Thesis (M.S.) in Spatial Information Science and Engineering--University of Maine, 2006. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 145-156).

The study sought to investigate the use of RFID technology as inventory control in academic libraries in South Africa, with a focus on the University of South Africa and the University of Fort Hare libraries. The objectives of the study were to describe the current inventory control practices at the libraries of the University of South Africa and the University of Fort Hare in order to determine the infrastructure required for the use of RFID for inventory control for the University of Fort Hare’s libraries; to evaluate the benefits of RFID technologies, in order to gain a competitive advantage for the University of South Africa’s and the University of Fort Hare’s libraries; to identify the challenges associated with adopting RFID technology, as experienced by the libraries of the University of South Africa and the University of Fort Hare. The study adopted both the quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The researcher followed a rigorous methodological path that began with a thorough literature review coupled with the careful and thoughtful posing of research questions and objectives. A purposive sample of forty (40) respondents was selected from the library staff from both the University of South Africa and University of Fort Harelibraries. The collected data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences 23 (SPSS 23) and Microsoft Excel 2010. The findings of the study revealed reasons for both academic libraries to invest in RFID technology; these reasons include RFID’s ability to deliver self-service options, inventory control, improved reader access and improved security. The challenges related to the implementation of RFID technology are also related to staff not being rewarded by library management for being innovative; the difficulty of staff learning new technology; the staff’s inability to generate new ideas for the library; and the staff not being able to share knowledge with each other. Further research needs to be conducted by library RFID vendors in order to meet the need, of academic libraries, for RFID inventory control. RFID hardware and software (API software) should be subjected to further investigation for the purposes of research and development. Libraries should work closer with RFID vendors so as to trial and test hardware and software.

Localization and motion control (navigation) are two major tasks for a successful mobile robot navigation. The motion controller determines the appropriate action for the robot’s actuator based on its current state in an operating environment. A robot recognizes its environment through some sensors and executes physical actions through actuation mechanisms. However, sensory information is noisy and hence actions generated based on this information may be non-deterministic. Therefore, a mobile robot provides actions to its actuators with a certain degree of uncertainty. Moreover, when no prior knowledge of the environment is available, the problem becomes even more difficult, as the robot has to build a map of its surroundings as it moves to determine the position. Skilled navigation of a differential drive mobile robot (DDMR) requires solving these tasks in conjunction, since they are inter-dependent. Having resolved these tasks, mobile robots can be employed in many contexts in indoor and outdoor environments such as delivering payloads in a dynamic environment, building safety, security, building measurement, research, and driving on highways. This dissertation exploits the use of the emerging Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) technology for the design and implementation of cost-effective and modular control techniques for navigating a mobile robot in an indoor environment. A successful realization of this process has been addressed with three separate navigation modules. The first module is devoted to the development of an indoor navigation system with a customized RFID reader. This navigation system is mainly pioneered by mounting a multiple antenna RFID reader on the robot and placing the RFID tags in three dimensional workspace, where the tags’ orthogonal position on the ground define the desired positions that the robot is supposed to reach. The robot generates control actions based on the information provided by the RFID reader for it to navigate those pre-defined points. On the contrary, the second and third navigation modules employ custom-made RFID tags (instead of the RFID reader) which are attached at different locations in the navigation environment (on the ceiling of an indoor office, or on posts, for instance). The robot’s controller generates appropriate control actions for it’s actuators based on the information provided by the RFID tags in order to reach target positions or to track pre-defined trajectory in the environment. All three navigation modules were shown to have the ability to guide a mobile robot in a highly reverberant environment with variant degrees of accuracy.

No description available.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar uma Metodologia pra implantar um Modelo de Processo Informado de Supply Chain usando tecnologia RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) aplicado ao Agronegócio. Para criação deste Modelo desenvolveu-se uma Metodologia própria utilizando-se de Ferramentas Computacionais Livres que conduziram a criação de um programa especializado para o Supply Chain da Semente de Milho, que foi o caso escolhido para o estudo. Os procedimentos adotados para criação deste Modelo podem facilmente ser remodelados para outras Cadeias do Agronegócio, tais como a Carne, as Frutas, Grãos Comerciais, gerando assim vantagens competitivas aos produtos até então vistos como puras commodities. As aplicações tradicionais do RFID têm sido limitadas ao posicionamento de produtos em armazéns, deixando abertas muitas possibilidades de estudo, como é o caso do Modelo Informado, permitindo ao consumidor final do produto ter todas as informações necessárias para garantia da qualidade junto ao item. A integração de conhecimentos originados no Supply Chain, Processo Informado, RFID e Agronegócio é feita com base em uma estrutura que distribui a informação entre os equipamentos e bancos de dados associados aos leitores de RFID. Neste trabalho a questão da segurança contra leitura não autorizada não foi incluída. / This paper aims to present a methodology to deploy a Process Model Informed \"Supply Chain\" using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) applied to Agribusiness and Precision Agriculture. The intent of this proposal is to allow tend users of precision agriculture product to handle all the data need to ensure the quality of a target product. Traditional applications of RFID have been limited to product placement in stores, leaving a wide possibility of innovations in Supply Chain management. This case is strongly observed in agribusiness, a very important issue in Brazilian economy, where commodities are susceptible to failure or block orders. The coalescing of knowledge from Supply Chain, Process Informed, RFID and Agribusiness Study is made by a fair distribution of information among tags and databases, generally connected to RFID readers. Finally, a case study was included related to the supply of corn seeds to a culture inserted in the paradigm of precision agriculture.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar uma Metodologia pra implantar um Modelo de Processo Informado de Supply Chain usando tecnologia RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) aplicado ao Agronegócio. Para criação deste Modelo desenvolveu-se uma Metodologia própria utilizando-se de Ferramentas Computacionais Livres que conduziram a criação de um programa especializado para o Supply Chain da Semente de Milho, que foi o caso escolhido para o estudo. Os procedimentos adotados para criação deste Modelo podem facilmente ser remodelados para outras Cadeias do Agronegócio, tais como a Carne, as Frutas, Grãos Comerciais, gerando assim vantagens competitivas aos produtos até então vistos como puras commodities. As aplicações tradicionais do RFID têm sido limitadas ao posicionamento de produtos em armazéns, deixando abertas muitas possibilidades de estudo, como é o caso do Modelo Informado, permitindo ao consumidor final do produto ter todas as informações necessárias para garantia da qualidade junto ao item. A integração de conhecimentos originados no Supply Chain, Processo Informado, RFID e Agronegócio é feita com base em uma estrutura que distribui a informação entre os equipamentos e bancos de dados associados aos leitores de RFID. Neste trabalho a questão da segurança contra leitura não autorizada não foi incluída. / This paper aims to present a methodology to deploy a Process Model Informed \"Supply Chain\" using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) applied to Agribusiness and Precision Agriculture. The intent of this proposal is to allow tend users of precision agriculture product to handle all the data need to ensure the quality of a target product. Traditional applications of RFID have been limited to product placement in stores, leaving a wide possibility of innovations in Supply Chain management. This case is strongly observed in agribusiness, a very important issue in Brazilian economy, where commodities are susceptible to failure or block orders. The coalescing of knowledge from Supply Chain, Process Informed, RFID and Agribusiness Study is made by a fair distribution of information among tags and databases, generally connected to RFID readers. Finally, a case study was included related to the supply of corn seeds to a culture inserted in the paradigm of precision agriculture.

Although the origins of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology can be traced back for many years, it is only recently that RFID has experienced rapid growth. That growth is mainly due to the increasing application of this technology in various supply chains. The widening of the implementation of RFID technology in supply chains has posed many challenges and one of the biggest is the degradation of the RFID system performance when tagging metallic objects, or when the RFID system operates in a metallic environment. This thesis focuses on tackling the issue of having metallic objects in an Ultra High Frequency (UHF) RFID system. The work presented in this thesis contributes to the research on UHF RFID systems involving metallic objects in several ways: (a) the development of novel RFID tags that range from a simple tag for general applications to tags suitable for metallic object identification; (b) the tag designs target the criteria of minimal tag size and cost to embrace the vision of item level tagging; and (c) the analysis of the performance (through theoretical predictions and practical measurements) of an RFID tag near metallic structures of various shapes and sizes. The early part of this thesis provides a brief introduction to RFID and reviews the background information related to metallic object identification for UHF RFID systems. The process of designing a basic tag, and additional information and work done related to the process, are outlined in the early part of this thesis. As part of this fundamental research process, and before proceeding to the designing of tags specifically for metallic objects, a small and low cost RFID tag for general applications was developed. Details of the design of this tag, with the application of this tag for animal identification, are presented. In the later parts of the work, different tag design approaches were explored and this has generated three rather different RFID tags suitable for attaching to metallic objects. The aim of this research is not just to design tags for metallic objects but also to tackle the constraints of having tags that are small in size, cost effective and suited in size to some familiar objects. Hence, in the later part of this research, the work took a step further where one of the three tags designed for metallic objects addressed the challenge of identifying individual small metallic beverage cans. RFID involves tagging of different types of objects and a tag may be required to be located in a depression of a metallic object. In the final part of this research, the read range performance of one of the RFID tags designed for metallic objects was analysed when the tag was located in metallic depressions of various shapes and sizes. The analysis was performed from a combination of theoretical calculation and simulation perspectives, and also through practical real-life measurements. Metallic objects are very common around us. Their presence is unavoidable and so to identify them, having the appropriate RFID tags suitable for operation on metallic surfaces is essential. Frequently the tags must be small in size and low in cost to allow identification at item level of individual small metallic objects. Understanding and being aware of the potential effects of metallic structures of various shapes and sizes on the tag performance is thus important. The research in this thesis into all the above can bring the industry further towards full deployment of RFID down to item level tagging. / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 2008

This report documents the design, construction, and implementation of a differential-offset spread spectrum RFID system, to avoid the problem of anti-collision interference from multiple RFID tags. Currently in industry, this problem is handled by establishing a two way communication link between the tags and the interrogator. The proposed system eliminates the need for the excessive hardware use to create this link, and therefore drastically reduces the cost of each tag. Not only is this system cheaper to implement but it is faster, requires less power, and by the nature of the design contains an inherent encryption scheme for the data being transmitted. Specialized RFID tags were designed and fabricated in order to produce a pseudo random code unique to each tag. The design presented in this document allowed simultaneous interrogation of up to 255 tags within one sensing environment. Once queried, the tags then modulate the incoming signal from the interrogator with their own sequence, and reflect the signal back to the interrogator. What the interrogator then receives is a combination of backscatter from all of the tags within the sensing environment. Specialized software written in Matlab and LabView uses these unique sequences to isolate the data from a desired tag away from the sea of information being transmitted from every tag. Using this system, numerous applications for experiments and measurements can be devised. One such application this thesis focuses on is the use of this system to simultaneously measure signal strengths from multiple diversity antennas in order to optimize their position and orientation. Currently, the majority of antenna diversity measurements are taken by measuring the signal strength of a given configuration one antenna at a time. By using the anti-collision RFID system proposed above, the signal strength produced by both antennas can be measured and recorded simultaneously to provide a true representation of their combined performance. This measurement can be used to find the optimal configuration for multiple antennas. This thesis will fully explore the theories and procedures behind creating this system, and will provide the results and analysis of its performance.

Navigation through large and unfamiliar facilities with labyrinths of corridors and rooms is difficult and often results in a person being lost. Additionally, locating a specific utility within a facility is often a tough task. The hypothesis tested in this research is that integrating real-time automated sensing technology and a Building Information Model will provide real time visualization that can assist in localization and navigation of a facility. The scope of this research is facility maintenance management during the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) phase of a facility. The thesis demonstrates how the integration of passive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tracking technology and Building Information Modeling (BIM) can assist in facilities maintenance management. The objectives of this research included 1) developing a framework that utilizes the integration of commercially-available RFID and a BIM model; 2) evaluating the framework for real-time resource location tracking within an indoor environment; and 3) developing an algorithm for real-time localization and visualization in a BIM model. A prototype application has been developed that simultaneously connects the RFID readers, a database, and a BIM model. The goal of this system is to have a real-time localization accuracy of 3 meters at 95% confidence. Testing was conducted in laboratory conditions, and the results show that the system error was within the 3 meters goal.

Backscatter radio - the broad class of systems that communicate using scattered electromagnetic waves - is the driving technology behind many compelling applications such as radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and passive sensors. These systems can be used in many ways including article tracking, position location, passive temperature sensors, passive data storage, and in many other systems which require information exchange between an interrogator and a small, low-cost transponder with little-to-no transponder power consumption. Although backscatter radio is maturing, such systems have limited communication range and reliability caused, in part, by multipath fading. The research presented in this dissertation investigates how multipath fading can be reduced using multiple antennas at the interrogator transmitter, interrogator receiver, and on the transponder, or RF tag. First, two link budgets for backscatter radio are presented and fading effects demonstrated through a realistic, 915 MHz, RFID-portal example. Each term in the link budget is explained and used to illuminate the propagation and high-frequency effects that influence RF tag operation. Second, analytic envelope distributions for the M x L x N, dyadic backscatter channel - the general channel in which a backscatter system with M transmitter, L RF tag, and N receiver antennas operates - are derived. The distributions show that multipath fading can be reduced using multiple-antenna RF tags and by using separate transmitter and receiver antenna arrays at the interrogator. These results are verified by fading measurements of the M x L x N, dyadic backscatter channel at 5.8 GHz - the center of the 5725-5850 MHz unlicensed industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) frequency band that offers reduced antenna size, increased antenna gain, and, in some cases, reduced object attachment losses compared to the commonly used 902-928 MHz ISM band. Measurements were taken with a custom backscatter testbed and details of its design are provided. In the end, this dissertation presents both theory and measurements that demonstrate multipath fading reductions for backscatter-radio systems that use multiple antennas.