RFID Reliability Test for Tool Tracking on Construction Sites · Comparison Test: Configuration...
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RFID Reliability Test for Tool Tracking on Construction Sites Research Opportunities in Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Transportation Applications Conference October 17-18, 2006, The National Academies Keck Center Julian Kang, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University Naresh Kalla, Graduate Student, Texas A&M University Todd Sutton, Business Unit Manager, Zachry Construction
Transcript of RFID Reliability Test for Tool Tracking on Construction Sites · Comparison Test: Configuration...
RFID Reliability Test for Tool Tracking on Construction Sites
Research Opportunities in Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Transportation Applications Conference
October 17-18, 2006, The National Academies Keck Center
Julian Kang, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M UniversityNaresh Kalla, Graduate Student, Texas A&M University
Todd Sutton, Business Unit Manager, Zachry Construction
Tool Management
Bar Codes: RFID Tags:No line of sight between tags and the reader is requiredCan be placed inside of packaging
Crew Tool center staff
Must be on the surface of the marked item and properly aligned
Line of sight between reader and tag is required
Carry limited information (typically about 20 characters)
Can carry large amounts of data
RFID reader installed in the gangboxcan identify underutilized tools –Opportunity for better tool utilization
Multiple tools can be checked out without line-of-sight scanning –Opportunity to automate the tool checkout process
Identify tools
needed
Go to Tool Room
RequestTools
Locate & PullTools
OpenEmployee
File
EnterTool
Information
CompleteIssue
Transaction
TakeTools
Human Intervention - Tools need to scanned one by one at the tool checkout stationHard to identify how frequently tools are utilized after they are checked out
Tool Management
Identify tools
needed
Go to Tool Room
RequestTools
Locate & PullTools
OpenEmployee
File
EnterTool
Information
CompleteIssue
Transaction
TakeTools
Automation in Tool Management RFID Tags:No line of sight between tags and the reader is requiredCan be placed inside of packaging
Crew Tool center staff
Can carry large amounts of data
RFID reader installed in the gangboxcan identify underutilized tools –Opportunity for better tool utilization
Multiple tools can be checked out without line-of-sight scanning –Opportunity to automate the tool checkout process
Identify tools
needed
Go to Tool Room
Locate & PullTools
CompleteIssue
Transaction
TakeTools
Portal system - Tools tagged with RFID devices are detected automatically when crews carry tools through the portal system
RFID reader in the gangboxscans tools in the box and identifies tools that were not being used or tools that were not in the boxes when they should have been (e.g. at the end of a crew’s shift).
Tool Management
Automation in Tool Management Concerns:
Crew
However, it has been known that RF signals are bouncing off metal or absorbed by water at ultra-high frequencies.
Identify tools
needed
Go to Tool Room
Locate & PullTools
CompleteIssue
Transaction
TakeTools
Portal system - Tools tagged with RFID devices are detected automatically when crews carry tools through the portal system
RFID reader in the gangboxscans tools in the box and identifies tools that were not being used or tools that were not in the boxes when they should have been (e.g. at the end of a crew’s shift).
What if the RFID reader miss any tools being checked out from the tool center without human intervention?What if the RFID reader miss any tools sitting in the gangbox due to metal interference and tag congestion?
Tool Management
Field Test Concerns:
Crew
However, it has been known that RF signals are bouncing off metal or absorbed by water at ultra-high frequencies.
Identify tools
needed
Go to Tool Room
Locate & PullTools
CompleteIssue
Transaction
TakeTools
Gangbox Test - Would the RFID reader identify all tools sitting in the gangbox reliably regardless of metal interference and tag congestion?Portal Test - How reliably active RFID tags are identified when working crews are carrying tools through the RFID portal system?
What if the RFID reader miss any tools being checked out from the tool center without human intervention?What if the RFID reader miss any tools sitting in the gangbox due to metal interference and tag congestion?
Tool Management
Field Test
Crew
at the Zachry Construction’s tool center in San Antonio, Texas (March 2005)
Identify tools
needed
Go to Tool Room
Locate & PullTools
CompleteIssue
Transaction
TakeTools
Gangbox Test - Would the RFID reader identify all tools sitting in the gangbox reliably regardless of metal interference and tag congestion?Portal Test - How reliably active RFID tags are identified when working crews are carrying tools through the RFID portal system?
at Texas A&M University (December 2005)
RFID Products Selected
Active Tag R3 Controller
eLink Receiver SRA Exciter Antenna
eXI Wireless in Richmond, British Columbia
Tools Employed
Gangbox Test: Configuration
eLink Receiver
RFID signal monitoring application
Gangbox Test: Implementation
Gangbox Test: Implementation
Gangbox Test: Implementation
Gangbox Test: Result
Total number of tools (out of 210 tools) successfully identified in the gangbox
206 / 210 210 / 210
Lid Opened Lid Closed
Comparison Test: ConfigurationData Processing SystemSRA Exciter Antenna
Motion Sensors R3 Controller
Comparison Test: Configuration
Checkpoint B
Checkpoint A
Barcode CheckingCounter
RFIDPortal
12ft
27ft
12ft 12ft
12ft
Comparison Test: Implementation
Moving one tool Moving three tools Moving five tools
Moving one tool Moving three tools Moving five tools
Portal
Barcode Checking Counter
Comparison Test: Result
TIM
E50
40
30
20
10
6
RFID Barcode
Comparison with 1 Small-Size Tool
Comparison Test: Result
TIM
E50
40
30
20
10
53
Comparison with 1 Medium-Size Tool
RFID Barcode
Comparison Test: Result
TIM
E50
40
30
20
10
Comparison with 1 Tool in Tool Case
RFID Barcode
Comparison Test: Result
TIM
E50
40
30
20
10
Comparison with 3 Tools
RFID Barcode
Comparison Test: ResultComparison with 5 Tool
RFID BarcodeN =
60
40
20
0TIM
E
Portal Test: Configuration
Motion detector
2ft
Exciter R3 Controller
Metal Cart
Portal Test: Configuration
Portal Test: Configuration
Portal Test: Configuration
Portal Test: Configuration
Portal Test: Configuration
Portal Test: Result
Velocity
1 2 3 4
100
75
50
Test Case
Detection Rate
Det
ectio
n R
ate
(%)
Vel
ocity
(m/s
ec)
4.0
2.0
00.1 0.5
1.0
1.5
10088.5
82.5
76.5
Portal Test: Result
Detection Rate
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
100
80
60
Test Case
Det
ectio
n R
ate
(%)
No.
of T
ools
1
10
No. of Tools
86.5
91.5
20
82
84
95.296100
ConclusionReliability of the RFID technology is high when the tools are stationary and effect of metal on radio waves is negligible.Reliability of the RFID technology depends greatly on the velocity and the number of tools passing the portal.Speculation regarding generalization of the results of the experiment as the tests were conducted using just one RFID tag system.Further investigation is required to understand the sensitivity of the results while generalizing to all RFID systems used in the construction industry.
Thank You
Julian Kang, Ph.D.Assistant Professor
Department of Construction ScienceTexas A&M University
(979) [email protected]
