RFID- The silent technology enhancing our lives every day
Cat receiving an RFID tag implant.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology uses radio waves to identify virtually anything. It is a wireless system consisting of an RFID tag and an RFID reader. RFID tags store data that can be read, even from a distance—without making any physical contact or requiring a line of sight.
RFID is now a part of everyday life, though many people are unaware they are interacting with it. When you unlock your hotel room door by waving your key card, or have a microchip implanted in your pet, or drive through a contactless toll booth, you are using RFID technology. These applications are more visible than most. Today, the use of RFID has exploded across industries, from manufacturing, to medical, to forest management.
The secret to its success is simplicity and its ability to integrate with computers and other technologies to provide instant identification. To understand how it works, let’s step back to see how we got here.
What are radio waves?
A diagram of the electromagnetic spectrum, showing various properties across the range of frequencies and wavelengths. NASA.
Radio waves are part of the electromagnetic spectrum – the complete range of all types of radiation that has both electric and magnetic fields and travels in waves. The electromagnetic spectrum ranges from low-energy, low-frequency radiation that travels in long waves (such as radio waves and microwaves) to high-energy, high-frequency radiation that travels in short waves (such as x-rays and gamma rays).
For much of human history, little was known about the electromagnetic spectrum.
In 1800, Sir William Herschel, a British astronomer, was exploring the question of how much heat was contained by the different colors of visible light. He used a glass prism to separate sunlight into its colors. Then, he placed a thermometer under each color, with one extra thermometer just beyond the red light of the spectrum. He found that the thermometer that was seemingly out of the light had the highest temperature. Thus, he discovered infrared light.[1]
A year later, Johann Wilhelm Ritter, a German physicist, made the startling discovery that silver chloride, which decomposes in the presence of light, is more rapidly decomposed when exposed to the invisible, unknown radiation beyond the violet end of the spectrum.
In 1867, James Clerk Maxwell, a Scottish physicist and mathematician, developed the theory that electricity, magnetism and light are different manifestations of the same phenomenon. The unification of light and electrical phenomena led to his prediction of the existence of radio waves. In the millennium poll—a survey of the 100 most prominent physicists—Maxwell was voted the third greatest physicist of all time, behind only Newton and Einstein. [2]
In 1887 Heinrich Hertz, a German physicist, produced electromagnetic waves in his laboratory and measured their length and velocity. He showed that the nature of their vibration and their susceptibility to reflection and refraction were the same as those of light and heat waves. As a result, he established beyond any doubt that light and heat are electromagnetic radiations, proving the validity of Maxwell’s theory. These electromagnetic waves were first called Hertzian and, later, radio waves.[3]
Applied science
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The Royal Air Force in Britain, 29 September 1942 Three Avro Lancaster B Mark Is of No 44 Squadron, Royal Air Force based at Waddington, Lincolnshire, flying above the clouds. Public Domain.
It wasn’t until the 1900s that radio waves were used in a product – a musical instrument, the Theramin. In 1928, Russian physicist Leon Theremin patented a device that produces music by manipulation of electromagnetic fields around two antennae to produce sound.
During WWII, the British used radio frequency identification to detect which incoming aircraft were friend or foe. They placed a radio transmitter on each plane. When it received signals from radar stations on the ground, it began broadcasting a signal back that identified the aircraft as friendly. This is the key function of RFID. A signal is sent to a transponder, which wakes up and either reflects back a signal (passive system) or broadcasts a signal (active system).
Combined technologies = exponential growth
Growth in the applications of RFID over seven decades.
By 1973, memory was added to the radio frequency technology. It consisted of a transponder with 16 bit memory for use as a toll device for the New York Port Authority. The basic patent covers the use of radio frequency (RF), sound and light as transmission carriers.[4] The commercial uses of the technology for passive, contactless identification were apparent, and rapid development and commercialization began in earnest.
Today, RFID can be found nearly everywhere to make life more secure and convenient. From toll booths to library books to managing livestock, RFID delivers the ID of any tracked item. RFID is used across all sectors of industry, from agriculture to manufacturing, education, health care, retail, supply chain management – anywhere the instantaneous, contactless and precise identification and tracking of any item is needed. Its simplicity and versatility means that it can be combined with other technologies to deliver location-based data immediately. For example, RFID is being used with artificial intelligence technologies to reliably predict patient falls and detect human activities. It can help provide insight into transport conditions for perishable products, and support sustainability by helping to identify and reduce waste in supply chain management.
RFID and GIS are mapping the future
Today, RFID is integrated with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to provide accurate management of just about any asset. Diverse industries are accessing the benefits of complete, accurate, location-based information for nearly any product or item. From tracking and managing dinosaur bones to managing livestock to managing utilities, RFID and GIS deliver real-time, essential information. RFID even works below-ground-- incredibly useful in construction when re-locating buried assets before excavation. RFID means that field workers can know exactly what’s below simply by scanning the buried RFID asset tag through InfraMarker RFID apps that display that specific asset’s data.
Berntsen’s partnership with Esri gives users of the popular Survey123 and Field Maps data collection apps the opportunity to incorporate the benefits of InfraMarker RFID into their asset tracking. Berntsen’s partnership with HID means that its RFID tags and readers come in a wide variety of configurations, from rugged underground magnetized markers to ultra-thin labels designed for accurate and reliable inventory control.
InfraMarker at Trimble Conference 2024
Interested in learning more about how InfraMarker RFID can help your business?
Join us at booth 842 at the Trimble Conference November 11-13 at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas. More than 4,000 professionals from a wide variety of industries participate to learn about the latest technologies and ideas that help make their jobs better.
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