ISSN 2348 – 0319 International Journal of Innovative and Applied Research (2017)

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Volume 5, Issue 10

Journal home page: http://www.journalijiar.com

RESEARCH ARTICLE
RFID BASED PREPAID AND VALUE CARD FOR SCHOOL CANTEEN.

Erika Colleen P. Mañibo, Fidel C. Romasanta, Ronald M. Marasigan, Regine A. Ponce, Paolo Michael L.
Lafuente, Jesus M. Bautista, Epie M. Custodio, Dezza Marie M. Magsino, Sarah Jean L. Mendoza, Elmer H.
Festijo and Kristianne Aleza Marie Javier.
Mindoro State College of Agriculture and Technology - Calapan City Campus.

*Corresponding Author:- Erika Colleen P. Mañibo.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Abstract:
Today, emerging technologies have great impact to our lives in different ways. Modern technologies have
revolutionized the way people communicates and interact all over the world. It simplifies life in so many ways and
every one defines technology in their own way. Others define technology as science applied to practical purposes.
This study aimed to provide a secured system that will alter the manual way of paying bills at school canteen by
means of using RFID cards that is mainly capable of prepaid loading and earning points from the total amount of
purchased items. The advantage of this system will benefit the people who are enjoying the canteen services. A card
is allocated to each user and can be reloaded with a certain amount. A user needs to pay cash to the canteen owner
for reloading the RFID card. The Prepaid RFID card for canteen project has a keypad for reloading and this keypad
will be accessible only to the canteen owner. Results showed that the developed system is highly functional, highly
reliable, highly efficient and highly secured.

Key Words:- Canteen, Modern Technology, RFID card.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Introduction:-
The use of technology is increasing day by day, people depend and use technology to accomplish specific tasks.
It is being implemented in almost every section of our lives and business structures. As the world keeps on
developing, technology will be changed, what is working today might not be efficient tomorrow.

One of these technologies is the Radio-frequency identification (RFID) which is the wireless use
of electromagnetic fields to transfer data, for the purposes of automatically identifying and tracking tags attached to
objects. The tags contain electronically stored information. RFID technology paves way to making the lives of
consumers convenient and secured and has made huge change in the business sector [1]. According to Chiagozie &
Nwaji [2], RFID is a modern technology that has been widely used as part of automation systems by different
organizations. For instance, it is used to produce a time-attendance management system. An RFID System is mainly
composed of two components. These are the reader and the tags. Tags has microchips that carries the information.
On the other hand, the reader detects the tags within the frequency range [3].

Sarac and Absi [4] explored the benefits of RFID in the main supply chain, problems such as inventory
inaccuracy, the bullwhip effect, and replenishment policies, and then conducted a survey on the performance of the
companies who applied RFID in their facilities. Similarly, planning and control on automobile terminals are
generally executed by centralized logistics systems, which may not be able to deal with the extensive requirements
for flexible order processing because of increased dynamics and complexity.

De Leon et al. [5] in their study entitled, “Integrated Electronic Toll Collection System using RFID
Technology” uses RFID reader as means for detection of tags in the field, RFID tags as mean for receiving the data
from the RFID reader, laptop computers for storage of data (server), and a GSM module for sending a notification
message for balance inquiry of the tags. The RFID reader of the system has the capability to detect installed RFID
tags on moving vehicles in the field. Once the tag is detected during entering or exiting of vehicles at the tollgate,

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the data gathered by the reader are then stored in the database. Whenever a vehicle exits the tollgate, the system
computes the toll fee through visual basic 6.0. After all the computations, if the remaining balance of the RFID tag is
below the required minimum balance of the system, the GSM module will send a SMS to the customer for balance
inquiry and notification.

Liu et al. [6] in their study entitled, “RFID-Based Production Operation Management for Multi-Varieties and
Small-Batch Production” used RFID tags to identify important production elements in a workshop. They built a tag
data model of production elements and integrated the operation mode of corresponding production operation
management systems in order to establish an information fusion model of real-time heterogeneous production data
from multiple sources. They implemented rapidly reconfigurable production operation management systems based
on components. The results from their case study showed that the production efficiency and quality were improved.

Aside from the abovementioned applications of RFID, it is also used in access control system in some countries
such as Pakistan in order to deal with the security threats. This RFID is widely used to automate processes in
industrial sector up to home security [7]-[9].

In colleges, schools or inside a university campus, canteen facility is provided. Students, college staff or
university staff uses this facility. Centralized food distribution center with convenient and productive operations is
one of the factors of canteen use.

Cash is the medium used in paying bills in canteen. The user always need to bring cash and pay the exact
amount of their bill, otherwise, there would be a problem in giving back their change specially if there is a shortage
in the supply of coins. The owner needs to provide coupon to the costumer and the costumer has to carry that
coupon.

Another drawback in the manual system of canteen is that the canteen owner manually writes order on daily
basis and the total bill is being computed at the end of the month. Maintaining of paper-based records is the
disadvantage of this method because these records might get damaged and the students’ log might be lost.

This study aimed to produce a secured system that will alter the manual way of paying bills at school canteen by
means of using RFID cards that is mainly capable of prepaid loading and earning points from the total amount of
purchased items. The system can perform payment through RFID based card tag as value and prepaid purchased
card, track transaction history and do basic inventory management which includes product management, sales report
and accounting reports.

This new system can bring greater profit for canteen as it can enhance the efficiency of the daily processes,
generate useful reports which aid in decision making, and so on. This not only can save time, but it is also error-free
provided given the correct input. The system interface will be designed to meet user’s expectations by depending on
necessary user interface design principles such as consistency, recoverability, and user-familiarity and so on.
Therefore, users are able to fully grasp the use of this system with minimal effort and time-spent.

Objectives of the Study:-

This project is done to provide a secured system that can manage RFID based card tag as value and purchased
card, transactions history tracking and basic inventory management such as product management, sales report and
accounting report. Moreover, this study also aimed to design and develop a system that will change the way of
paying bills at the canteen; eliminate the process of paper based records that can get damaged; increase efficiency by
speeding up the overall process and lastly, to reduce administrative work and increase user’s satisfaction.

Methodology:-
Functional requirements are features that must include in a system in order to satisfy the business needs that can
be acceptable to the system user. Functional requirements capture the intended behavior of the system. This
behavior may be expressed as service, task functions the system is required to perform.

Figure 1 demonstrates the whole flow of the system. The system provides sufficient services which is
advantageous to the users.

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User Product
Accounts Purchase
Management

Instant E-Cash
Card Holder
Loading
Membership
Cashier

Product Product
Inventory and Inventory
Reports Browsing

System
Administrator
Points
Redemption

Tap RFID Card

E-Cash Cash & Input
Out Access/ Guest
Code

E-Cash
/Prepaid Card
Tap RFID Card
Loading Holde
r

Figure 1:- Use Case of the Developed System

Figure 2 illustrates what the System Administrator can do to the entire system. The administrator is the one
capable of navigating and making changes within the system.

User Accounts
Management

Card Holder
Membership

Product
Inventory and
Reports

System
Administrator
Points
Redemption

E-Cash Cash
Out

E-Cash
/Prepaid
Loading

Figure 2:- Use Case for System dministrator

Figure 3 illuminates the process which can be done by the cashier. After logging in through a verified username
and password in the system, the cashier can access the following information.

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Product
Purchase

Instant E-
Cash Loading

Cashier

Product
Inventory
Browsing

Figure 3:- Use Case for Cashier

Figure 4 exemplifies the idea of what the Card Holder do as their part of the system process. The card holder
which can be a student, faculty or other employee will have to tap the RFID card and input the access/guest code. If
the card holder wants to lend the card to a friend, the card holder will have to input the guest code.

Tap RFID Card &

Input Access/
Guest Code

Card
Holder Tap RFID Card

Figure 4:- Use Case for Card Holder

Requirement Specification:-
This includes hardware interface, software interface, user interface and functional requirements that were used
in the development of the study.

Hardware Interface:-
The hardware requirements of the study concede mainly of RFID reader, RFID Key Tag/Card, desktop
computer and other essential requirements. Prior to the authentic conception of the entire system with the device,
proper selection of different components was considered to be used for the project. After all the components were
completed, testing of the proper functioning of the components and troubleshooting the problems encountered were
done.

Software Interface:-
The software interface is one of the most important interfaces because it describes the connection between the
system and other software components including database, operating system, tools, libraries and integrated
commercial components.

The researchers used Microsoft SQL Server 2008 for the database and other files of the system and Microsoft
Visual Studio 2010 C# for the programming language.

User Interface:-
The study has provided a user interface that is surely user-friendly to the system administrator; it can easily
navigate the entire system in simple instructional commands.

Analysis of the Current System:-

RFID Based Prepaid and Value Card for School Canteen is committed to provide excellent services that will
pave the way of manual canteen management especially in terms of payment. It ensures the integrity of the system
compared to the manual way of paying bills which is on hand. The system aimed to increase the efficiency of daily
business transactions performed in the canteen. With this new computerized system, many of the existing business

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processes such as inventory and payment are done with the aid of computer. This not only can save time, but it is
also error-free provided given the correct input.

Figure 5 presents the current system which is the manual canteen management.

Figure 6 shows the diagram of the proposed system. The chief purpose of the system is to alter the way of
paying bills at the canteen by means of using RFID card tag as prepaid and value card. Customers, either be a
student, faculty or other employees must register first in the admin under the user accounts to avail the card. The
system administrator will then give the card holder both his access and guest code. Guest code is used when a friend
of the card holder wants to borrow and use the card. To use the card, card holders should tap his RFID card in a
RFID reader for a system query to find the data of a specific person successfully. The card is capable of prepaid
loading and earning points from the purchased items of the customer that can be redeemed. It can convert redeemed
points to different defined items. The system is also efficient of cashing-out if the card holder wants to. It will
deduct the cashed-out amount from the remaining load. The card can be used in three modes of payment: purchasing
via e-cash, purchasing via e-cash and cash combination and purchasing via cash. Once the payment is already done,
the card holder has options if he wants to load the change to card instantly or just hand it over. The system
comprises the basic inventory management of the canteen that includes browsing of records, adding, editing, and
deleting of product records. The system is also capable of generating sales and accounting reports.

Testing and Evaluation:-

The testing of the system was crucial and many errors were discovered throughout the implementation phase
where they were fixed and the desire capabilities were achieved.

Brief discussion about the usability of the system was done. Training is also included for both owner and staff
to know the environment of the system and how it works. Training consists of actual presentation, how to operate
properly and what to do when errors occurs.

Test was implemented to ensure the reliability of the system as well as to identify which portions of the system
have to be improved and modified. More so, test was helpful to access and analyze the system functionality.

The system was evaluated using a self-structured questionnaire and measured in terms of functionality,
efficiency, reliability and security. The evaluators were ten (10) faculty and staff and ten (10) students. The 5-point
Hedonic Rating Scale was used in evaluating the system (Table 1).

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Table 1:- 5-point Hedonic Rating Scale

Scale Range Description
5 4.50-5.00 Excellent
4 3.50-4.49 Very Satisfactory
3 2.50-3.49 Satisfactory
2 1.50-2.49 Fair
1 1.00-1.49 Poor

Security:-
The system has built in username and password because the admin is the one who can access the private part of
the system. In this method, the privacy is more secured.

Coding:-
The study used Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 C# as the programming language and Microsoft SQL Server 2008
as the main database for RFID Based Prepaid and Value Card for School Canteen. The system was coded and
constantly improved using various types of testing methods to completely attain the desired goals.

During the development process of RFID Based Prepaid and Value Card for School Canteen, all the different
techniques and methods available were used to achieve all specific and certain task. These were done to guarantee
that syntax and other type of faults and errors is totally corrected and eliminated so that the system will run
flawlessly.

User Interface:-
User interface include graphical user interface (GUI) which is a human-computer interface that uses windows,
icons and menus which can be manipulated by a mouse. It is the most important part of an application and it is
certainly the most visible. To the user, the interface is the application they probably are not aware of the code that is
executed behind the scene. The following figures show the user interface for the developed system.

Figure 7 shows the Card Holders Menu wherein customers either be, a student, faculty or other employees
register their accounts in order to use the card.

Figure 7:- Card Holders Menu

Figure 8 indicates the Load Card Menu. The system is capable of prepaid loading. Customers should tap his
card to be able to use the service.

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Figure 8:- Load Card Menu

Figure 9 illustrates the Cashier Panel. This is where the payment transaction happens.

Figure 9:- Cashier Panel

Results:-
The system was evaluated in terms of functionality, reliability, efficiency and security. This was evaluated by
faculty and staff and students.

Table 2:- Perception of Evaluators

Category Faculty and Staff Students Entire Group
WM VI WM VI WM VI
Functionality 4.67 Excellent 4.57 Excellent 4.62 Excellent
Efficiency 4.68 Excellent 4.72 Excellent 4.70 Excellent
Reliability 4.75 Excellent 4.80 Excellent 4.76 Excellent
Security 4.58 Excellent 4.71 Excellent 4.65 Excellent
TOTAL 4.67 Excellent 4.70 Excellent 4.68 Excellent
WM – Weighted mean; VI – Verbal Interpretation

As shown in Table 2 in terms of Functionality, the system was rated by Faculty and Staff (WM=4.67) and
Students (WM=4.57) as “Excellent”. This means that the developed system brings greater profit for canteen as it
enhance the productivity of the daily processes. Moreover, in terms of Efficiency, the system was rated by Faculty
and Staff (WM=4.68), and Students (WM=4.72) as “Excellent”. This means that the developed system is better than
the manual way of paying bills at the school canteen. It alters the common disbursement which is paying on hand.
Furthermore, in terms of Reliability, the system was also rated by Faculty and Staff (WM=4.75) and Students (4.80)
as “Excellent”. It implies that the system records data accurately which includes the information of each registering
card holder, the list of all incoming and outgoing products of the canteen, all the transactions happened such as
prepaid loading, cashing-out, purchasing and points redemption. Likewise, in terms of Security, the system was
rated as “Excellent” by Faculty and Staff (WM=4.58) and Students (WM=4.71). This implies that the system
provides a distinct and secured user accounts in such a way that Prepaid RFID card has a keypad for reloading and
this keypad is accessible only to the canteen owner and the system has built-in username and password for security.

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The overall result implies that the system is very useful and effective, highly functional, highly reliable, highly
efficient and highly secured.

Conclusions and Recommendations:-

The overall result of the system was very excellent. It implies that it ensures the integrity of the system
compared to the manual way of paying bills which is on hand. The developed system can be implemented because
results proved that it is more functional, reliable, efficient and secured than the manual system.

However, it is recommended that requirement specification such as sustainable internet connection or local area
network connection should be met for better performance of the developed system. Consequently, using of more
advanced hardware and software requirements are also recommended for a specific and more accurate execution of
the system. A database management system with the developed system provides more secure and reliable storage of
the information in the system.

References:-
1. Bhattacharyya, S., Das, N., Bhattacharjee, D., & Mukherjee, A. (2017). Handbook on Research on Recent
Development in Intelligent Communication Application. China: IGI Global
2. Chiagozie, O. G., & Nwaji, O. G. (2012). Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Based Attandance System
with Automatic Door Unit. Academic Research International, 2(2), 168–183.
3. Olanipekun, A. A., & Boyinbode, O. K. (2015). A RFID Based Automatic Attendance System in Educational
Institutions of Nigeria. International Journal of Smart Home, 9(12), 65–74.
4. Sarac, A., & Absi, N. (2010). A literature review on the impact of RFID technologies on supply chain
management. International journal of production economics , 128(1), 77–95
5. De Leon A. J. Y., Ducante B. A. B., Paragas, A. L. R. and Reyeslao C. J. S., (2012). Integrated Electronic Toll
Collection System using RFID Technology
6. Liu, W., Zheng, L., Sun, D., Liao, X., Zhao, M., & Yang, F. (June 2010). RFID-Based Production Operation
Management for Multi-Varieties and Small-Batch Production. Proceeding of the IEEE International
Conference on RFID-Technology and Applications Guangzhou, China: IEEEXPORE. 17-19
7. Farooq, U., Hasan, M., Amar, M., Hanif, A., & Asad, M. U. (2014). RFID Based Security and Access Control
System. IACSIT International Journal of Engineering and Technology, 6(4), 309–314.
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8. D. L. Wu, Wing W. Y. NG, D. S. Yeung, and H. L. Ding. (2009). A brief survey on current RFID applications
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9. B. Yan and D. Y. Lee (2009). Design of spot ticket management system based on RFID in Proc. International
Conference on Networks Security, Wireless Communications and Trusted Computing, 496-499.

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