens are good for lets say a stairway. I want to keep the dogs out of the living room and other rooms. I’m sure there is something out on the market, even if there is no voice on the device, maybe a small shock or something would work. I think I’ve seen these devices out there. It would be worth it to me rather than the damage to the carpet, etc. These are small dogs as well. Thanks

[JDRoberts]

Anything which is aversive to the dog, such as a small shock, will almost always have negative repercussions such as the dog peeing in the hallway right outside the room where the shock is applied.

There are lots of gates and screens that are freestanding and up to 18 or 20 feet wide: they should work for almost any room, particularly for small dogs.

We use the following for our open plan living room, and it works well and looks nice.

Amazon.com: Carlson 68-Inch Wide Adjustable Freestanding Pet Gate, Premium Wood: Pet Supplies

And we used this one, which is up to 12 foot wide, for an irregularly shaped space Near our laundry room entrance for a while, but eventually retired it because the wheelchair can’t go through it.

Amazon.com : "3-in-1 Arched Décor Metal Superyard" by North States: Create an extra-wide gate or a play yard. Hardware mount or freestanding. 6 panels, 10 sq. ft. enclosure (144" long, 30" tall, Matte bronze) : Indoor Safety Gates : Baby

Dogs understand gates and are not frightened by them, so they’re just really good management tools for when you are not home. Anything which scares or hurts the dog, even momentarily, can trigger unpredictable reactions which can be more trouble than what you were dealing with initially.

[GTP01 (Greg)]

Yeah I agree, don’t want to shock the poor little things, and I definitely don’t want them to pee, because that’s exactly what I’m trying to prevent. Ill look around but I appreciate the advice. Thanks