RFID Reader Integration

This is a short guide about how you can integrate an RFID reader with your AutoPi device.

tip

The RFID device that you're using must be connected to the AutoPi through a USB cable and it should be such a reader that acts as a keyboard device. It might be possible to use RFID readers that use another connectivity approach, but we aren't sure if AutoPi devices will work well with those.

Enabling the RFID Component

1. Power on the device
   The RFID reader must first be connected to the AutoPi device. Power on the device, as we will need to gather some information for the RFID reader, namely, the vendor and product IDs.

2. Get the RFID reader's vendor ID and product ID
   Once the device is powered on, you can run the following command:

   $ usbutil.devices

   This will show you a list of devices that are currently connected to the AutoPi. There should be a set of devices that are always there:

   • Quectel Wireless Solutions modem (not present on DIY devices)
     • vendor: 2c7c
     • product: 0125
   • Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
     • vendor: 1d6b
     • product: 0002
   • Our custom hub
     • vendor: 0000
     • product: 0000

   Any other devices that have been connected will appear on the list as well. One of them should be the RFID reader. Note that sometimes the RFID reader might not have a name, similarly to our custom hub. Grab the vendor and product values for your RFID reader and note them down for the next step.

3. Type in the RFID reader's information in the Cloud
   Now, it's time we enable the RFID reader from the Cloud. Navigate to my.autopi.io and go to the Device > Advanced Settings > RFID page.

   note

   If you don't see the RFID section in the Advanced Settings, you should reach out to our sales department by writing an email to sales@autopi.io.

   Now, we need to first enable the RFID reader functionality by clicking the Enabled field. It should say True. Next, we need to type in the vendor and product ID combo that we noted down for the RFID reader under the Device Vendor Product Id field. The format is the following: <vendor_id>:<product_id>. Here's an example: 2c7c:0125. With those two settings set, hit the save button. The device will synchronize the changes and restart.

Only after following the steps above you can start populating the Authorized Tokens setting. The reason for that is that this setting requires an RFID command that is otherwise not present. If you try to set the Authorized Tokens as you're enabling the RFID functionality, the changes will fail. However, that's okay, as you can simply reboot the device and it will try to apply the settings again and they should be applied on the retry.

Using the RFID Reader

Once you've setup your RFID reader, you can start using it with chips or cards. The device will report events whenever an RFID chip/card was held close to the reader and will also report authorized or rejected events based on the Authorized Tokens setting we discussed above. You can view those events here.