Object Finder

Disclaimer

Please do not email me about this project without reading the disclaimer above.

Introduction

I wrote this essay circa 1996, but at some point it quietly disappeared I decided to rewrite it rather than dig through all the backups. Since that time there have been a number of commercial implementations.

The basic idea is you lose your keys, glasses, wallet, TV remote, personal recorder, calculator, ruler… You need something to help you home in on the lost object. You key in the name or number of that lost object and it gives you some idea of the direction to look. A tag on the object itself might beep or flash.

The most difficult application would be to invent something to find eyeglasses. Whatever you attach to them has to be small, light and unobtrusive. Eyeglasses are also the most commonly misplaced object. They are also especially hard to find when you don’t have your glasses to see to find them.

Alternate for Static Objects

A related problem is to help you find books, cooking equipment, spices, food, camping equipment etc. that you stored away carefully, but forgot where. You put RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags on each item and record where you put them when you stored them away. You could label your bookshelves and storage boxes and kitchen cabinets with a Dymo label. When you need to find something, the computer tells you the Dymo label name and the RFID. You can then rapidly go to the right bin and scan by RFID.

Some of this material might be stored in a storage locker or garage. The advantage of this approach is it handles thousands of times, however, it does not handle items that have been moved from their official place.

BlueTooth Approach

Another approach is to use tiny BlueTooth transmitters and Blue Tooth smartphones with special software as the locator. There are three classes of BlueTooth 1: range 100 meters, 2: range 10 meters and 3: range = 1 meter. Obviously class 3 will not work. Apple iPhones are class 2. Class 1 would take too much power. For example, the StickNFind system requires a iPhone 4S and above, iPad 3 and above (including iPad Mini and iPad Air), The New iPod Touch (5th generation and above), Samsung Galaxy S3 (Amazon Simple Storage Service) and above, Samsung Note II and above and any device running Android 4.3 or 4.4. A cheap Android phone is in the order of $85.

RFID Approach

RFID tags cost about each. They are small, light and flexible. They could be attached to glasses and clothing. However, I have not seen any RFID-based finders. Perhaps the sensor unit is too expensive. It must put out sufficient power to be reflected back since the tags have no power of their own. RFID technology allows cheap, compact tags, but not sound or flashing. RFID does not require batteries in the tags.

I have written several RFID companies. None returned my queries, not even a perfunctory dismissal.

One person suggested using a USB (Universal Serial Bus) smart card reader. However, its range is perhaps only 8 cm (3.15 in). Further, it will tell you the number on the card, but not the direction to it.

An RFID hobbyist told me to give up on RFID because it does not have enough range. You have have to be almost on top of the tag before you could detect it.

GPS (Global Positioning System) Approach

You might also use it to help you find a parked car. With GPS, it can tell you where it is. It might work by having a hidden GPS unity in your car, or it may be a hand held unit that remembers where you car was and guides you back to it via GPS.

The Tile App has a feature to help find stolen objects as well. It works by commandeering all the finders in your area to also search for the stolen item the next time they are used. This would only work if you had multiple Tile App users per block.

WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) Approach

Before you dismiss me as nuts, I am not suggesting putting a full blown Ethernet WiFi receiver inside every device that needs to be tracked. For the forseeble future that would be too costly and too bulky, however, the cost and size are shrinking rapidly.

What I am suggesting is putting ordinary finder technology inside the WiFi router box. It need have absolutely nothing to with WiFi. This is just where you house it and how you buy it, as a feature, not a device. I am further suggesting building in receiver technology at the factory inside easily lost objects such as digital recorders, remotes, calculators, portable GPS units, cellphones, eBook readers, DVD (Digital Video Disc) Cases, eyeglasses etc.

Why bother?

• As a marketing perk for WiFi routers. Customers cannot tell brands and models apart. The specs are meaningless. Adding finder ability sets a brand apart and justifies increased cost far in excess of the cost of the finder logic.
• The first WiFi company to do this can patent its scheme. Anyone who wants to play has to use their scheme forever.
• It avoids tags, glue and fragile, ugly add-ons to devices.
• The WiFi has access to a full blown computer. It does not need to provide it own logic, keyboard or screen. It can do it cheaply and cleanly.
• The WiFi already has radio-broadcasting ability built-in which may be adapted for finding.

How might it work? It would work much like other finders, except that its has a big screen to communicate with the user to select what is lost (possibly with photo) and to tell the user where it is (possibly with a map of the home) or with more meaningful words like under the couch in the den.

Commercial Finders

There are now hundreds of finder models. Most come from China. Some are as cheap as a dollar each. Most are designed for finding keys. The fob is too big to attach to glasses or a TV remote or a calculator. The cheapest ones work by whistling.

The trouble with ones where the keys make a noise is they get triggered by mistake all the time.

GPS Shopping

electronic link to Bushnell Back Track Original G2 Bk/Or

	recommend electronic⇒Bushnell Back Track Original G2 Bk/Or
	asin	B006U3ZJAM
	dim	7.49 × 8.99 × 1.90 cm 2.95 × 3.54 × 0¾ in
This product is not in stock at any of the Amazon stores. This little unit contains a GPS receiver, but contains no maps and has only the most rudimentary screen. It runs off two AAA batteries. There are variants in dozens of shapes and colours, most more expensive. This model comes in black, orange and silver. What possible use is it? You put in on your keychain and when you park your car you press a button to tell the unit Remember this spot. Then later, when you want to find your car, you press another button and an arrow appears that keeps pointing at where your car is (or at the next intermediate point on the way to your car.) If you use it in the woods, it will guide you back to where you started your hike. You can use it any time you need to get back to some starting place. You could use at an exposition to find your way back to the entrance. You could use it to find your way back to your hotel in Japan. Its bigger brothers behave like hiking GPSes without the maps. Specs.
Online electronic stores carrying Bushnell Back Track Original G2 Bk/Or amazon.com bestbuy.ca amazon.ca canadacomputers.com amazon.de ncix.ca amazon.es newegg.ca amazon.fr www.staples.ca amazon.it tigerdirect.ca amazon.co.uk bestbuy.com junglee.com ncixus.com other stores newegg.com www.staples.com tigerdirect.com
Greyed out stores probably do not have the item in stock

electronic link to GPS Tracking Device, BayTracker BT-2000 RealTime Spy Tracking Device

	recommend electronic⇒GPS Tracking Device, BayTracker BT-2000 RealTime Spy Tracking Device
	asin	B00LWE49GO
This device is not for navigating but for spying. It quite small — easy to conceal. You must set up a GSM/SIM data cellphone account for it and pay the monthly texting fees. It sends its position in periodically over the cellphone network. You could use it to locate your vehicle if it is stolen. You could use it to track where your teenage children drove and how fast. You could put it in a briefcase to track its whereabouts. You could use it to track the whereabouts of your pets, equipment, Alzheimer’s patients… It is battery powered, but it can also be hooked up to a car battery. It has a hidden microphone for covert operations. Basically it is a remote-controlled phone. 60-day standby battery.
Online electronic stores carrying GPS Tracking Device, BayTracker BT-2000 RealTime Spy Tracking Device amazon.com bestbuy.ca amazon.ca canadacomputers.com amazon.de ncix.ca amazon.es newegg.ca amazon.fr www.staples.ca amazon.it tigerdirect.ca amazon.co.uk bestbuy.com junglee.com ncixus.com other stores newegg.com www.staples.com tigerdirect.com
Greyed out stores probably do not have the item in stock

Summary

For finding keys, there are hundreds of inexpensive solutions. Just pick one that looks nice. For finding other things like TV Remotes, you need a small, flat and stickable receiver. All but one of the schemes I found with small receivers require a BlueTooth phone to run the finder application. If you don’t have one already, that is a fair extra expense. Though perhaps I should look into the cost of a second hand one without a connection plan.

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