[LINK] Expert advise sought please...

[Geoffrey Ramadan]

Howard

FYI. RFID solution for parts tracking being developed by Boeing.

http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/3850/1/1/

"Boeing Approves Intelleflex Chip, Weighs Higher-Memory Fujitsu Tag
With the silicon needed for a 64-kilobit parts tag finally ready, the
company is getting closer to achieving its vision for a parts-tagged plane.

Jan. 14, 2008?Though dogged by delays, Boeing's initiative to employ
passive RFID tags to track the maintenance and repair history of parts
for its upcoming Dreamliner 787 family of airplanes may be ready for
takeoff by mid-2008, according to Ken Porad, program manager of the
automatic-identification program at Boeing Commercial Airplanes Group."

This technology  will not doubt have spin off into many other industries

Reg
Geoffrey Ramadan B.E.(Elec)
Chairman, Automatic Data Capture Association (www.adca.com.au)
and
Managing Director, Unique Micro Design (www.umd.com.au)


Howard Lowndes wrote:
> Geoff, thanks for that, and to all the others that commented.  I will 
> take all comments to Nepal and take the idea further from then.  It 
> may be a while before I can report back on where we decide to go.
>
> At this stage I gather that they are suffering up to 11 hours of power 
> outage per day, so I had better get a new battery in my lappy - if I 
> can !!!
>
>
> Geoffrey Ramadan wrote:
>> Howard
>>
>> Firstly my general approach to customers asking for RFID solutions is 
>> to try and talk them out of it! I now that RFID has a very narrow 
>> "fitness for purpose" and that many RFID inquiries we get asked 
>> about, are really suited to other forms of data capture technology, 
>> which is what I suspect here.
>>
>> As you want to hold the database with the product and you want it 
>> human readable as well. My first option would be to use a 2D barcode 
>> printed via a thermal transfer label printer. This will allow you to 
>> print the barcode and any related text/image on the same label. The 
>> choice of thermal ribbon and label material will be important to 
>> ensure longevity. (typically a wax/resin ribbon and some plastic 
>> label like Polyester which is popular as an asset label)
>>
>> If you are not familiar with 2D barcodes, check out: 
>> http://www.denso-wave.com/qrcode/index-e.html
>>
>> There are different symbologies to choose from, but I prefer 
>> Datamatrix or QR code. You can encode more that 3000 characters with 
>> Datamatrix and 7000 with QR Code. 2D barcodes also have inbuilt error 
>> detection. For example upto 30% of a QR barcode can be destroyed, yet 
>> still readable.
>>
>> You might want to encode the data using XML tags. You then then use a 
>> 2D barcode scanner with say a keyboard wedge interface (which simply 
>> types the data via the keyboard buffer of your system).
>>
>> Only if barcoding was deemed to be not suitable would I consider RFID 
>> technology.
>>
>> If you need assistance in sourcing these technologies, please let me 
>> know and I can advise off list.
>>
>> Reg
>> Geoffrey Ramadan B.E.(Elec)
>> Chairman, Automatic Data Capture Association (www.adca.com.au)
>> and
>> Managing Director, Unique Micro Design (www.umd.com.au)
>>
>>
>> Howard Lowndes wrote:
>>> ...esp from Geoff R.
>>>
>>> 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.
>>>
>>> -------- 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
>>>
>>>
>>
>