The main elements that compose this technology are:
Reader: reading device with data processing module and antenna for generating the electromagnetic field interrogating the tag;
Tag: tag placed on the object to identify. It is made up of:
- an antenna for receiving the electromagnetic field of the reader;
- a chip for communication and identification management.
How does the identification of the object work?
The reader generates an electromagnetic field that produces in the tag’s antenna a current that powers on the chip. Then the chip transfers all information that is radiated via the antenna to the reader.
RFID technology has, in practice, the same purposes and the same applications of a barcode, but with many advantages:
- The reading operation does not require direct contact of an optical sight, so there is no need for the orientation of the code towards the scanner;
- More tags can be read at the same time, they can work in dirty or contaminated environments and can also resist in very difficult conditions (environmental agents, thermal, chemical and mechanical stresses);
- They are more durable and contain more data than the barcode, and can also be rewritten and updated with new information;
- They also operate immersed in a fluid, inside the object you want to identify or inside a container;
- The barcode identifies only the lot of a product, unlike the tag that identifies a single object;
- The tag is not visible unlike the barcode;
- The tag’s code is not dublicable.
There are different types of RFID tags (active, semi-passive and passive). In this post we will talk about passive tags.
They are powered by the power radiated by the reader’s antenna when it is interrogated, and must be read from close distances (from 2 cm up to a maximum of 10 meters). For this reason they are much cheaper than the other two types (the cost is between 20 and 30 cents) and require much less maintenance that makes them perfect for use in large GDO. This type of RFID can operate at low frequencies (124 kHz, 125 kHz or 135 kHz), high frequencies (13.56 MHz) and ultra-high frequencies (from 860 MHz to 960 MHz).
In this context TERTIUM Technology places its range of RFID readers: “Blueberry RFID“. The Blueberry borns from the assumption that a person usually has in his pocket a smartphone and a bunch of keys. From this premise a small device has been created with a simple and intuitive use. So small that it can become a keychain able, by pressing a button, to read an RFID tag and transmit the data to the smartphone that we always have with us.
The fields of application of this device, combined with RFID technology, are endless!
