Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T17:05:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Renato Pereira de Araujo.pdf: 1711666 bytes, checksum: b5ad19e844d9c137553ad64b03b603c7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-02 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / For the visually impaired, identify which path to follow to reach the desired destination without assistance from healthy people is a challenge. To move in an unknown environment is required to interact with the mechanisms of information. However the visually impaired do not yet have a navigation system in indoor environments with real-time response that allows this this communication. This paper presents a device that allows interaction with the tactile floor to aid navigation and orientation. Through an audio interface, the device provides the visually impaired relevant information on the space around it and the navigation options available. The relevant information is disseminated using labels with radio frequency identification technology, integrated into a microcontroller and an audio playback card. Each label has an electronic product code that allows to identify it uniquely. The label installed in a standard place of tactile floor is linked to an audio file with information about the space and the available routes. The reader integrated development board reads the labels and sends the electronic code to the microcontroller, which in turn identifies the code and assigns this audio file to be played. The device was tested by a volunteer who found all labels positioned on the floor tactile alert, clearly identified its position and reached the desired destination without route errors. Used as a complement to tactile signage, this device provides an interaction between the visually impaired and the existing tactile signage. This project will directly contribute to society, providing a convenient navigation system for people with visual disabilities have greater autonomy / Para os deficientes visuais, identificar qual caminho deve ser seguido para chegar ao destino desejado, sem auxílio de pessoas hígidas, é um desafio. Para se deslocar em um ambiente desconhecido é necessária a interação com os mecanismos de informação. Entretanto os deficientes visuais ainda não contam com um sistema de navegação em ambientes internos com resposta em tempo real que possibilite essa comunicação. Este trabalho apresenta um dispositivo que possibilita a interação com o piso tátil para auxiliar a navegação e a orientação. Por meio de uma interface de áudio, o dispositivo proporciona ao deficiente visual as informações úteis sobre o espaço em seu entorno e as opções de navegação disponíveis. As informações pertinentes são difundidas utilizando etiquetas com tecnologia de identificação por rádio frequência, integradas a um micro controlador e uma placa de reprodução de áudio. Cada etiqueta possui um código de produto eletrônico que permite identificá-la de forma exclusiva. A etiqueta instalada em um local padronizado do piso tátil está atrelada a um arquivo de áudio com informações sobre o espaço e as rotas disponíveis. O leitor integrado a placa de desenvolvimento faz a leitura das etiquetas e envia o código eletrônico ao micro controlador, que por sua vez identifica o código e atribui a este o arquivo de áudio que será reproduzido. O dispositivo foi testado por um voluntário que encontrou todas as etiquetas posicionadas junto ao piso tátil de alerta, identificou claramente sua posição e chegou ao destino desejado sem erros de percurso. Usado como complemento da sinalização tátil, este dispositivo possibilita uma interação entre o deficiente visual e a sinalização tátil existente. Este projeto poderá contribuir diretamente para a sociedade, disponibilizando um sistema de navegação conveniente para que as pessoas com deficiência visual tenham maior autonomia

Interactive packaging is an emerging research area in recent years. It brings people convenient and smart lives, reduces consumption of traditional packaging materials and direct or indirect labor costs as well. Being integrated in interactive packaging, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology becomes one of the most proactive development enablers. In this paper, an interactive and intelligent packaging solution integrating passive RFID system and Controlled Delamination Material (CDM) is given at first. Package opening action is electrically controlled by the RFID system. CDM is primarily used in aerospace applications in the past and the conductor/adhesive joint can be easily opened by applying a little electric power on to the material. Some related works will be shown about the electrochemical characteristics of CDM in order to facilitate the system design. A demonstration system was developed and the test results have proved feasibility of the solution and shown the potential of low cost for mass production. Based on this solution, an interactive medication package for pervasive healthcare is further developed, using EPCglobal Gen2 RFID technology. It will make the medication being accessible for patient only at the prescribed dose and time, and medication taking information will be delivered as well. Such medication package will not only give unprecedented high patient compliance, but also improve the communication between patients and healthcare staffs. / QC 20111202

First, one of the purposes of this thesis is to estimate the complete crosstalk effects including the package and the pads on the surface acoustic wave (SAW) substrate. A new approach based on finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) with equivalent current source method is applied. Two kinds of patterns of one-port SAW resonators with the same package structure and inter-digital transducer (IDT) design are studied. Verification with the measurement results shows that our method is able to obtain good agreement and be used to observe the influence from the SAW pattern. Second, the equivalent current source method is extended to model the excitation of human-body¡¦s electrostatic discharge (ESD) situations. The efficiencies of sacrificial electrodes are also discussed. Finally, a novel sacrificial electrode with fractal to protect SAW devices from ESD break is proposed. Comparing with traditional electrode, the simulation results show that fractal can improve the protective efficiency greatly. Finally, a novel analysis model that can be used to analyze and optimize the impedance of an RFID transponder integrated circuit (IC) which uses backscatter encoding based on simultaneously maintaining the BER of the reader and maximizing the received power of the transponder IC is proposed. The analysis method utilizes mapping from signal constellation of the backscattered signal to the Smith chart to relate the two parameters. Given the system specification and characteristics of the reader and transponder antennas, the optimum impedances of transponder IC for binary communication system can be easily designed by using this model.

The reliability of RFID systems depends on a number of factors including: RF interference, deployment environment, configuration of the readers, and placement of readers and tags. While RFID technology is improving rapidly, a reliable deployment of this technology is still a significant challenge impeding wide-spread adoption. This research investigates system software solutions for achieving a highly reliable deployment that mitigates inherent unreliability in RFID technology. We have considered two different problem domains for large scale RFID deployment. One is item tracking and the other is guidance-monitoring. Item tracking considers applications that have statically placed RFID readers to observe the RFID tagged objects in motion. An airport scenario to observe the tagged baggage or warehouse scenarios to track the tagged goods are examples of item tracking applications. A self guided tour, search and rescue scenario or a visually impaired person looking for direction and guidance in a tagged environment are examples of item location applications. It is observed that there is a notion of path that follows the direction and flow of the mobile items in the item tracking applications and a path gets created along the direction and flow of the mobile object in item location applications. A system level knowledge of the data flow can benefit the system in different aspects such as improved reliability, resource management and real time response. We have designed and implemented an RFID middleware for item tracking: RF²ID (Reliable Framework for Radio Frequency Identification) to organize and support queries over data streams in an efficient manner. We have developed (1) a virtual reader abstraction to improve the potentially error-prone nature of reader generated data (2) a novel path abstraction to capture the logical flow of information among virtual readers. Prototype implementation using both RFID readers and simulated readers using an empirical model of RFID readers show that RF²ID is able to provide high reliability, support path-based object detection and use efficient resource management techniques. We propose a middleware solution that takes into account the data flow information for item location application that requires real time response. The guidance-monitoring scenario considers mobile RFID readers that traverse in a tagged environment. We consider the scenario of an Assisted Living Center for elderly residents as a motivating guidance-monitoring application. The solution for guidance-monitoring system is called GuardianAngel. The application scenario considers a tagged indoor environment with residents having their own RFID readers to provide them with adequate information about the surroundings. The guidance and monitoring requirement can be conflicting. The guidance information requires very fine grain information about the environment to make proper decisions. On the other hand, the monitoring system must not have a fine grain knowledge which can introduce concerns such as privacy concerns. We consider this aspect during the design and implementation. The system is a two layered infrastructure that has the upper layer which is the monitoring layer. This layer is in charge of monitoring of the actors in the environment. The monitoring layer is physically a set of distributed virtual stations that have the knowledge about the environment. The environment itself is equipped with RFID tags. The residents of the environment have the mobile object that has a sensing element and a computing element (e.g., handhold device with a portable RFID reader) - the guidance server runs on this mobile object. The guidance server is in charge of making local decisions to the users. It is resource limited and asks for new information from the virtual stations as needed. The guidance server also provides the monitoring server with the information regarding the status of the mobile object. But the status information is not fine grain information - the guidance server wraps up the information over a period of time and over a larger region to hide the detailed information of the users.The system uses the logical path based abstraction to guide the users. We have implemented the real testbed using grid structured RFID devices along with scalability study using emulated RFID readers. The basic contribution of our work is based on providing novel middleware solution that is able to serve the application taking into account the inherent unreliability of RFID technology. Our path abstraction that uses the physical flow of data as an ally to generate a logical system level flow enhances the performance in many ways.

Until recent developments, labor productivity had been analyzed manually requiring time-consuming work and the possibility of human error. Past research has shown the multitude of benefits obtained from implementing radio frequency identification technology within various construction sites including asset tracking, inventory management, and on-site security upgrades. Additional construction improvements can be identified in terms of productivity analysis of work crews, material transport, and the overall approach to a project to determine whether the construction process is operating at maximum efficiency or can be adjusted to improve its effectiveness. This paper presents the results of implementing radio-frequency identification technology and provides a study of labor productivity analysis for a window replacement project on a high-rise construction site. This extensive study tracks the efficiency of a buck hoist worker and material lift system for transportation and illustrates the applicability of the technology despite the presence of numerous signal impeding obstacles located throughout the site. These issues are resolved with an effective automated location and time tracking system that work in both an indoor and outdoor environment simultaneously with a data recording software and database. The in-house development of the database allows for timely information retrieval of various items of interest in this study and requires less The experimental results show that RFID technology has the capacity to work and produce useful data for labor productivity purposes in an ever-changing construction environment. The research further recognizes relevant information regarding system optimization and worker feedback for future use.

Gamybos pramonės sektorius apima viena iš didžiausių ir pelningiausią rinkos sektorių pasaulyje. Norėdamos išlikti ir sėkmingai dirbti besikeičiančios konkurencinės rinkos sąlygomis, įmonės neišvengiamai susiduria su konkurencinio pranašumo didinimo poreikiu. Tuo tikslu yra kuriamos veiklos vystymo strategijos, taikoma naujų technologijų diegimas, verslo valdymo procesų tobulinimas, produktų kokybės didinimas, valdymas, kokybės reikalavimų ir standartų taikymas. Vienas iš gamybos kokybės proceso optimizavimo sprendimas gali būti RFID technologijos pritaikymas gamybos veiklose. RFID yra viena naujausių ir besivystančių technologijų, kuri pasaulyje yra pritaikoma ir naudojama įvairiose srityse. Įgyvendintas projektas ir jo pasakoje sukurta RFID sistemos modulis, bei priemonės gali būti naudojamos, ne tik su užsakovo UAB „RTech“ plėtojama „QMS“ (Quality Management Systems) programinę įrangą, bet ir kaip sąsaja tarp RFID įrangos ir vartotojo veiklos taikomosios programos. Panaudojus RFID technologas ir sąsajas su RFID technologijomis galima: • dalinai automatizuoti gamybos kokybės valdymo procesą, • padidinti efektyvumą gaminio atsekamume, • sumažinti broko kontrolę tiekiant gaminius užsakovui. Šio darbo vienas iš tikslų yra įvertinti sukurta sistemą ir ką būtu galima patobulinti, kad būtų galima padaryti lankstesne pritaikant darbui su kitomis programinės įrangos sistemomis. Darbo metu yra tiriami ir analizuojami ISO standartų RFID sistemų modeliai, bei jų pritaikymo galimybės... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Manufactory industry is the most profitable sector of world’s market. Companies confronts with competitive market advantages to keep working successfully in continually changing market conditions. Therefore activities development strategies are created, new technologies are used in installation process, perfection of business control process, increasing quality of products, use of standards and quality requirements. The solution of these problems can be use of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technologies in manufacture management process. RFID is an automatic identification technology that relies on cheap tags (transponders) that can be attached to objects and storage information on it. The results of this project are RFID systems components witch can be used with other users applications such as „QMS“ (Quality Management Systems) of “RTech” company or other users applications. The successful integration of RFID technologies in manufacture quality management process can give effect in: • Automate and computerize manufacture quality management process; • Increase efficiency of product traceability system process; • Reduce rejects on product supply for consumer’s process. One of the master’s work goals is to evaluate the system, which was created in this work. The system can be improved by ISO standard models and made more flexible to use it for other works.

RFID has been characterized as a “disruptive technology” that has the potential to revolutionize numerous key sectors. A key advantage of passive RFID applications is the ability to wirelessly transmit automatic identification and related information using very little power. This paper presents an experimental investigation to inform the optimal configuration for programming passive ultra-high frequency (UHF) RFID media in dynamic applications. Dynamic programming solutions must be designed around the tag’s functionality, the physical programming configuration and environment. In this investigation, we present a methodology to determine an optimal configuration to maximize the systems programming efficiency for dynamic applications.

This thesis investigates inkjet-printed flexible antennas fabricated on paper substrates as a system-level solution for ultra-low-cost and mass production of RF structures. These modules are designed for the UHF Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Tags and Wireless Sensor Nodes (WSN); however the approach could be easily extended to other microwave and wireless applications. Chapter 1 serves as an introduction to RFID technology and its capabilities while listing the major challenges that could potentially hinder RFID practical implementation. Chapter 2 discusses the benefits of using paper as a substrate for high-frequency applications, reporting its very good electrical/dielectric performance up to at least 1 GHz. The dielectric properties are studied by using the microstrip ring resonator. Brief discussion on Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) is also given in this chapter. Chapter 3 gives details about the inkjet printing technology, including the characterization of the conductive ink, which consists of nano-silver-particles, while highlighting the importance of this technology as a fast and simple fabrication technique especially on flexible organic (e.g.LCP) or paper-based substrates. Chapter 4 focuses on antenna designs. Four examples are given to provide: i) matching techniques to complex IC impedance, ii) proof of concept of inkjet printing on paper substrate through measurement results, iii) demonstration of a fully-integrated wireless sensor modules on paper and show a 2D sensor integration with an RFID tag module on paper. Chapter 5 concludes the thesis by explaining the importance of this work in creating a first step towards an environmentally friendly generation of "green" RF electronics and modules.

Thesis (MScEng (Industrial Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / Traceability systems are capable of both tracking and tracing parts. They offer many benefits to an organisation from assisting with recall applications to monitoring the everyday workings of a production line or supply chain. There are numerous methods able to act as traceability systems but only a few can be regarded as automatic and unique identifiers. Automatic traceability of individual entities is the future. It is already widely used by a number of leading companies throughout different business sectors and wide mass adoption is imminent. At present, they are slightly more expensive than the simpler technologies but once mass produced, the cost will come down. To completely understand how traceability systems are implemented, practical experience is required. When starting a traceability project, there are a lot of different options. The different systems offer their own set of advantages and some don’t work in certain environments. It was for this reason that The Decision Making Model was developed to assist users through the difficult initial stages of traceability implementation (i.e. choosing the system most suitable to a particular environment). This model was programmed in Excel and supplies the user with a number of questions regarding the environment the system would work in as well as the user’s requirements. The answers to these questions help the user work through the different types of traceability options to eliminate unsuitable choices. The result is an easy to use program designed with the ability to be upgraded as the technologies evolve.

The Swedish Transportation Administration started an initiative to create a new e-infrastructure for the railroad sector in Sweden. The purpose is to follow the movement of railroad vehicles on the railway tracks and enhance logistics aspects of the transportation of goods by train. The Swedish initiative works as a pilot project for the railroad sector in the EU and if successful the e-infrastructure could be rolled out in the entire EU. It is a rare opportunity to be a part from the beginning of the creation of such a potential large scale e-infrastructure. The aim of this thesis is to provide advice early in the development process to aid in the success of the design and creation on the e-infrastructure. In the doing of this we will need to evaluate the areas: (1) the current state of the e-infrastructure, (2) the usefulness of the EPCGlobal standard for this e-infrastructure and (3) the usefulness on established e-infrastructures design principles. As a result of the thesis we have provided advice to enhance the design and implementation of the e-infrastructure, also advice is given on how to make the EPCGlobal standard’s more compatibility with the transportation sector. We have found the design principles by Hanseth & Lyytinen (2004) and Eriksson & Ågerfalk (2010) useful for the evaluation of the e-infrastructure. We also advocate that new design principles should be created to encompass the new concept of Internet of Things in e-infrastructures.