AirTags Bluetooth ID Tracking explained

[ipearx]

For the geeks out there, I've been experimenting with AirTags and how they can be tracked via the Bluetooth ID the device broadcasts. So you can detect them on a Raspberry Pi for example. Apple does randomly change the unique identifier frequently, but I learned a way to do avoid that. The only downside: you can't have the tag paired to a phone So if you want it for this purpose, best to buy a tile I suggest. But at least it is possible!
I made a video explaining it here

 

[Bromeo]

Nicely done! I've been thinking about gutting an automatic cat feeder I have that uses proprietary radio tags (with non-replaceable batteries, at that), to using off-the-shelf Bluetooth beacon tags. Tile isn't the only option in that space, either.

Interesting use case you outline for glider club.

 

[ipearx]

Nicely done! I've been thinking about gutting an automatic cat feeder I have that uses proprietary radio tags (with non-replaceable batteries, at that), to using off-the-shelf Bluetooth beacon tags. Tile isn't the only option in that space, either.

Interesting use case you outline for glider club.

Thanks Bromeo, if you can suggest other devices that are cheaper than tiles let me know. A number of the cheaper chinese ones come at the expense of much shorter battery life (3-6 months vs 1 year for tile). I also figured the tiles are useful to find your keys too. But a good reliable cheaper alternative would be good.

 

[aComplexTheory]

For the geeks out there, I've been experimenting with AirTags and how they can be tracked via the Bluetooth ID the device broadcasts. So you can detect them on a Raspberry Pi for example. Apple does randomly change the unique identifier frequently, but I learned a way to do avoid that. The only downside: you can't have the tag paired to a phone So if you want it for this purpose, best to buy a tile I suggest. But at least it is possible!
I made a video explaining it here

A side thought for your aircraft application: You could add a GPS tracker, trusted device MAC table, set trigger alerts for a transmitter to check against the MAC table and the GPS tracker for distance and trusted device to make an alert system when an unregistered person takes off with the vehicle. I'm unsure if you already had taken these factors into account with your previous setup, but it's probably pretty similar to commercial applications. From there, you can do pretty much anything you want with the right additional hardware/software solutions.
Overall, this seems like a pretty useful implementation for a pi. Thank you for the insight.