A step-by-step guide on how to integrate NFC , Tasker, SharpTools, ST and a relay controlled deadbolt

SharpTools.io (web) Legacy Tasker/Widgets
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Hello SharpTools community.
I think SharpTools is exactly what i am looking for and i am ready to buy the full version. However, and please, is there a way you can guide me on how to program on tasker / sharptools?? A step by step if you will…
My scenario goes something like this;
An NFC tag will be hidden next to my door so when i approach it with my Android phone with Tasker in it, the tag will scan and in return will tell SmartThings through SharpTools to trigger a relay/Switch which will finally actuate a deadbolt on my door??
Please walk me through it i can learn fast and follow directions well
Any help will be greatly appriciated
Denis

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Hi Denis - thanks for the post. Yes, I can put together a guide showing how to use an NFC tag to trigger actions in SmartThings. After our previous chat on the SmartThings community, I brought the NFC tags with me to the office, so I’ll need to swing by the office to pick them up before I can do a full test! :smiley:

In the meantime, here’s the approach:

  1. Install and setup SharpTools, making sure you’ve authorized the things you want to control (eg. the relay for your deadbolt)
  2. Install Tasker
  3. Install Trigger
  4. Open Tasker and configure your desired action:
    1. Create a new Task
    2. In the Task, add an Action > Plugin > SharpTools > A Thing
    3. Configure the A Thing plugin to control your desired relay
      Note: For example, if your relay has a mode to turn on and then back off after a second, run that command. If your Relay doesn’t have an action like that, you make want to program additional actions in Tasker…
      For example:
      1. A Thing: Relay: on()
      2. Wait: 3 seconds
      3. A Thing: Relay: off()
  5. Open Trigger and setup an NFC Trigger:
    1. Tap the New icon in the bottom right
    2. Select NFC
    3. Tap Next
    4. Optionally, set any restrictions or just click Done to continue.
    5. Click Next
    6. From the Choose an Action screen, scroll down, tap Tasker to expand it, and check the box on Tasker Task
    7. Click Next
    8. Tap the magnifying glass icon and select your desired task you created earlier.
    9. Tap ‘Add to Task’
    10. Tap Next
    11. Tap Done
    12. Place your phone over the tag to complete the tag initialization
2 Likes
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Ok i just installed everything and it works like a charm :slight_smile:
What other ideas do you have as far as nfc tags or my door automation? how can i make it more complicated like when i leave the area the door to automatically lock etc?
any other fun projects with tasker and sharp tools and ST … i am definitely looking in what the community has to say and what is the rest of the users doing
thank you very much
Denis

4

Denis-
You could use a “presence” profile to determine when to lock the door when you leave.

For example, when you exit a geofence from AutoLocation, you could trigger an exit event or door locking event. The following article has some details on how you might achieve that as well as links to relevant SmartThings posts:

The tasker-examples tag in the support site has some articles with interesting use cases of SharpTools and Tasker:
https://help.sharptools.io/portal/kb/tags/tasker-examples

And the following post from the SharpTools community might also be interesting to you:

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I couldn’t get my tag to work. If I run the task or trigger manually it works but scanning the NFC tag didn’t.

What NFC tags is anyone using ?

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I’m using some NTAG213 tags by Kamor. It doesn’t look like the exact tags I use are available on Amazon anymore, but several other NTAG213 compatible brands seem to be.

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I am using Tagstand. NTAG213 and cant get it to work. What’s the difference between the 213 and the 215 ?

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Based on a quick Google search, it looks like it’s primarily just the total amount of storage on each tag… since the tags are just being used as an ID and all the data/logic is stored in Tasker, the amount of storage doesn’t really matter for this particular case.

That being said, if you wanted to actually store data to the tag (like a JSON structure, contact information, etc) then more memory might actually matter.

The funny thing is, I actually bought the NTAG 213’s as my nephew had a Lego Dimensions game where you could buy physical characters figurines and place them on a pad to unlock them in the game. I wanted to see if I could mimic the physical figurines with virtual tags and the 213 was the recommended tag.

Are you able to read or write data from the tags using any of the available NFC tools on Google Play?

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Yes I can write and whats odd is any other NFC routine I use works… Anything Smarttools and task/trigger doesn’t. I can run it manually in either tasker and trigger and it runs.

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Ahh it didn’t like the condition I set… I had it to check if I was connected to my WIFI SSID and it wasn’t checking it correctly.

Removed that and re-wrote the tag and it works.

1 Like
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Thanks for the update! Glad you got it working!