RFID- and NFC-Enabled Smart Washing Machine Detects Fabric

What if your washing machine could detect what you've put in the laundry and adjust its own settings automatically? This week, NXP Semiconductors is showcasing its RFID- and NFC-enabled smart washing machine demonstrator at Embedded World in Nuremberg, Germany, featuring advanced yet practical wireless functionality. The most popular feature of the demo is fabric detection: The washing machine reads information about the fabric type and color from RFID-tagged buttons, helps you avoid mixing white and dark laundry, and optimizes the washing program based on the characteristics it reads from both the clothing and the detergent itself.
Another popular feature of the demo is NFC-based maintenance: Using an NFC-enabled phone, an authorized maintenance technician can perform diagnostics on the smart washing machine onsite, change its status, upgrade firmware, and launch an app that communicates directly with the manufacturer's service center using the phone's built-in 3G connection.
"Major home appliances are becoming 'smarter' by the day -- yet we've only started to explore the universe of possibilities when it comes to two-way communication," said Jan Willem Vogel, senior director, industrial applications marketing, NXP Semiconductors. "We're particularly excited about our new smart washing demonstrator, which brings together our advanced application insights, our expertise in RFID and NFC, as well as our broad-based understanding of the complex sub-systems driving white goods today. The demo also showcases the breadth of NXP's portfolio -- the most extensive in the semiconductor industry when it comes to home appliances."