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Advanced Infrastructure Systems

Depart. of Civil and Environ. Eng.Carnegie Mellon University

Automated tracking of and capturing information related to Engineered-to-order products using RFID and GPS

Burcu Akinci (bakinci@cmu.edu), Anu Pradhan, Esin Ergen

2Advanced Infrastructure Systems

Automated tracking of Engineered-to-order products and information using RFID and GPS

• Problem: – Product history information is needed for better operations and

maintenance. Current paper-based approach is inefficient and ineffective.

– Current barcode-based and manual material tracking is ineffective and inefficient.

• Opportunity: – Providing “level 1 intelligence” on facility components using RFID

tags.Has a unique identification,Is capable of communicating its status (form, composition, location, key features) effectively with its environment,Is capable of storing data about itself (current and historical data

– Combining GPS and RFID for automated material tracking.

• Targeting all phases: manufacturing, construction, operations and maintenance

3Advanced Infrastructure Systems

Arrival to site

Construction site

Storage Installation5

3, 4, 55, 6

Information Items that are transferred

1. Manufacturing info

2. Storage & handling manual

3. Inspection info

4. Storage & location info

5. Status info

6. Final location at the structure

7. Maintenance info

Operations & maintenance

3, 7

Info

Maintenance

Manufacturing

Storage at plant

Shipping to site

Reader & GPS

Manufacturing Plant Reader

RFID tag is attached

1, 2, 3, 5, 6

4, 5

5

Research Vision – Level 1 intelligence

4Advanced Infrastructure Systems

Field tests were conducted in a double-tee storage yard

~15 ft.~40 ft.

~20 ft.At most 5 pieces in a stack

5Advanced Infrastructure Systems

Antenna Option 2

Antenna Option 1

Connection cable

Active system from Identec Solutions

IQ tag(RW)

ID tag (RO)

Two RFID systems : Passive & active UHF systemPassive system from Venture Research

RFID reader

RFID reader

Cross-over ethernet cable

2 antennas

Encapsulated tag (RO)

Label tags with insulation (RO and RW)

6Advanced Infrastructure Systems

Passive RFID testsAntennas placed at two elevations with two different orientations

7Advanced Infrastructure Systems

Reader is connected to the antennas and to the laptop placed in the driver’s cabinet

Ethernet connection to the computer

Antenna connections

8Advanced Infrastructure Systems

~3-20 ft

Three different types of tags were attached and testedDistance between tags and antennas changed between ~3-20 ft

Antennas

9Advanced Infrastructure Systems

Antenna Option 2

Antenna Option 1

Connection cable

Active system from Identec Solutions

IQ tag(RW)

ID tag (RO)

Two RFID systems : Passive & active UHF systemPassive system from Venture Research

RFID reader

RFID reader

Cross-over ethernet cable

2 antennas

Encapsulated tag (RO)

Label tags with insulation (RO and RW)

10Advanced Infrastructure Systems

Implementation at a material supplier

Tag• 1 antenna and reader• Wireless GPS• Active RFID tags

11Advanced Infrastructure Systems

Results – Material supplier• Active RFID technology

performs well.• Data Cleaning algorithm is

needed.• Not possible to read

through a component: – Tags should be on the

side closer to the antenna.

• Reading range is about 1/5th of the original reading range (20-25 ft).

• Wireless GPS works well on the crane, however better accuracy is needed.

12Advanced Infrastructure Systems

Arrival to site

Construction site

Storage Installation5

3, 4, 55, 6

Information Items that are transferred

1. Manufacturing info

2. Storage & handling manual

3. Inspection info

4. Storage & location info

5. Status info

6. Final location at the structure

7. Maintenance info

Operations & maintenance

3, 7

Info

Maintenance

Manufacturing

Storage at plant

Shipping to site

Reader & GPS

Manufacturing Plant Reader

RFID tag is attached

1, 2, 3, 5, 6

4, 5

5

Research Vision – Level 1 intelligence

13Advanced Infrastructure Systems

How reliable is RFID for distributed data storage and component identification at the field?

Fire valves that are not tagged

Fire valves that are tagged with active tags

Behind a door

Behind a ceiling panel

High power

95% of the time reads in the first attempt. ID reading range is 20-90% of the claimed reading range.Reading/writing time doubles as the size of the file doubles.It takes longer to write then to read.

14Advanced Infrastructure Systems

How reliable is RFID for distributed data storage and component identification at the field?

Tag 8

Tag 7

Tag 1 Tag 2Tag 3

NT

NT

NT

NT

NT

NT

NT

NT

NT

Tag 5 Tag 6 Tag 4

10 m.10 ft.

Tag 8

Tag 7

Tag 1 Tag 2Tag 3

NT

NT

NT

NT

NT

NT

NT

NT

NT

Tag 5 Tag 6 Tag 4

10 m.10 ft.

Tag 8

Tag 7

Tag 1 Tag 2Tag 3

NT

NT

NT

NT

NT

NT

NT

NT

NT

Tag 5 Tag 6 Tag 4

10 m.10 ft.

-80

-78

-76

-74

-72

-70

-68

-66

-64

-62

-60

-580 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42

Order of reading

Cum

ulat

ive

Ave

rage

(dB

M)

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Day 11 Day 12Day 13 Day 14 Day 15 Day 16

X X X X X X X X X X

X X

X X

X X

X X

15Advanced Infrastructure Systems

Practical Implications for utilizing RFID through a life cycle of a component

• Level 1 Intelligence

• More accurate (semi-automated) data collection.

• Effective data communication through the supply chain and life cycle of infrastructure systems.

• Effective tracking of components throughout their life-cycles.

• Correct identification of components in the field and access of corresponding historical data.

Advanced Infrastructure Systems

Depart. of Civil and Environ. Eng.Carnegie Mellon University

Automated tracking of and capturing information related to Engineered-to-order products using RFID and GPS

Burcu Akinci (bakinci@cmu.edu), Anu Pradhan, Esin Ergen

17Advanced Infrastructure Systems

Active UHF system components• i-Q tag: Active, UHF

– Reading range: • 100 feet in open air (regular)• 300 feet in open air (high-power)

– 32 KB data memory (5KB for demo version),– Temperature logging (optional)– ~6-year battery life time (not replaceable)– LED– Operating temperature (–40ºF to +185ºF). – ~$60/ piece.

• i-D tag: Active, UHF– Reading range: 20 feet, – 64-byte data memory,– ~6-year battery life time (not replaceable) – LED– Operating temperature (–40ºF to +158ºF) – $19/ piece.

18Advanced Infrastructure Systems

Active UHF system components (2)• i-reader: $1,400

– Has drivers for Windows and Linux– Inserted into PCMCIA slot in the computer – Can be connected to 1 antenna

• Antennas

$350

Linear sensitive to orientation of tags Circular insensitivereduced read. range

No gain 3 dB better reading range

7.5 dB much better reading range

$35$100