9

Getting the most out of near-field communication

TUTORIAL

Some ideas on how to use NFC in your projects to great effect

Getting the most

out of near-field

communication

FC technology has become

cheaper, more accessible, and still

has the wow factor when tasks

are magically triggered or lights

appear to be powered out of

nowhere. So why aren’t we using it

more in our hacks? This tutorial looks at a few ways

it can be incorporated into your projects and even

used as information prompts for your displays at

maker events.

Let’s start with what NFC is – it’s a form of

communication or energy transfer that needs the item

to be in an electromagnetic field. The electromagnetic

spectrum is something that covers everything from

radio waves to x-rays, visible light, and microwaves.

NFC is in the 13.57 MHz range, which puts it in the

radio frequencies, but you don’t need a licence to

transmit on it!

There are generally two loops: one to provide the

power, and the other to use that power to induce a

current and send data, or use it directly. If you stick

an LED connected to a coil into an NFC field, it will

take that energy from the field and light up the LED. I

made an example of this by soldering an LED to a coil

of wire and then every time I hold it in a field at the

right frequency, the LED lights up.

N

Tanya Fish

tanurai

Tanya has a day job

as a crew member at

Pimoroni. In her spare

time she makes stuff

because she can’t

help herself, enthuses

loudly about all things

STEAM, and also

herds chihuahuas.

Below

These spell-casting fingernails are ideal

for terrorising small children (image by Sandy MacDonald)