[LINK] Expert advise sought please...

[Roger Clarke]

At 10:13 +1100 17/1/08, Howard Lowndes wrote:
>I'm thinking RFID here rather than barcodes, but their ID code would 
>also need to be human readable, just in case a reader is not 
>available.
>This is for my Nepal project and I have doubts about the lifespan of 
>barcodes in the working environment.

I can't give advise, partly because I speak Strine and Strine spells 
it with a 'c'  (:-)}  But mainly because IANAE.  I'll chatter anyway 
...

There are contexts in which data definitely needs to travel with the 
object.  I'm thinking of a space probe designed to eventually return 
to earth orbit.  It'll get back long after the information systems 
that were running when it was launched have passed into industrial 
archaeology.  There are clearly also military applications of the 
idea, because you can't afford to assume that HQ hasn't been bombed 
into oblivion whereas a lot of the battlefield equipment is still 
operational and needs replenishment and repair.

But I have to express some doubt about the need to store data about 
solar installations in so dispersed a fashion.

Will corporate memory really be so unreliable and/or the life of the 
installations so long that the project will be but a distant memory? 
(The only clue in Alex's email is "even after years").

The idea of an RFID tag to carry an identifier for the device may 
have merit though, subject to a few considerations such as:
-   a database with the identifier as a key
-   survivability of the tag
-   survivability of the chip
        (environmental conditions?  inherent decay of the materials?)
-   availability of readers when the time comes

How much has contactless smartcard / RFID / NFC technology developed 
/ drifted since it started?  And at what speed (measured in say 
standard-changes p.a.)?  Can current devices read the early tags? 
Are *all* aspects fully standardised now?

(An example to remember:  lovely 56Kbps modems that could throttle 
back down through the various speed-standards - but no further than 
about 2400bps - making them useless in Batlow).


>-------- Original Message --------
>Subject: From Alex another NEW Idea to investigate
>Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:08:02 +0530
>
>Dear Howard, Ken and friends
>Greetings. I have one more NEW idea for which I need your support and
>advise as it is again linked with communication, software and digital
>numbering etc. which is NOT my field at all.
>Here the idea and vision:
>I want that every battery of each solar PV system we will install over
>the next years (as well as the ones we have installed since we started
>work in Humla) to be registered and identified in regard to its size,
>capacity, technology, origin, brand, location installed (Lat. Long.
>Altitude), installation date, system installed with (SHS, cluster system
>etc...), owner name, maintenance done...etc
>I think of a bar code (http://www.barcodesinc.com/generator/) that can
>store all this information which can be printed with a printer on a
>label, such as e.g.: http://www.barcodesinc.com/zebra/mz220.htm . With a
>bar code scanner (http://www.barcodesinc.com/generator/) the information
>can be read, recorded, stored and downloaded into a data bank at any
>time, even after years. In this way we can keep a detailed track of each
>battery, and can monitor its life cycle. In particular I intend to find
>that when a battery is "dead" where it came from so that we can
>understand its conditions it has been working under.  This should in the
>long run also be the main tool for a battery recycling project I have in
>mind since quite some time.
>Thus my question is:
>1) Is that something you think is generally possible and feasible...or
>is this just a crazy idea...?
>2) What would be the initial equipment, hardware wise and software wise,
>we would need to consider. (see above web sites of possible hardware...)
>3) What could be the difficult parts of such a project....What are the
>advantages and disadvantages...?
>4) Do you have a better idea how it could be done...easier and cheaper
>and more reliable...?
>5) What do you think how much information can be stored in a bar code...?
>6) any other suggestions...?
>
>Hear from you
>Cheers
>Alex
>
>
>--
>Howard.
>LANNet Computing Associates - Your Linux people <http://lannetlinux.com>
>When you want a computer system that works, just choose Linux;
>When you want a computer system that works, just, choose Microsoft.
>--
>Flatter government, not fatter government; abolish the Australian states.
>
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-- 
Roger Clarke                  http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/

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Visiting Professor in Info Science & Eng  Australian National University
Visiting Professor in the eCommerce Program      University of Hong Kong
Visiting Professor in the Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre      Uni of NSW