G+_Joseph Ward Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 RFID Equipment tracking cabinet. I teach a large number of chemistry labs and have been trying to find a way to streamline the concept of checking out equipment (moderately expensive). I don't necessarily need to know exactly who checked out what, but i need to know that the equipment is back in the cabinet (and the right parts are there) I am dealing with teaching assistants, some of whom do not want to do anything extra, so keeping it super simple is key. I have been trying to come up with a way to use passive RFID tags and reader to build a storage cabinet or drawer setup that the equipment would be stored in. an RFID reader could determine what tags are in the cabinet and send that to either a central system or to a windows 10 pc next to the cabinet (It is the teaching workstation). I could envision of simple application that simply shows what should be there and red or green indicators for status. the coding is the easy part. the hard part is the RFID system! I know it is pretty easy to read single tags using arduino or pi, but i want to read 20-40 tags in a cabinet (probably wood, or plastic to minimize signal blocking) and that is where i am getting stuck. there are lots of products out there like: http://www.chipcard-solutions.com/rfid-cabinets/ that probably would work, but are cost prohibitive, as i would need to make like 16 of these. I want to build a prototype, even using an exising wood cabinet to show that it would be effective and solve the workflow issues, and then i can go from there. Anyone out there done something similar or have ideas on DIY solutions? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Black Merc Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 I read a simular idea for POS systems in a grocery store. Every item is rfid tagged, the coustomer pushes the cart by the POS station(station reads every tag in the cart), pays the total and walks out. Sadly, I've not heard any updates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Ben Reese Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 Black Merc that was the promise for Amazon stores. I'm sure there are still issues to work out, like tags getting missed and actually identifying the customer. The equipment used for loss prevention is probably a good place to start, but I'm not seeing anything online for a DIY solution. Love the idea though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Black Merc Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 The poster is right tho... How do you detect multiple tags with a system that expects to encounter them one at a time? The only thought I have is directional antenna and a physical sweep mech. to scan the area.(radar, rfid tags are transponders) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Joseph Ward Posted November 18, 2017 Author Share Posted November 18, 2017 i am not necessarily trying to use the single tag devices to scan multiple tags at once. there are antenna and "devices" to do this. bu the devices run in the thousands some times and are mostly for large passive installations, like the amazon store. i was hoping someone knew of something smaller for my cabinet project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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