MicroNFCBoard: Python API

Python API for MicroNFCBoard

Features

NFC technologies

• SNEP client (send NDEF messages via P2P)
• SNEP server (receive NDEF messages via P2P)
• Tag writer type 2 (encode tags with NDEF messages)
• Tag reader type 2 (decode NDEF messages from tags)
• Tag emulator type 4
• ... any combination

NDEF records

• URI record
• Text record
• Smart poster record
• MIME record

License

This code is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License: http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

The USB HID code (in the interface/) directory is from pyOCD, licensed under the Apache 2.0 license as well

Getting started

Flashing the firmware

Press the Bootloader button (right) and hold it while inserting the USB cable in your computer. The board should appear as an USB mass storage device with the label CRP DISABLD. If you are upgrading the firmware, you can also hold the Bootloader button while pressing the Reset button and then releasing it.

Download the current firmware (version 1.5): https://github.com/AppNearMe/micronfcboard-python/releases/download/1.5/firmware-MICRONFCBOARD-d4f6aecb7316.bin

Windows

Open the CRP DISABLD drive, erase the firmware.bin file and drag and drop the firmware file into the disk. Once done, press the Reset button (left) for a second and release it.

On Windows, you will need to use this file for proper installation of the serial driver: http://dev.appnearme.com/static/micronfcboard/drivers/micronfcboard_serial.inf

Mac OS X

Using the terminal, erase the firmware.bin file from the CRP DISABLD drive (usually /Volumes/CRP\ DISABLD) and copy the firmware file to the disk. Once done, press the Reset button (left) for a second and release it.

Linux

Flashing the firmware using the above methods might not work. If so, use the following command:

umount /dev/sdX
dd if=firmware-MICRONFCBOARD-*.bin of=/dev/sdX seek=4

Replace /dev/sdX with the correct drive path. Make sure to select the correct drive to avoid losing data!

Installing the Python dependencies

This Python library should work with any standard Python 2.7 installation. It relies on a different library for USB transactions, depending on your OS.

Most of them can be installed with a package manager (such as pip).

Windows

Install PyWinUSB.

Mac OS X

Install Cython-HIDAPI.

Linux

Install PyUSB. A notable dependy is libusb-1.0.

Running the examples

Navigate to the examples/ directory.

Basic

• The blink.py example will blink the board's LEDs a few times.

Tags

• The tag_reader.py example will poll for tags and display a tag's UID, decoding a NDEF message if available.
• The tag_writer.py example will poll for tags and display a tag's UID, and then write a NDEF message to the tag.

P2P

• The p2p_server.py example will poll for peers and wait for the peer to push a NDEF message (works with a NFC phone/tablet or another MicroNFCBoard).
• The p2p_client.py example will poll for peers and push a NDEF message to the peer (works with a NFC phone/tablet or another MicroNFCBoard).

Tag emulation

• The tag_emulator.py example will encode a NDEF message, poll for initiators and decode a new NDEF message if written to the emulated tag.

Working with multiple NFC technologies

All the examples above can be combined as you wish. It should be noted though that most NFC phones will favour handling P2P over reading a tag if you are emulating a tag and using P2P.

Typical combinations

• Tag reader/writer + P2P
• Tag reader/writer + Tag emulation
• Tag reader/writer + P2P (for phones) + Tag emulation (for "legacy" readers)

Issues, bugs and feature requests

Please use GitHub's issues platform: https://github.com/AppNearMe/micronfcboard-python/issues

Work in progress

• AppNearMe mode
• Type 1, 3 and 4 reader/writer