Monday, May 25, 2009
Week 5 - Practical and Presentation
This week post like not much to blog about =( But I shall still blog because it's weekly assignment-base.
okay, first of all, we did our practical lessons about how to use RFID technology in access control. We did our practical and implemented RFID technology on the sample lift. We followed the paper and type our codes in eclipse. I learned a lot of codes like how the system will react when different codes are typed in the program. For example, the buttonPressed() event in the output and input buttons, the onLight() event to switch on the different lights when being pressed and the offLight() event to turn it off when the lift reached its desired level. The codes for getting the card scanned and reading its ID is interesting. It is the cardChanged() event where the system actually prints out the card number and activates the lift. So far, it's really an interesting practical and I learned a lot! After the practical, Mr. Kong also questioned us about the questions provided in the paper. He explained quite a bit when we did not get the full answer. Not a bad experience =)
RFID card reader to scan the card for access
After that, in the afternoon, we did our presentations. Well, I personally think we did not too bad already, but we will definitely be better in the next round. Will heed Mr. Kong's feedback, to be more organized..^^
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Week 4 - Practical (Using RFID technology to track outdoor assets)
This week journal a bit special..the classroom we reported to also a bit special..different from our original classroom..It is located at the aeroscout room..and we used a total 4 hours to complete our practical lessons!!
There are a few of the tracking systems and all of them have their own benefits in implementing.
- Able to track the vehicles in the carpark
- Updated information on vehicles informations
- Save time and cost as it locates quickly
- Accurate inventory report
- Prevent theft and misplace of vehicles
Aeroscout Architecture
We learnt about the active tags that need battery to operate on and the passive tags that do not require any batteries. Furthermore, we saw the similarities in the location receiver and a router..it looks alike, but works totally different. Location Receiver receive transmissions from AeroScout’s Wi-Fi-based Active RFID tags. They then execute sophisticated radio signal measurements and calculations that are sent to the AeroScout Engine in order to determine accurate location.
In this week practical, we used one PC pre-loaded with Tag Manager and Aeroscout Engine, Tag, Tag Activator, Access Point, Location Receiver, Wireless Bridge and Exciter. Peter made us do hands-on with these equipments to set up a tracking system outdoor and show us on how the system response. Everything was shown clealy on the screen when my classmates actually brought 2 tags outside to place. The distance shown on the computer is roughly about the calculated distance that they placed away from each other.
Tag Activator
Aeroscout Active TagsThe Tag Activator is use as a wireless bridge between the Tag Manager and software residing in the PC. I also learn from the lesson that the faster transmission interval that we set, the shorter the lifespan of the battery. We can determine that the tag activation is successful by seeing that the light on the tag is blinking.
``*Writing RFID journals in progress*``
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Monday, May 11, 2009
Week 3 - RFID standards
EPC is like UPC(Universal Product Code), it is a globally unique serial number that identifies an item in the supply chain. This allows inquiries to be made about a single instance of an item, wherever it is within the supply chain. Having a little bit of research, the 96-bit EPC is the most prevailing version and contains information about the manufacturer. Due to the detailed informations that EPC can hold, it is central to the RFID compliance initiatives set in motion by many leading retailers.
Electronic product code..Unique identification number
Structure:
All EPC numbers contain a header indentifying the encoding scheme that has been used. EPC encoding schemes frequently contain a serial number which an be used to uniquely identify one object.
- For the EPC Version 1.3 supports:
- General Identifier(GID) GID-96
- Global Trade Item Number(GTIN)SGTIN-96 SGTIN-198
- GS1 Serial Shipping Container Code(SSCC)SSCC-96
- GS1 Global Location Number(GLN), SGLN-96 SGLN-195
- GS1 Global Returnable Asswt Identifier(GRAO) GRAI-96 GRAI-170
- GS1 Global Individual Asset Identifier(GIAI) GIAI-96 GIAI-202
Class 1 Generation 2 UHF Air Interface Protocol Standard "Gen II" also commonly known as Gen II standard, this standard defines the physical and logical requirement for a RFID system operating in the 860 MHz - 960 MHz frequency range. The system comprises Readers and Labels.
EPC global standard network architechture Practical lesson:
We did an experiment this week on the high frequency and low frequency RFID readers. In this experiment, we did the scanning of barcodes, comparing them to using the readers to scan the RFID tags, RFID tags scan much faster. In the experiment, we compared the time difference, it is actually more than 10secs difference in both readers, scanning all the item. We also saw the distance that RFID reader is able to detect and read the item compared to the barcode scanner. RFID reader reads much further depending on whether it has higher frequency or lower. RFID reader can only scan all at once. However, there is 1 thing that it is unable to scan in the experiment. The reader is unable to scan the tag when it is attached to metal. Hence, it can be improved by putting sponge in between them so that it can be detected..
RFID reader low frequency
RFID reader, High frequency ``*Writing RFID journals in progress*``
10:00 PM
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Monday, May 4, 2009
Week 2 - RFID Case studies
Radio Frequency Identification(RFID) is quite a newly emerging technology which is becoming more popular nowadays though it has already been around in the 50's. RFID tags can also be used in different configurations. Mainly the passive and active tag that can be 'Read-only', 'Write once/read many', and 'Read/Write'.
Pallets being push through to readRFID technology brings a lot of advantages as compared to barcodes because it can carries a larger amount of data and information with the product when it travels through the supply chain. In one glance, vendors can clearly see the infomation in details and can bring lots of convenience. RFID also provides less errors, thus, it saves time and additional cost. In this way, more profits can be shared out among vendors.
Other advantages includes like having multiple items being read in a single scan rather than reading 1 by 1 which is a waste of time. RFID tag is just like a portable database of information for each tag which stores large information with it. Passive tag have a virtually unlimited lifetime whereas active tags can read from great distance. It has the ability to suvive in harsh conditions. The data on the tag can be modified throughout the life of the product. There is also a unique permanant ID embedded in each tag so that the information are all safe.
Label of the pallet scan being scanThough of the many advantages, RFID has its disadvantages as well. Each tag actually cost from $0.50 to $250.00! That is quite expensive for just a tag! Which consumer would actually want to pay a $0.50 item double the price because of the RFID tag in it which cost more than the price of an item? Although Passive tag has unlimited lifetime, but it can only read/write at about 4inches to 20feet. RFID is oso currently lacking in standards though it is being addressed rapidly.
Wal-MartNow, on to Wal-Mart case study, It is said that Wal-Mart headed down this road because they believed it would save them up to 8 billion dollars!
Wal-Mart says:
``*Writing RFID journals in progress*``
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