OpenBeacon hardware

Open hardware for open beacons

Wireless proximity sensors for contact tracing and real-life social network logging: the tags, readers and housings designed since 2006, every one of them taken from schematic to production.

Several generations of tags, readers and housings

Designer: Milosch Meriac

Where: Berlin, Cambridge, Abu Dhabi

When: 2006 to today

OpenBeacon tag and reader hardware on a workbench

Reference designs

Since 2006 the OpenBeacon project has produced several generations of active 2.4 GHz tags, readers and housings for the interaction of people, animals and buildings: Sputnik tags for the Chaos Communication Congress, Ethernet and USB readers, coin-cell sensor tags with battery lifetimes of up to ten years, and the nRF51 and nRF52 proximity tags used by SocioPatterns. Schematics and layouts are published under CC BY-SA 4.0, the firmware under the GPL.

OpenBeacon project page How-to guide Design files on GitHub

Photo gallery

Tags, readers, housings and deployments

nRF52 OpenBeacon tag

The new OpenBeacon tag design based on the Nordic nRF52, shown as a production panel.

Tags
nRF51 log tag

The nRF51 Arm-based OpenBeacon log tag, the design behind the SocioPatterns deployments.

Tags
Bluetooth proximity tag

The nRF51822 proximity tag that also speaks Bluetooth Low Energy: it broadcasts Physical Web URLs and runs its radio stack on the bare SoC.

Tags
nRF51 tag, top side

Top side of the nRF51 proximity tag next to its CR2032 cell: accelerometer, 8 MB flash, chip antenna and push button on a coin-sized board.

Tags
Dual-antenna Ethernet reader

The dual-antenna Ethernet reader for OpenBeacon.

Readers
Watch band housings

3D-printed watch housing for the OpenBeacon tag, compatible with a wide range of third-party watch bands.

Housings
Sealed watch housing

The watchband housing is protected against moisture with a rubber O-ring.

Housings
Tag in its housing

The proximity tag in its 3D-printed housing, opened to show the CR2032 cell that powers two to four weeks of offline logging.

Housings
Clip-on housing

Clip-on housing for the OpenBeacon tag; the button stays accessible.

Housings
Original Sputnik tag

The original OpenBeacon Sputnik tag as used at the Chaos Communication Congress in 2006.

Tags
CCC Sputnik tag

The Sputnik tag built for the Chaos Communication Congress, with its push button and coin cell.

Tags
Sputnik tags

Three Sputnik tags, the first OpenBeacon generation built for the Chaos Communication Congress.

Tags
Congress tag

OpenBeacon tag as used at the Chaos Communication Congress, with the clip that holds it to a lanyard.

Tags
Early PoE Ethernet reader

An early OpenBeacon Ethernet reader with Power-over-Ethernet, next to a proximity tag.

Readers
USB 2 reader

OpenBeacon USB 2 reader based on the AT91SAM7 Arm CPU.

Readers
Reader Light

The non-PoE OpenBeacon Reader Light as used for Project Blinkenlights Stereoscope.

Readers
Low-power sensor tag

Tag that scans a potentiometer 10 times per second and transmits a wireless notification on change. The CR2032 battery can last for up to 10 years.

Tags
LPC1342 long-term sensor tag

LPC1342-based OpenBeacon tag with a large battery for long-term sensors.

Tags
Badge holder with inlay

Badge holder with a 3D-printed inlay that holds an OpenBeacon tag invisibly behind an existing name tag.

Housings
OpenBeacon at BruCON 2011

Conference badges carrying OpenBeacon tags at BruCON 2011.

Deployments
Tag on a collar

Tags for people and animals: an OpenBeacon tag on a dog collar.

Deployments
Blinkenlights Stereoscope

OpenBeacon wireless dimmers turned Toronto City Hall into a giant display.

Deployments Documentation video Code on GitHub

Founder

Meet the founder

Milosch Meriac

Founder & CTO

Milosch Meriac has designed hardware, firmware and software defined radios (SDR) for more than 25 years, from open-source RFID tags to GNSS-jammer localization systems. At Bitqan that experience goes into the whole product: schematic, RF front end, firmware and enclosure.

Read the founder profile All selected work

Tell us what you want to build.

Write to us at contact@bitqan.ae for collaboration or a free consultation. We look forward to hearing from you!

Email contact@bitqan.ae

Open hardware for open beacons

Several generations of tags, readers and housings

nRF52 OpenBeacon tag

nRF51 log tag

Bluetooth proximity tag

nRF51 tag, top side

Dual-antenna Ethernet reader

Watch band housings

Sealed watch housing

Tag in its housing

Clip-on housing

Original Sputnik tag

CCC Sputnik tag

Sputnik tags

Congress tag

Early PoE Ethernet reader

USB 2 reader

Reader Light

Low-power sensor tag

LPC1342 long-term sensor tag

Badge holder with inlay

OpenBeacon at BruCON 2011

Tag on a collar

Blinkenlights Stereoscope

Meet the founder

Tell us what you want to build.