RFIDiva

There are so many rules when it comes to doing laundry. You have to separate your colors and whites, towels and linens, make a dry cleaning pile, and then there’s our personal preferences for separation – everyone has their own rules. But beyond that, we have to decide what we are going to put in the dryer, what temperature the water should be, what kind of detergent to use, which cycle we should choose etc. The politics of doing laundry can make anyone crazy, not to mention that none of us really know exactly how to wash clothes anyway without taking an advanced textiles class.

A wonderfabric has yet to be invented where clothes wash themselves, but the next best thing has been introduced: a Smart Washing Machine, AKA a washing machine equipped with RFID and NFC. Last week at the Embedded World Show in Germany, NXP presented this wonderful invention. This machinery combines a perfect marriage of two RFID technologies- item level tagging (where every single item is tagged) and RFID sensors. These machines are designed to read the RFID tags on every single article of clothing and know what washing cycle it needs. These RFID tags carry information about that piece of clothing like the fabric and the color so that the washing machine knows how that item should be washed. Another advanced feature is that it can also know how to wash the clothes based on the detergent that you use. Now you’ll never have to worry about turning all your t-shirts and socks pink or getting bleach spots on your favorite sweats or turning your previously black clothes grey ever again. The NFC technology is designed for detecting problems with the washing machine. When there is an error or a malfunction with the actual machine, the software communicates with the manufacturer to notify them of the problem. Then the technician can remotely fix the error and update the firmware.

Kelly Ripa already told us about her “smart”  stove with the 30 second water boiler (I still don’t believe it), so naturally all the other home appliances are sure to follow in this smart trend. Next thing you know your dishwasher will just randomly start doing dishes for you. If only.