The Blecon Scanner

Introduction to how the Blecon Scanner is used to obtain Device Identity

Introduction

The Blecon Scanner is a feature of the Blecon App that helps builders create high-quality consumer-grade customer and installer device registration user experiences.

Identifying a device is a required first step in registering it. The Blecon Scanner provides you with a quick-to-integrate device onboarding process, as commonly seen in consumer devices. Here's the high-level process:

1. Your customer installs the Blecon App

2. Your smartphone app or web application invokes the Blecon App Scanner via a magic link

3. Your customer uses the Blecon App to scan a device over Bluetooth

4. The Blecon App sends the device ID to your app via the callback URL you specified when invoking the App

Using the Blecon Scanner

The Blecon Scanner identifies a device and returns its identity so that the device can be registered.

When building your customer device registration flow, you invoke the Blecon Scanner by having the user open a URL in this form:

https://blecon.app/scanner?callback=http://test.com/your-callback

This will prompt the user to install the Blecon App (if required) and then identify the device using the Blecon Scanner functionality. The device identity will be returned to the provided callback URL as a parameter called device_id.

Example:

http://your-company.com/your-callback-handler?device_id=02e46331-98a3-4a9f-82c5-bc6b9e1cc6f0

The callback URL can return the device identity to a web or mobile application as required.

Identification Mechanisms

Device Triggered Identification

The Scanner supports Device Announce, a state triggered by the device. Typically, you would trigger this state by pressing a button on the device. Other triggers might include shaking the device, applying power, or any predictable external condition the installer can cause.

When invoked, the Scanner scans for devices in the Device Identify state. It returns that device's identity to the callback URL as soon as it finds one.

You can simulate this on a dev board by using the Announce command in the Blecon CLI.