Track and Tackle Chores Using RFID

Household chores are a necessary task, and in order to get his kids to pitch in, hacker “alastair-a” has come up with a novel RFID reporting system. His setup takes the form of a small 3D-printed box with an LCD display and a rotary dial for user input.

Users turn the dial to see what tasks are available on the screen. When they’re finished, the industrious kid can then scan an RFID chip to signify that it’s been done, and register who has done it. Tasks are tracked based on time completed, and if something becomes overdue, that status is indicated by an asterisk after the title.

The system is powered by an Arduino Nano, along with a DS1307 RTC module for timekeeping and an RFID reader to identify each child. It’s a fairly straightforward build, with the reader communicating via an SPI interface, and the encoder wired up using Nano pins 2 and 3 and interrupts. The integrated button input on the encoder is also connected, and while not currently used, it could certainly have some use in the future, either in this implementation or for others that decide to pursue the project. Code and wiring info are available in alastair-a’s write-up.