How do Skylanders work? RFID tags, passive LEDs, and Arduino

RFID tags are a common technology - they're used in ID fobs, library books, and security and travel cards, among many other applications. They're also the technology used in games like "Skylanders" and "Disney Infinity" to recognise which model figure has been placed on the "portal" sensor attached to an XBox/Playstation.

What's interesting (and, as far as I'm aware, pretty unique) about the Skylanders "LightCore" models demonstrated in this video is that, in addition to enabling the RFID sensor to uniquely identify the model, they also use induction from the same electromagnetic field to power an LED - lighting up the model when it is brought in range of the RFID reader, but requiring no batteries or other connections. In this video, I test that technology by dismantling a Skylanders "Eruptor" model and successfully reading its tag (while simultaneously lighting its LED!) on an Arduino RFID reader.



More information at https://github.com/playfultechnology/...


Part of my Escape Room Tech Advent Calender for 2019!



For more projects, see   / playfultech