While many companies and universities operate their own RFID labs, the Wisconsin lab is unique in that it has brought together elements from both the real world and the lab. Test facilities mimic actual manufacturing and warehouse operations, while advanced instruments and software for designing, modeling and testing the performance of elements of RFID labels.
The lab consists of three research stations—two that test RFID performance in various real-world environments, and a third focused on designing and testing the performance of antennas designed to read passive RFID tags.
The antenna research station's most visible element is its anechoic chamber—a room designed to provide perfect isolation from outside sources of radio frequency energy. It's lined with special foam embedded with ferromagnetic particles to prevent any internal radio wave "echoes" that might distort test results.
In the chamber, researchers can test the performance of the RFID labels' antennas—the part of the passive RFID tag that absorbs and retransmits radio signals—under absolute ideal conditions, testing every aspect of an antenna design—getting a baseline for its performance.
"You can analyze antennas separately from the chip, on the product or off it" said Guiterrez. UW researchers are currently using the antenna station to test designs for RFID antennas printed on labels with magnetic ink.
The lab's two other stations are more focused on the real-world application of RFID. The first is equipped with a conveyor system for collecting data on the readability of RFID tags on various types of packages. "This is a controlled environment where we can change variables easily, but it's still close to reality," Guiterrez said.
Rockwell Automation helped build custom software to drive the conveyor system—a networked set of conveyors and handling equipment that includes a "blow-on" RFID label applicator from Zebra Technologies, optic sensors and readers from Alien Technology and Symbol. Autologik provided systems integration.
"We wanted the ability to have different configurations to test capabilities for different tag designs, and different types of packages." said Guiterrez.
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Researchers can run tests on packages provided by the RFID Workgroup's manufacturing members (ranging from Kraft Macaroni and Cheese to Master locks) at conveyor speeds of up to 600 feet per minute. All of the successful tag reads made by the RFID equipment are recorded to a database, and a statistical model of how well the tags work for each placement and package type can be created from the result.
The lab's other "real world" station is a portable "portal" rig, designed to how well tags are read in various check-point scenarios—for example, on a palette being moved by forklift.
Using software from RedPrarie and other vendors, researchers can analyze which labels are read under various conditions. "We look at the interaction of multiple variables, such as the interaction of the location of the tags and the contents of a package or palette," Guiterrez said.
The portal configuration can be used for other sorts of scenarios as well. "The portal works with people, too," said Guiterrez. "Hospitals are asking us questions (about RFID implementations). And it works with vehicles as well; we're doing work with the University parking system to prototype a parking control device."
Given how cold Wisconsin winters can get, Guiterrez (who is Colombian) has a vested interest in getting the RFID parking system to work—he won't have to open his window to swipe his parking pass anymore. But the core research behind the project will help reduce the cost of reliable RFID technology. That's something everybody can get behind, no matter where they park.
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