Amazon dash + openframeworks

I needed to get a way to use the amazon dash buttons in OF. I read this Instructable and used the same method in OF (detecting the ARP request when the button turns on and connects to the network). This method uses a modified version of ofxSniffer, by HalfdanJ.

You can find the code here.

This library will give you limited access to button presses from amazon dash buttons (limited as all it does is listen for the ARP request when you press the button and it turns on- still useful and quite cheap for a long life battery powered wifi button for a more detailed and complicated hack see here).

To receive these button presses just follow the instructions here but stop at part 4 of the instructions (i.e. don’t select a product to order with the dash). This setup will remember the wifi SSID and password you associated your button with. Repeat for as many buttons as you like. Once the buttons are associated with your network you can disconnect from the internet if you like.

Now you can run the example_amazon_dash, when you press the button it should give an arp request result and show the mac address of the button (it will also give a timestamp of the button press). To identify each button and separate it from other ARP requests on your network just check the mac address of the incoming request.