RFID for above and below ground
December 2004
Data Acquisition & Telemetry
Locally developed technology for seamless integration has taken multipurpose radio frequency identification (RFID) to new heights of performance and customisation for applications above and below ground - initially in South Africa and later for export.
The uses of the new RFID tagging from Johannesburg-based bar code and mobile systems specialists Harmonic Computer Services vary from more traditional personnel access control and product or asset tracking to enhancing safety in the country's mines - all on the back of the stability of rand-based local technology, manufacture, sales and back-up.
With active tags providing communication with readers, scanners and interrogators for up to 200 m, customised RFID solutions has already proven itself in a number of applications for which it has been customised, according to Harmonic Computer Services managing director, Barry Baetu.
"From reducing time and personnel required for bakery manufacture and dispatch by 90% to life-saving applications at the mines, we are confident the new solution will add significant value in any environment for which we customise its multiple capabilities. It is a locally developed and patented product and we intend to entrench it in the local market and then look to its overseas potential because it leads the world in many respects," he says.
A leading South African mining group is now using the technology in tags designed to fit the front of miners' helmets. Capable of operating in extreme temperatures the tags cannot be obscured by dust, grease, adhesives or paint. They provide constant monitoring of miners and detection of those trapped by a rockfall or accident through the radio signal.
RFID systems require a tag or label to be embedded with a single chip computer and antenna. The antenna can be printed on the tag with carbon-based inks, thus creating an extension of bar coding used in many production, warehousing and retailing applications today.
A radio communicates with the tag that either derives its power from the received radio signal (passive) or is self-powered (active) with an embedded battery (active) with a life of up to five years, which provides greater communication distance. Active tags are slightly larger than a two rand coin.
According to Baetu, the added 'intelligence' of RFID systems offer advantages over scan driven bar coding. They do not require line-of-sight or particular orientation - which enables them to be largely automated to reduce the need for manual scanning.
RFID tags can be programmed to hold information such as a product's serial number, colour, size, manufacture and current price as well as a list of distribution points the item touched before arriving at a store. For personnel or asset control, movements can be monitored to detect location and direction change or deny entry into forbidden areas through controlled access points. The system allows companies to write and store information in the tag, making it, essentially, a portable and dynamic database.
For more information contact Barry Baetu, MD, Harmonic Group 011 887 3333.
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