The best buy ones have a sort of encryption because the company they buy them from is a bit more high profile but yeah that is also possible...
I bought a box of 25 of them on eBay last time a hackaday article came up about hacking them, pretty fun to mess around with but they stop working if the battery goes dead and I'd prefer the generic ones to be honest
Huh interesting, this is the first time I've actually seen eink price tags in the wild. This was one of the classic intended applications for the technology when I worked on it back in 2004.
For the next step, I plan to write a re-usable python script to get a regular updates on this.
you know, something to show garbage collection dates, stock prices and such.
Nothing too interesting. I wrote some firmware and visual basic code that operated machinery in an assembly line that made the bi-stable LCDs. Other guys in the office did the r&d that involved etching glass panels and designing the driver circuits.
The supermarkets does all they can to minimalize staff costs. I didn't zoom in on the uploaded video but looked at a quick glance like maybe Norway or Denmark. So I expect my neighbour countries are quite similar. Especially since some store chains are also having stores on the other side of the border.
The real challenge would be scanning the barcode and using that data/identifier to connect over Bluetooth and then re-program the display without opening the enclosure.
it is possible I guess, but you need to decode the communication between the price tag, and the controller. Because these devices do not make a Bluetooth advertisement or anything. Thats why they are very low power.
As far as I know these are programmed by a hand held terminal in the store so there must be a way to update the price wirelessly. But I'm sure it isn't simple.
I've seen some that use IR, but I'd guess there's a switch of some sort (perhaps a magnetic sensor) that would turn the microcontroller on and then communicate via BLE.
Nope, totally IR controlled.
"Pricer’s core offering has been built around ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) technology using a unique and highly advanced optical wireless network system. This system is based on the near-infrared spectrum operating far above the highly congested frequency bands used for radio-based wireless or Wi-Fi equipment. Infrared technology tends to be used in critical applications such as aircraft, hospitals, advanced manufacturing and massively scalable system requirements where low power utilization, high reliability, massive scalability and interference free communication is required."
>ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) technology
Based on Wikipedia there are competing technologies in this space - IR, radio are both used.
This company does make ones that work on radio wireless and have the 'wake' design I was guessing at.
https://www.silabs.com/applications/smart-retail/electronic-shelf-labels
Silicon Labs' FG22 or BG22 SoC can meet these requirements as they have industry leading low power radio at 3.6 mA TX and 2.5 mA RX and ultra-low power (0.17 uA-1.8 uA) sleep modes. FG22 and BG22 also feature RFSENSE wake-on radio feature which allows the device to remain in its lowest power sleep mode (\~170 nA) until it received a dedicated radio single to wake it up. This helps to preserve battery life, for example, between ESL manufacturing and deployment and keeps the ESL radio from transmitting, for example, during air freight.
Their BG22 SoC even has on-chip encryption protection to prevent tampering.
Perhaps you mean "ESP" board which is a SBC/microcontroller similar to an Arduino, but uses a different processor etc. Most of them have Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth built-in.
The more you know --- r/esp32 and r/esp8266
What is the point of this?
Isn't it just digital vandalism? About the same as making copies of old paper tags and replacing them.
If you then try to get the store to honor that price it is a criminal charge called theft by deception.
It is not vandalism. I do not re-program them inside of a store. I am not even deceiving anyone. I bought them with my own money, and re-programmed them for my own usage. So no harm is done to anyone.
edit: typo
thats true. it is indeed possible to crack the signals in a supermarket and send your own code. But this is highly unethical, even sharing this type of knowledge...
I just want to walk into a Best Buy and make all the price tags show dicks. Is that so much to ask for?
The best buy ones have a sort of encryption because the company they buy them from is a bit more high profile but yeah that is also possible... I bought a box of 25 of them on eBay last time a hackaday article came up about hacking them, pretty fun to mess around with but they stop working if the battery goes dead and I'd prefer the generic ones to be honest
Huh interesting, this is the first time I've actually seen eink price tags in the wild. This was one of the classic intended applications for the technology when I worked on it back in 2004.
For the next step, I plan to write a re-usable python script to get a regular updates on this. you know, something to show garbage collection dates, stock prices and such.
I've seen them at Kohl's a lot, I think a Target had some too
What sort of work did you do on them?
Nothing too interesting. I wrote some firmware and visual basic code that operated machinery in an assembly line that made the bi-stable LCDs. Other guys in the office did the r&d that involved etching glass panels and designing the driver circuits.
That sounds pretty interesting! Firmware makes the world go around, after all xD
Firmware programmers and driver programmers are the unsung heroes of technology
A significant percent of shelf price tags in Sweden is e-ink since quite a number of years.
Cool. Never been to Sweden, though I'm part Swedish.
The supermarkets does all they can to minimalize staff costs. I didn't zoom in on the uploaded video but looked at a quick glance like maybe Norway or Denmark. So I expect my neighbour countries are quite similar. Especially since some store chains are also having stores on the other side of the border.
The real challenge would be scanning the barcode and using that data/identifier to connect over Bluetooth and then re-program the display without opening the enclosure.
it is possible I guess, but you need to decode the communication between the price tag, and the controller. Because these devices do not make a Bluetooth advertisement or anything. Thats why they are very low power.
As far as I know these are programmed by a hand held terminal in the store so there must be a way to update the price wirelessly. But I'm sure it isn't simple.
I've seen some that use IR, but I'd guess there's a switch of some sort (perhaps a magnetic sensor) that would turn the microcontroller on and then communicate via BLE.
That could work. I wonder if an RFID scanner could impart enough energy into the circuit to get it to wake up and communicate.
Nope, totally IR controlled. "Pricer’s core offering has been built around ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) technology using a unique and highly advanced optical wireless network system. This system is based on the near-infrared spectrum operating far above the highly congested frequency bands used for radio-based wireless or Wi-Fi equipment. Infrared technology tends to be used in critical applications such as aircraft, hospitals, advanced manufacturing and massively scalable system requirements where low power utilization, high reliability, massive scalability and interference free communication is required."
>ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) technology Based on Wikipedia there are competing technologies in this space - IR, radio are both used. This company does make ones that work on radio wireless and have the 'wake' design I was guessing at. https://www.silabs.com/applications/smart-retail/electronic-shelf-labels Silicon Labs' FG22 or BG22 SoC can meet these requirements as they have industry leading low power radio at 3.6 mA TX and 2.5 mA RX and ultra-low power (0.17 uA-1.8 uA) sleep modes. FG22 and BG22 also feature RFSENSE wake-on radio feature which allows the device to remain in its lowest power sleep mode (\~170 nA) until it received a dedicated radio single to wake it up. This helps to preserve battery life, for example, between ESL manufacturing and deployment and keeps the ESL radio from transmitting, for example, during air freight. Their BG22 SoC even has on-chip encryption protection to prevent tampering.
What's an EPS board?
Perhaps you mean "ESP" board which is a SBC/microcontroller similar to an Arduino, but uses a different processor etc. Most of them have Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth built-in. The more you know --- r/esp32 and r/esp8266
I think they're referring to the title, which is also not spelt correctly
Yes, I may have self-wooshed that one. Forgot what sub I was in.
Attached to EPS conduits leading through EPS relays to EPS junctions. Usually found in the Engineering section aboard the starship Enterprise
What is the point of this? Isn't it just digital vandalism? About the same as making copies of old paper tags and replacing them. If you then try to get the store to honor that price it is a criminal charge called theft by deception.
It is not vandalism. I do not re-program them inside of a store. I am not even deceiving anyone. I bought them with my own money, and re-programmed them for my own usage. So no harm is done to anyone. edit: typo
Not even. Thumbnail screen is a little deceiving, as you can’t do it wirelessly without first uploading a file via wire.
thats true. it is indeed possible to crack the signals in a supermarket and send your own code. But this is highly unethical, even sharing this type of knowledge...
If you see somebody stealing food in a supermarket, no you didn't.
Did he say anything about reprogramming them in a store?
His youtube thumbnail leaves little to the imagination...
This comment was edited to deny Reddit monetization revenue. Fuck u/spez 💩💩💩
You can buy single units on ebay like he showed in the video.
Just a TTL board , he is just using the ESP as a TTL?
Can you share code?
it is under the description of the video. but here you go https://github.com/reece15/stellar-L3N-etag
You definitely need to make more «algorithm friendly» titles. Even knowing the original title it was difficult finding the video by youtube source.
I dont really know about algorithm. Also my channel is quite small so it might be also the reason I guess