Did you know that one person can be surrounded by anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 objects?
What if they could all speak to each other?
The Internet of things is a network of everyday objects that communicate and act upon information. The idea, originally from the former Auto-ID Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was founded in 1999 and continues to evolve. This self-configuring wireless network of sensors explodes with more data as additional everyday items are tagged with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and chips. RFID technology allows automatic identification of objects and the data stored on this “smart tag” can be read by wireless devices, called RFID readers. Read more…
January 4th, 2011 by RFID Wrangler in RFID Chip | Comments Off
RFID, or Radio Frequency Identification, has been here for decades. Though it has evolved with time to find various applications in business processes, it was primarily used as a defensive technology beginning with World War II to track aircraft. Later in the 1970s, the Port Authority of New York deployed such devices at toll collection booths to collect toll fees automatically. RFID technology has continued to evolve since its first application.
One such application is throughout the supply chain. Businesses and governments have used this technology to significantly benefit their operations. From the raw stages to production, and from distribution to retail, RFID has improved revenues for many, reducing costs incurred in tracking and providing better inventory management. Accurate information and timely availability of data has enhanced ROI significantly. Read more…
December 16th, 2010 by RFID Wrangler in RFID Basics | Comments Off
Most RFID tags today have a standard amount of easily customizable identifying information stored on them, including a unique product code. Like a bar code, the electronic product code (EPC) contains a unique number assigned to one specific product and is critical to identifying one product from another. EPC information can include date of manufacture, origin and destination of shipment, but does not carry or record personally identifiable information.
EPC Structure
The EPC is encoded in bits – or ones and zeros. The format and length varies to accommodate existing identifiers, but the structure is typically the same. The EPC numbering structure includes four sections. Read more…
December 2nd, 2010 by RFID Wrangler in RFID Chip | Comments Off
“The International Air Transport Association reported in 2009 that a total of 7.8 million mishandled bags cost airlines around $2.5 billion.” IATA 2010
Anyone who has waited at a baggage desk to report lost luggage knows how frustrating and time-consuming it can be.
With RFID becoming more prevalent in airports across the globe, airline carriers are seeing the benefits of RFID asset tracking and thankful for the cash relief. And the practicality from reducing or eliminating the need to carry and manage various pieces of documents, certificates and other sensitive assets, as well as baggage tracking, is a welcome convenience for airline travelers.
Ever watched a replay of a game, and no matter what the camera angle, you still couldn’t see the ball? Ever had doubts about a photo finish? Ever missed the second part of a game because you stood in a concession line of 50 people at an event? Ever received a ticket that wasn’t valid?
If you have, you know the frustration many sport enthusiasts have also felt. With RFID, many of these annoyances are avoidable. So why don’t more teams do something about it?
RFID continues to grow across industries and the sporting world is no exception. Some sports like golf, soccer and foot racing are already seeing the benefits of RFID. However, some sports are still lagging in adoption.
The three top benefits to RFID adoption in sports are:
With skiers and snowboarders booking vacations to popular destinations, two Colorado resorts are amping up their marketing approach with inventive ideas.
As the status of social media and mobile applications continue to grow, more organizations are looking at ways to incorporate it into their marketing strategy.
Ski resorts have relied on RFID to provide hands-free access to lifts for years. Now, Vail Resorts Inc. and Aspen Skiing Co. are launching new mobile apps, updating Facebook walls and tweeting about recent snowfall and special deals that might not be available anywhere else but online.
How about instead of a new plastic card, hotels are upgrading to contactless Smartcards and RFID cards.
Similar to cruise ships, the cards can act as the preferred payment for hotel services and amenities. The cards are programmable for guest preferences as well, from hotel floor to special requests. In use already at New York’s Plaza Hotel, and Starwood Hotels are considering introducing them into their hip Aloft and Element properties.
We all talk about the benefits of RFID technology – managing assets and inventory, monitoring the supply chain, and as a theft preventive – but its flexibility becomes innovation in these five fun and wacky uses.
Toilets that Save Time, Money and the Planet: A single constantly running toilet could be wasting 200 gallons of water or more every day. A smart – or RFID-enabled – toilet could curb that costly drain by monitoring, detecting and stopping leaks and overflows. The Hoover dam has a maximum flow of 299,200 gallons per day; leaky toilets waste about 7,000,000,000 gallons per day.
Casinos worldwide are instantly, reducing the possibility of counterfeiting, staff pilferage or miscounts with RFID technology.
In casinos, RFID technology is still relatively rare and in search of a killer application to spur adoption. Yet some tech-savvy casino executives envision RFID transforming the way they operate table games, including blackjack, craps and roulette, over the next four or five years.
While chips are getting a high-tech RFID makeover, some companies are developing actual RFID poker tables. RFID technology enables dealers or cashiers to see when the value Read more…
October 25th, 2010 by RFID Wrangler in RFID Chip | Comments Off
In the 1960s, most of the first RFID tags were large and bulky, tracking cargo containers, but today’s tags vary in both size and sophistication. An RFID tag is a small computer chip with an antenna built into it. The two main types of RFID tags are active and passive. Active RFID tags are built with a battery that broadcasts radio waves to a reader and are generally larger than passive tags due to the battery size. However, passive tags transmit information when an electrical current is generated by a reader. With no need for a battery, passive tags have ranged in sizes according to use. Typically, the larger the tag the better the read range.
Passive RFID tag sizes have ranged from shipping containers to pallets, cars to library books, with far superior technology to the bar code. Now, the chips are almost invisible. The chip, known as powder RFID, is 0.05 mm x 0.05 mm x 0.005 mm. Chips in library books are 1 mm x 1 mm x 0.18 mm, and the μ-Chip, which was one of the smallest to date, is 0.4 mm x 0.4 mm x 0.06 mm. Powder RFID is 64 times smaller than that. Due to its near invisibility, the chips can now be seamlessly applied to high-value vouchers such as securities, concert tickets, gift certificates and cash.
The Shrinking Size of Technology
In the 1960s, most of the first RFID tags were large and bulky, tracking cargo containers, but today’s tags vary in both size and sophistication. An RFID tag is a small computer chip with an antenna built into it. The two main types of RFID tags are active and passive. Active RFID tags are built with a battery that broadcasts radio waves to a reader and are generally larger than passive tags due to the battery size. However, passive tags transmit information when an electrical current is generated by a reader. With no need for a battery, passive tags have ranged in sizes according to use. Typically, the larger the tag the better the read range.
Passive RFID tag sizes have ranged from shipping containers to pallets, cars to library books, with far superior technology to the bar code. Now, the chips are almost invisible. The chip, known as powder RFID, is 0.05 mm x 0.05 mm x 0.005 mm. Chips in library books are 1 mm x 1 mm x 0.18 mm, and the μ-Chip, which was one of the smallest to date, is 0.4 mm x 0.4 mm x 0.06 mm. Powder RFID is 64 times smaller than that. Due to its near invisibility, the chips can now be seamlessly applied to high-value vouchers such as securities, concert tickets, gift certificates and cash.
