Hi there, I’m just about to order a large batch of Photons and will be recording the ID of each one so that I can record which customer each one goes to. The reason for this is so I can see how many they have connected online and can start charging service fees appropriately.
In the assembly process, I will specify that each one be connected via serial and the ID be copied and pasted to a barcode printer which will then be printed out and physically stuck to the PCB.
Just before sending to the customer, I will then scan each barcode to make a list of IDs which can be related to that customer.
This will work fine, but has added precious minutes onto the assembly process of each unit, therefore increasing cost! Would it be possible for a barcode ID to be attached to each Photon by Particle before shipping? Could it be done simultaneously when specifying the ID? I’ve no doubt that this would be useful to anyone wanting to record IDs (without plugging in) for relating to products/customers/shipments etc.
Yes I have a Product in Console with around 50 devices - each unit had to be taken apart and the Photon manually read via Serial before re-assembling the whole thing - a very laborious which I don’t intend to do again!
Yes, when you order from the Particle wholesale store you get a file containing all of the device IDs in the order. For reels, they’re in reel order. For trays I believe they are in a predictable order, but I don’t know what that order is off the top of my head.
Unfortunately, at this time we can’t customize what you’re shipped to add additional labels, for example.
The device IDs file should be emailed to you by the wholesale store when your order is processed.
I think the barcode in the trays is the same as the side barcode on individual devices. Does it look like PH-160329-KVXY-0? There is a relationship, but not a useful one. The number 160329 is the manufacturing serial number. There’s no formula to convert them as the device IDs are randomly generated. And there’s no exposed service to look up a device ID from a serial number. So it’s not really all that useful. The four letter code (KVXY) is what the SSID ends with.
Yes, the barcode is similar, although in my case it looks like PNH-160329-KVXY-0 because I use no headers. Shame there’s no exposed service to match the ID to it - could have been really useful!
I have double checked, and there has not been any email related to the order with an attachment of any file, and I have checked the spam folder. I have also logged into the wholesale store and cannot find anything there either. Is there anywhere else I should look?
For those interested, (after much PM’ing) one of the developments from the Particle team is to incorporate the QR codes on their modules as a secondary association path, linking to the device ID.
I think this would be a neat solution and would mean you’d have access to the device ID simply by scanning it with your phone - no need for power or connecting the module to USB etc.
They’ve got improvements slated for some of their products by the middle of next year, potentially around the end of Q2, but they don’t have a definitive short term date yet for the QR codes on the modules. This is partially because that feature will be driven by customer demand, so the more they know about projected manufacturing runs and volumes, the better chance they will have for prioritizing that functionality!
So if this is a feature you want to see, get requesting people!!!
Not sure you can. I still haven’t even heard anything regarding associating the QR code to the ID yet.
The way we do it is to connect (via serial) to each product on the assembly line, press “i” to show ID, copy the 24 digits over to a (Code-128) barcode printer, then stick that onto the relevant board.
When it comes to sending the product out to a customer, we scan the barcode and add the ID to the Particle console.
Here is my idea on what you could do if you are stuck: Get the list of IDs from the wholesaler (as @rickkas7 said above), add them to Particle dashboard*. Program your product to send the information you need (including its ID) when a customer connects it to the internet.
* note that Particle will start billing for these regardless of if they are connected or not, so if you haven’t sold them yet, consider cashflow issues.
Well already sent email to wholesaler but NO REPLY . They are super busy
I am also planning to use "usb serial connect" method to get ID but hope at factory drive is easy to install because here in many of our PC not able to install properly in one try.
Sticker or barcode print is not possible now so added one packet to get ID by app and also it takes customer info and send to our server.
Yes thank you. I must have to enter device in console when it's ready to ship so can avoid extra charges.
. They are super busy 