What even is RFID?
RFID means “Radio-frequency identification” and it refers to a technology that, with the help of radio waves, detects and identifies RFID tags at a certain distance depending on the technology. It’s a type of wireless communication that employs electromagnetic or electrostatic coupling in the radio frequency spectrum to uniquely identify an object, animal, or person.
A scanning antenna, a transceiver, and a transponder are the three components of every RFID system. An RFID reader or interrogator is created when the scanning antenna and transceiver are coupled. Fixed readers and mobile readers are the two types of RFID readers. The RFID reader is a network-connected device that can be either portable or fixed. It transmits impulses that activate the tag via radio waves. The tag sends a wave back to the antenna after activation, which is translated into data.
Types of RFID
LF – Low frequency: It covers the ranges between 30 and 300 kHz. It enables reading distances up to few cm, but has slower reading capabilities.
HF – High frequency: Covers the ranges between 3 and 30 MHz. Reading distance can reach up to 1 m. Best known technology from HF is NFC that is used in bank cards and in mobile phones and it works at a frequency of 13.56 MHz.
UHF – Ultra high frequency: covers the ranges between 0.3 and 3 GHz and can read the data on a distance up to 15 m. This technology is the most vulnerable to disturbances in the environment.
Where is RFID used?
It’s a technology that we use everyday. When we pay with a “contactless” bank card we use RFID technology . When we go shopping, RFID tags are on clothes to keep them safe and don’t get stolen. If we have access control in the office it is usually contactless cards, using RFID technology…
It can be also used in inventory control, shipping, healthcare, retail sales, tracking, events and much more.
How do we use RFID technology?
We started using RFID for the event industry, where we use it as RFID UHF towers. The latter tracks and records accreditation through the Ultra High Frequency. This allows event organizers to track and record the movement of attendees (real-time review) without or with lower costs for hostesses, manage entrances to specific halls within the venue or related events such as gala dinners, receptions, etc. They can also measure the time participants spend in the halls and obtain reliable and detailed reports for each individual participant, program, and speaker popularity.
In addition, we also use it for Heat Mapping which provides relevant and real-time information about attendee movement – In which area they spent most time, which sections of the area are over full and how long someone was inside a certain hall. Lastly, we built a custom Tool Cart equipped with UHF tags and antennas inside the cart to know exactly which tools are inside the cart and how long they have been outside the cart. We can also tell if a tool is missing at the end of each day, how long each tool was used- info for potential calibration and who are the users of a specific tool.