I’ve been reviewing the various iBeacon docs and SDKs, and I currently see no evidence that Estimote is capable of acting in something like a promiscuous mode to detect all BT devices within a specific area, regardless of whether those devices have installed an app.
Additionally, I see no evidence that Estimote is capable of transmitting this information via a mesh or other organized BT network architecture to a central server.
Are my assumptions correct? Is it currently impossible to detect or report on the presence of arbitrary Bluetooth LE devices near the Estimote beacons without installing a custom app on the Bluetooth LE devices?
Thank you for your kind advice.
Correct, Estimote Beacons (and the vast majority of beacons on the market) are uni-directional only, i.e., they broadcast data, but do not actively scan for any devices. No mesh capabilities either.
How would you want to use such features should it exist? We’d love to hear more about your use case—it’s the feedback from our community that helps us shape our products.
I think its really important for y’all to develop “node” devices that can poll and relay sensor data to a DB/Server via wifi or cellular. The sensors are fantastic not only for contextual engagement but also for asset management, tracking and predictive maintenance.
In our use case we want the owners of these assets to be able to see the real-time usage data of the machine being tracked from wherever they are ( i.e not necessarily in the same building, let alone zip code) For example, if I put an estimote on a door, how does the Estimote tell me ( the building/business owner) that someone just opened the door?
We’re going to experiment with the following- We’re going to build a simple app that uses “triggers” to send notifications to our existing DB when the accelerometer detects different types of movement. Then we’re going to use cheap smartphones/tablets with the polling app always running, as nodes. This means our end user does not need to be anywhere near the building or the sensors, in order to receive updates and interact with whatever asset the estimote is tracking.
Are nodes on your roadmap?