Developing applications using RFID Technology

-For domestic and industrial usage

Vehicle Tracking and Ticketing System

Using
“R F I D”

Submitted by
Anoop.K.S.
Harikrishnan.M.A.
Pattabiraman.R.
Scope of the Project:
The project Vehicle Tracking & Ticketing System (VTTS) mainly deals with identification
of vehicles and ticketing the passengers using these vehicles. The project is implemented with the
help of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology. The major area of implementation o f
our project is for ticketing bus passengers in college bus electronically and obtain identification of
buses. The project on implementation will fetch added features like speed in transaction, cost
efficiency, low frequency of errors etc. Another added f eature will be the accuracy in data
recorded. Human errors will be rectified to the maximum thereby enhancing the efficiency of the
system.
The obsolete system of manual entry and calculation can be removed and this method could
be adopted to bring into a ction a more efficient system. This VTTS application identifies a
particular vehicle by the RFID tag fixed on them. In case of passenger boarding or getting down the
bus is identified and ticketed on the basis of ID card they posses.
The system could be more elaborately established for all vehicles and passengers and a
complete digital network could be established with the least of its possible errors. The tags are cost
efficient and the whole equipment once installed can work without any particular attent ion. The
area of application of RFID is very wide and the technology has already proved its value. Thus the
implementation and practice of such a digital system would always be worth.

Description of the Concept:

VTTS is designed to work in an environment where vehicle identification is required. The
prototype made is having all the features of the whole project. The current prototype made is to
support the needs and requirements of our college. It could easily serve as a model of the whole
working project. Moreover a complete functional database is ready to deliver. The technical details
regarding the project are described.
Radio Frequency Identification is a generic term for technologies that use radio waves to
automatically identify people or objects. An RFID system consists of a tag, which is made up of a
microchip with an antenna and an interrogator or reader with an antenna. The reader sends out
electromagnetic waves. The tag antenna is tuned to receive these waves. A passive RFID tag draws
power from field created by the reader and uses it to power the microchip's circuits. The chip then
modulates the waves that the tag sends back to the reader and the reader convert the new waves
into digital data.
For the purpose of Vehicle Identification, the tags ar e embedded into the Vehicle. The
reader sends the electro magnetic waves to the tag. The tags draw the power from this wave and
return back the vehicle information, which are stored in its memory to reader. The readers again
demodulate this wave and conver t it as a digital data.
For the purpose of Ticketing, the operational feature of the cards is the same but here the
tags are attached to the Student ID cards and the reader collects the detail from them.
Schematic representation of RFID technology used in VTTS is given below in figure 1.
with a sequential indications to the various features used by the system. The antenna senses the tag
and the information are fed into the reader. The reader then decodes these data and sends it to the
host system through requires means.

RFID HOST
READER SYSTEM

ANTENNA

TAG
Figure 1: Working Principle of RFID Technology in VTTS

Unique Features of the Proposed Project:

The implementation of RFID for vehicle identification and ticketing was executed to
overcome the various shortcomings in the existing system. Some of the added features in this
system are listed below:
  Generally, the BARCODE technology uses the ‘line of sight’ technology. That is, a
scanner has to “see” the bar code to read it, which means people usually have to orie nt the
bar code towards a scanner for it to be read. Radio frequency identification, by contrast,
doesn’t require line of sight. RFID tags can be read as long as they are within range of a
reader.
 Actually, the RFID uses the low -end of the electromagnetic spectrum. Thus waves coming
from readers are not dangerous and are similar to those waves coming from our car radio.
Just as our radio tunes into different frequency to hear different channels, RFID tags and
readers are tuned to the same frequency to commu nicate.
 Radio waves travel through most non -metallic materials, so they can be embedded in
packaging or encased in protective plastic for weatherproofing and greater durability.

Alternatives Thought of While Designing the Project:

Manual Ticketing and vehicle identification was the obsolete method available but the
frequency of getting errors and mismatch in entries was a serious problem. Human employment
was always over ruled by computers. The factor of fatigue will also be overruled.
An interesting area applicable in a similar situation was the BARCODES. But this had the
major problem of line of sight that is the coded card had to be taken to the reader to validate an
entry. Even though the method is bit less expensive the security that could be offered was very less.
Another technique for implementing such a request is by using Biometric devices. But the
comparative cost of implementation is very high and the system being dependent on physiological
characteristics will not function effectively as expect ed if there is an unexpected change in the
physiological characters of the client.

Cost/Benefit Expected
Consumers usually welcome price reduction. For that to be enduring, the supplier and
retailer must reduce costs. RFID on buses, cards are achieving this in many ways but the tagging of
individual items is revealing yet richer rewards, even though it is at a much earlier stage.
Automation is the key, but it comes alongside crime reduction, reducing excess stocks and work in
progress and reducing the ti me taken from raw materials to finished item on the retailer’s shelf
(“time to market”) and other benefits that directly impact costs. The estimated cost for the
implementation of the project mentioned will figure out around INR 10,000 -15,000.
It will have a considerable contribution towards saving the manual scanning, administrative
errors, etc. It will increase the rate of efficiency by introduction of a common conduct of operation
that will enable the administrators to fabricate a less crime -sensed system. The number of
trespassers and other unidentified persons could easily be tracked using the system.

The various benefits expected could be summed up as

 Speed of transaction
 Increased safety
 Cost reduction
 Fewer queues
 Easier evacuation
 More reliable equipment
 Less frustration.
 Less violent crime.
 Faster processing of passengers.
 Reduces fraud.
 Greater reliability of equipment.

Related State of Art References In the Area of Proposed Project:

We have underwent a detailed study about the RFID applicati on and implementation and
found it applicable to the upcoming industries. Vehicle tracking and ticketing is just a low level
application to imprint the wide level of application possible in this field. The implementation in
college transport section would make it easy for the detailed study of various aspects of the project.
Some of the references that guided us and helped in designing the project are listed below:

Websites:
1. www.rfid-journal.com
2. www.oclinfo.com
3. www.tutorial-reports.com
 4. www.idtechex.com

Books and Papers:

1. RFID Handbook - Radio-Frequency Identification fundamentals and a pplications
Published by John Wiley & Sons UK 1999
2. RFID Field Guide: Deploying Radio Frequency Identification Systems
by Manish Bhuptani, Shahram Moradpour (Paperback)
3. Radio Frequency Identification - A paper with review of literature about RFID and its
pros and cons.

Approach to implementation:
The vehicle ticketing and tracking system is applicable under normal environmental
conditions. The users/clients are provided with a RFID tag enabled card having their details printed
as usual. The RFID tag will b e saved with information regarding the user previously. This forms
basically forms the input for the system.
The passengers while boarding or getting down the bus are made to pass by a RFID reader
fixed somewhere on the way. The readers read the cards with the passengers and the data is fed into
the local terminal. The details of the client are matched with the database in the server and later the
observations are recorded accordingly. A user/client who pays an initial amount is given a
minimum permit to use the bus. This is accounted in terms of chances he uses the bus. He can use
the account until he finishes his quota that has been allotted to him. A diagrammatic representation
of the proposed system to be implemented is given in Figure2.The computer term inals shown in the
Figure2 are optional and the prototype made is functional directly on the server.
 User U ser User

USER WITH RFID TAG USER WITH RFID TAG USER WITH RFID TAG

READER READER READER

COMPUTER TERMINALS COMPUTER TERMINALS COMPUTER TERMINALS

SERVER

Figure2: Proposed System to be implemented.

Issues to be confronted:
The server should always be in working condition and proper connectivity of server with
computer terminals should be assured.
Passengers should be checked to have proper cards that could be read by the tag while
boarding or else provision should be given to issue cards for everyone.
Selection of frequency of the tags and the reader is a major issue and it should be properly
taken care of.
The tags are having a proprietary technology and the tags may not be sensible inside some
other readers.
The range of the reader and tag plays an important role and hence the tags and reader should
be confirmed of contact.
 Tag collision or reader collision is ano ther important factor that causes malfunctioning of
the whole system.
Trespassers should be taken care of or else the system may not be that effective.

Resources Required
The resource requirement for the project could be charted under three sections. They are
1. RFID SECTION
2. COMPUTER SECTION
3. SOFTWARES AND DEVELOPMENT TOOLS

 RFID SECTION

This section is mainly focusing on the tools required for tracking the various tags used
in the VTTS. They are mainly three categories.
o RFID tag enabled ID card
 The tag carries the information about the client and forms the basic input of
the system.
o RFID writer
 The device used to write the details about the client onto the tag.
o RFID reader
 The device used to read the details about the client from the tag.

 COMPUTER SECTION

This section mainly deals with the computer systems required for the implementation of
the VTTS. They could be classified as:
o Computer Terminals
 The computer systems used for operating the VTTS.
o LAN connectivity
 Proper connecting devices between th e terminals and server.
o Computer Server
 The computer system used for maintaining the database.
  SOFTWARES AND DEVELOPMENT TOOLS
This section deals with the various design tools used in system for the purpose of design
and implementation.
o Microsoft Visual Basic
 Event driven programming language used for designing the interface and
connecting the various sections.
o Microsoft Access
 Back end software to keep record of the database.
o Crystal Reports
 Report generating software for creating reports.

Proposed Deliverables:

 Sample cards for Demo

 The ID cards with RFID tags could be demonstrated with fully functional features.
 Reader/Writer for Demo
 To obtain the data from the tag and write details to the tag for client information.
 Fully connected working model Fo r Demo
 A fully operational prototype with all the features.
 Fully functional Database Software
 A complete database solution for the whole application.