Which beacon should I use with openhabian and Raspberry pi 3b for presence detection?

Hello everyone,
I am implementing a home automation system with lifx bulbs, a motion eye multisensor and now I want to add a beacon to use it as presence detector. What I want to achieve is:
Once motion is detected from my motion sensor turn on the lights and with the beacon once it is detected cancel the timer/rule that would turn off the light and keep it open while the presence of the beacon is being detected from the raspberry pi.
My question is, can I use any beacon I want or are there some specific beacons that will be able to get detected from raspberry pi? Also, is the distance that the beacon is visible from the raspberry pi adjustable? Finally, please recommend me some beacons that could do the trick if you know any!
I have checked out the market and found some that might be working but since I am a started with IOT and openhab, any advice apricated!
Beacons I am considering for this:
1.https://www.amazon.de/nRF51822-Bluetooth-Kurzstrecke-Nherungsgert-Leuchtfeuer/dp/B00UZFZE88?SubscriptionId=AKIAJFC43ILMBEVAIKVQ&tag=one-smart-home-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B00UZFZE88
2. https://www.beaconzone.co.uk/i8?search=i8
Best regards John

I think you will be happier with a solution like FIND3 or reelyActive. Both have room level precision.

Any beacon should work.

Just using a single RPi is not going to work in this case because it can’t tell what room you are in, just that you are home.

You can use signal strength as a proxy for distance from the RPi but realize it is not going to be exact since the signal strength can be asked by a lot of factors.

Hello @rlkoshak and thanks for your time reading and replying my post. I was studying last and researching for some more information for what I need to do and maybe a better solution! I found out, from your reelyActive tutorial post some information that looked attractive for what I want to accomplish. Furthermore, I did order a menew technologies ibeacon i8 to do the job. So now I just have to wait for it to arrive, so I can start doing the trial and error work. I have some questions for you incase you could help me out with my project. (Still under research about how I am going to implement reelyActive)
So I am running raspberry pi 3B with openhabian,

  1. Can I use reallyActive with openhabian?
  2. Do I need additional hardware except the beacon to make the presence detection system to work?

Best regards John.

I would use an esp32 for its BLE. You can scan ble and other devices such as your watch, phone, etc. Install several in different rooms. Create a simple test to determine rssi to distance ratio, and there you go, you have a multi room bluetooth beacon for roughly $5 per esp32/room. You would only need 3 to triangulate, or install 1 per room if you want it to be room-specific. Esp32 comes with wifi and other sensors you might want, such as a hall sensor, touch, etc. If you place the beacon on the ceiling or anywhere in ‘line of sight’ it can be very accurate.

I have several throughout the house, and right now I am experimenting on esp32 ble beacon for the car.

Hi @luckymallari, thanks for your time replying my post. I have been checking around for a solution in my problem quite a while, and I think reelyActive suits me best for the moment. I have already ordered the beacon i8 and it’s on the way home. I will experiment with it as soon as it arrives and if it does not do the trick I will keep in my the esp32 solution.

Yes. openHABian is just a set of scripts to set up a machine. It doesn’t break anything.

If you want room precision detection you will need one RPi per room.

Would you share the code you are using on the ESP32?

Hello @rlkoshak , I appreciate your help and the useful information. I am guessing those scripts are available here: https://reelyactive.github.io/make-a-pi-hub.html .
Otherwise please can you provide me some information for where can I find them or some guidance? I have not seen anything else around.
Best regards John.

It is all the same scripts. The difference is the configuration. See the reelyActive revisited tutorial. It shows setting it up for multiple sensors.