TED

28/P9 Panel on ‘RFID Application for School Buses’

Prepared by Prof.P.K.Sarkar

1.0 INTRODUCTION
A large number of school children commute through bus daily in most of the
countries in the world. Generally School authorities take the responsibilities for
safe and secure transportation of school children. These are increasingly becoming
one of the top priorities for school authorities. This document intends to introduce
the concept of safe travel for school children from the point of boarding at the bus
stop to the alighting from the bus at the school and back to students ‘ home by
reverse process on return journey. Bus tracking system will ensure safe
transportation of children to the school & back. Many a times, supervision of
children during their boarding and alighting from the bus can be difficult.
Sometimes small kids forget to leave the bus. This has often led to serious
problems of many children as well as their parents due to lack of attention of
drivers to the safety of the children.
A ITS based system of the above travel for the school children daily for school
trips is proposed to be undertaken for evolving the standards and specifications of
technologies associated with safety for students’ entering or exiting of from bus at
the bus stop based on tracking and monitoring of their school trip right from home
to school and back.. The system proposed will identify children on the basis of
information stored in a RFID tag itself, which is exchanged over radio waves
through reader that transmits the name of each student to be displaced on LCD
display in the bus. This enables the driver to know whether a child is still inside or
not by counting through IR sensors. In case, there is an over speeding of school
bus, buzzer prompts or alerts the driver to know the speed to be minimized for
safety of children. Along with RFID, other elements namely GPS, GPRS, GSM,,
router/ modem and bazar are also used in monitoring and validating the data
generated. The combination of GPS and GSM/GPRS plays an important role
towards effective tracking and monitoring the situation on real time working
system. With this system, one can analyze the location of school bus and
information about driver’s behavior and children whether it follows a track. Thus
proposed system should be able to enhance safety and efficacy of system. Fig 1.
shows how it works.

Fig 1. Functioning of the Proposed System

2.0 Experiments Conducted:
Experiment conducted (1) by Abdelmoula Bekkali, et al of Qatar Mobility
Innovations Center, Doha, developed child safety system in this research by
utilizing the passive RFID tracking technology due to its efficient tracking
capabilities, low cost, and easy maintenance. A set of tests were conducted in the
laboratory by involving the public. These experiments showed that the RFID tags
were effective and stable enough to be used for successfully tracking and
monitoring children in the the bus. More than 95% of the parents experienced that
such a solution were satisfied as it would take their anxiety and worry away and
would provide them a tool to track their kids during commuting to and from their
schools.
The research proposal carried out by Mr.V.Sivakumar(2) shows that RFID based
school bus tracking technology is a feasible alternative solution for monitoring
and tracing the students during their journey to and from the school. Additionally,
the expense associated with tagging of material is moderately low. Also the drunk
and drive prevention system coupled with the speed control system is an important
component to help the children commute safely. It is therefore felt that the system
is capable of in informing guardians through the text message once the child
enters/leaves the varsity,

The system developed (3)by Anwaar Al-Lawati, et al of the Department of

Electrical and Computer Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University is a web-based
database-driven application that helps its management and provides useful
information about the children to authorized personal. A complete prototype of the
proposed system has already been implemented and tested to validate the system
functionality. The results reveal that the system is promising for daily
transportation safety.
The UG Scholars(4) of the Department ECE, AVS Engineering College
developed RFID -GSM based database-driven application that facilitates its
management and provides useful information about the children to authorized
person through SMS using GSM. The system consists of two main units, first one
bus unit and second one school unit. The bus unit the system is used to detect when
a child boards or leaves the bus. This information is communicated to the school
unit that identifies which of the children did not board or leave the bus and issues
an alert message accordingly (5,6,7,8, 9). A complete prototype of the proposed
system was implemented at various test laboratories and tested to validate the
system functionality as mentioned above.
3.0 System Design
Before the details of various components of the system is presented , it is worthwhile
to present system architecture of the “RFID Application for School Buses’(1) as
shown in the Fig 2 and Fig 3.. It can be seen that RFID is linked with all the sub-
systems like School Bus, School Child Safety Server and Delivery Channels and End
Users via Internet.
Fig 2. System Architecture

Fig 3: Data communication with RFID Tag & Reader linking with School server-
system architecture ( Ref:3)
In order to develop the system, it generally consist of two units i.e. the Bus unit and
the school unit respectively for which the details of components associated are shown
in Fig 4 and Fig 5.. The bus unit will consist of the following components as shown
in Fig 4.
1. RFID Tag
2. RFID Reader
3. LCD
4. GPRS & GSM Modem
5. Microcontroller Atmega 162
6. GPS
 7. Keypad
8. Ultrasonic Sensor
9. Buzzer

Fig 4: Block Diagram of Bus unit

The School unit consists of the following
components:
1. RFID Tag
2. RFID Reader
3. LCD
4. GSM Modem
5. Microcontroller Atmega 162
6. Keypad
7. GSM Modem
8. RS 232
9. PC (VB)

Fig 5. Block Diagram of School Unit

Fig 5 a. Block Diagram for Bus as well as School in Combination

3. System Engineering Requirements
The system components as shown in Fig 4 & 5 should be designed with the following
engineering requirements:
· The system should recognize each child and detect when every child boards or
leaves the bus.
· The system should have a database to store student’s information.
· The system should be easy to re-configure.
The communication should be reliable.

In this system, when the child boards the bus and places the RFID tag either
attached to school bus bag or embedded in the Identity Card, then a message get
transmitted to child’s parent as well as to the school server in the form of “your kid
is now in the bus “ or “particular student in the bus” . It will also display the name of the
child, roll no, address, parents name and the status “Child inside bus”. Also the
Google map will show the location of the bus.
Now when the bus reaches the school, again the child’s tag interacts with Reader of
the bus while leaving the bus in the system of bus unit. This triggers a message being
transmitted to the child’s parent as your child reached school” . At the same time a
message is transmitted to the school server with a display name of the child, roll no,
address, parents name and the status “Child reached school”. Subsequently the
location of the bus is displayed in the Google map. Similar procedure is followed when
child returns home.. The data generated for all school children boarding and alighting at
different bus stops are recorded and monitored .

4.The Bus Unit Description

As described earlier, the bus unit will detect the children when they board/leave
the bus using RFID technology. The use of UHF RFID reader, is generally used as
it has a faster data transfer than the others. The RFID reader will be installed
inside the school bus at the entrance. It will be placed where it will only detect the
children when they are inside the bus. If the children were outside near the bus, the
reader will not be able to detect them.
4.1 RFID Tag & Reader
Each child will have embed his Identity Card with RFID tag or tag to be attached
with the children bags so that information of particular child is transmitted to the
reader which uses GSM, GPRS and GPS finally to send it to the School’s Server.
The bus unit is responsible for sending relevant tag information to the school unit
where it will be stored and processed. Based on the received information, other
related child’s information can be retrieved from the database for further processing
(e.g. texting the parent). An ARM 7 ,It is a versatile processor designed for mobile
devices and other low power electronics. This processor architecture is capable of
sending data up to 130 MIPS and is activated to process the given information and is
also responsible to send the appropriate location of the missed student by adopting the
GSM/GPRS technology. The Missed student Latitude and Altitude locations are also
worked out by adopting the GPS Technology.

Out of two types of RFID tags, passive and active tags, passive RFID tags is used
since they have a short reading range which fits short range distance requirement to
detect the child when he is close to the reader at the time of boarding or alighting the
bus. This passive tag is cheaper than active RFID tag and needs no maintenance in
contrast to active tags.
For RFID application software, like all systems these days, RFID systems need
application software to run the overall system. With many systems, there will be a
number of different reader / writers and the data to and from, these needs to be
coordinated and analyzed. Application software is needed for these. As each RFID
system will vary as per its requirements of
RFID. Radio Frequency Identification offers an ideal technology for tracking assets
and identifying them by using a simple low cost antenna attached to the item . Fig 6a
& 6b show tag and reader, micro controller and model. .
Fig 6.a. Testing the RFID Tag RFID Reader Fig 6.b. Reader, micro controller and
GSM Modem.

Fig 6 c. Code used to read Tag No.

There is a greatest challenge related to the

Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI )
which is so unpredictable, making the location
estimation (i.e. in-bus/school, outside
bus/school) of the tag a difficult problem .
Mostly the RSSI experiences from a random
fluctuation and null spots (i.e. tag data cannot be
read within the reader influential or interrogation zone), due to the positioning of tag's
antenna and its orientation and polarization, Z 1ONE Z 2 ONE

radio wave absorption and reflection, and (RSSI_Ant1- RSS_Ant2) > DTh

(RSSI_Ant1- RSS_Ant2)< DTh

human shadowing in the indoor of the bus.

Decision Threshold:

The random fluctuation of the RSSI and the DTh

null spots suffers a set back resulting in RSSI_Ant1

sometimes wrong detection of the children RSSI_Ant2

whether they are inside or

outside the bus.

Fig 6c. Decision Algorithm the Tag Data Fig 6 d. Detection & measurement of RSSI

The Children Tracking module consists of three main algorithms as described below

I . RFID tags detection and RSSI measurement algorithm: This algorithm detects the
students (RFID tags ID) who are about to board or alight the bus, and measures the
tags RSSI received by both antennas as shown in the Fig 6 c & 6 d.. This data will be
made use of the later to identify students who are in the bus or left the bus. The main
challenge of the passive RFID system is the random behavior of the tags RSSI in
indoor harsh environment , i.e. school bus. For better performance, an adjustment of
the radiation pattern and reading range of both RFID Antennas is required to be
worked out. This process can be carried out only the first time with regular check.

II. Decision algorithm: The primary objective of this system is to facilitate tracking
and locating children, and to know whether they are inside or outside the bus. Let's
assume at position x, the measurement (1) as received RSSI at each RFID antenna are
RSSI_Ant1(m) and RSSI_Ant2(n). As demonstrated in Figure 6 e, the proposed
decision algorithm is worked out by comparing between the two processed and
filtered RSSI values where their difference has to be higher or lower to a pre-defined
Threshold value DTh. Therefore, two separate zones can be defined as following
expressions:

Zone-1= {m, where (RSSI_Ant1(m)- RSSI_Ant2(n))> DTh}

Zone-2= {m, where (RSSI_Ant1(m)- RSSI_Ant2(n))< DTh}

If the school bus has only one boarding and exiting door, the Zone-1 and Zone-2 can
be considered as inside and outside the bus, respectively. The merit of this method is
that the boarding and alighting directions of each tag can be estimated independently.
We can use the sensors to identify the data about the bus engine status (i.e. ON or
OFF) and the bus door status (i.e. open or closed). The system will determine and
define the final list of the children who are onboard travelling in the bus. Alongside
RFID provides automatic data collection for which there are now several standards,
and this enables RFID technology to be deployed in an effective and known manner.
The Existing Data is accessed as presented in Table 1. After the GSM modem sends
SMS to the second GSM modem, which is interfaced to the school server via the
serial communication port and RS232 cable. A code written in PHP reads the received
SMS which is subsequently updated the database, and notification is issued to the
parents if necessary. The reader-microcontroller interface circuit is shown in 6e. If
any new student is to be added , a format in the form of table as presented in the table
2 can be generated used for the purpose. Message generated for informing parents is
shown in Fig 6 f.

Fig6 e. Reader-microcontroller interface circuit Table 1. Information of student’s list

.
Table 2. . Addition of New Information Fig 6 f. Message sent to parents

III. Alert Management Algorithm: This algorithm is responsible for generating

different alert cases, such as the kid get on the wrong bus, get off the wrong place or
left behind in the bus.

4.2 GSM Modem

GSM, is a Global System for Mobile communications, widely used & governs cell
phone technology. Cell phones becomes active and functional with a cell phone
service carrier’s GSM network by identifying and selecting for cell phone towers in
the nearby area. Global system for mobile communication (GSM has been accepted
as globally standard system for digital cellular.

ATmega32 microcontroller is used to interface the reader and the GSM modem (2) in
the bus unit for data exchanging. The reader communicates with microcontroller
using serial communication interface RS232 as shown in Fig 8.. However, due to the
difference in voltage levels, a max232 chip is used to convert signals from RS232
serial port to signals suitable for use in TTL compatible digital logic circuits (power
range: 0 V to + 5 V). A C-program can be written to exchange the data between the
RFID reader and the GSM modem through a microcontroller to verify that they
interfaced properly. The flow chart is shown in Figure 8. If the microcontroller reads
the data from the RFID reader, the LED will be turned on to indicate the successful
read of the tag number.

Fig 8. ATmega32 microcontroller is used to interface the reader and the GSM
modem in the bus unit for data exchange.

5. The School Unit Description

5.1 Communication between Two Modems

Two TMAS GSM/GPRS modems (3) are designed for transferring the data from the
bus unit to the school unit. One of modems is placed in the bus unit to send SMS
which contains the tag serial numbers to another GSM modem in the school
First, the communication between these GSM modems is generally tested using
Terminal program by sending SMS from the first GSM modem using AT commands.
The second GSM modem received the SMS from the first GSM modem.
Then, one GSM modem was connected with the AVR microcontroller (AtMega8)
using RS232. The microcontroller has the AT commands. It may be written in C, for
sending SMS. The code was tested and verified using a terminal program for sending
SMS from one modem to another modem to ensure that microcontroller sent the
correct AT commands as shown in 9a & 9b . The system is shown in Fig 10.

9 (a): Send SMS 9(b): Read SMSFig 10. School Children Tracking System

The school unit is designed with a server interfaced with GSM

6.0 System Database

The database of the system is designed with an objective of meeting certain business
rules which is a brief, precise, and unambiguous description of a policy, procedure,
or principle within a specific organization. It helps one to determine entities, attributes
and relationships of the database. The business rules of the database of the system
may be mentioned as under:
· A child can be in only one bus, but a bus may have many children.
· A child has one or many relatives.
· A relative may have many children registered at the school.
· A bus may be driven by one or more drivers, but a driver can drive only one bus.
· A child may have many attendance records, but an attendance record has one
child.
The Entity-Relationship (ER) diagram of the database can also be referred in Fig 10.

7.0. The System Web-based Application

The database-driven web-based application should be able to manipulate the system,
update, and query the database. Two options can be exercised to log into the website,
as a parent or as an administrator. The administrator can add, modify, delete or view
information about students and their relatives, buses and drivers. On the other hand,
each parent can see the status of his/her children if they board/leave the bus in the
morning and afternoon. The accessing existing information, for example, the
information of students and their relatives can be seen in the Table10. It will
comprise of displaying the details of the students, relatives separately, inserting new
information , deleting/updating existing information.
·

8.0 Receiving the Data from the Bus Unit

When the SMS is sent from the first GSM modem, the second GSM modem received
from the first modem. This is interconnected to the school server via the serial
communication port and RS232 cable. As mentioned earlier, code written in PHP
reads the received SMS along with updating the database that notifies the parents if
necessary. The code works as follows.
First, it inserts a new row for each student as shown in the Table 1 who is enrolled
in the school bus system in the attendance record table with the date. If the first entry
for entering the bus in the morning is set to “no” to indicate the student did not enter
the bus yet, then the rest of the columns are left empty. After that it links to the serial
communication port “COM1” and sends some AT commands to read the messages
received by the modem. Subsequently it allows a text file to open and saves the
messages in it. This includes generally four text files, each for a certain time interval..
If it obtains a serial number that matches one in the file, then it finds the student’s ID
and updates the corresponding column to that time interval in his entry for that day in
the attendance record table.. For example, if during the time where the bus picks up
students from their houses at the morning, then it opens the file for entering the bus in
the morning. After that, it links to the database and from the students table it selects
the serial numbers and compares them to those in the text file. An embedded Linux
Operating System for School Children safety is demonstrated in Fig 10.a. An
experimental set up for this purpose is also presented in the Figures below ( Fig 10 b
& Fig 10 c)

Fig. 10 a. An embedded Linux Operating System for School Children safety,

Source:1

Fig 10 b, Identification of Tag by the Reader and experimental set up

Fig 10 c, A Total System for Experiment on Application of RFID for School
Safety

CONCLUSIONS
As full system of RFID based application of school children safety of the school bus
is yet to be developed in our country with desired standard and specifications, an
attempt is therefore made to appreciate the conceptual functioning of the system. A
descriptive analysis along with their functions using the RFID , GPS and GSM
technology has therefore been attempted in this document to be base paper for full
scale development of t he system. It is imperative to ensure integration of RFID and
GSM technologies for safety and security purpose..

References

[1] Khaled Shaban, Abdelmoula Bekkali, Elyes Ben Hamida, and Abdullah Kadri
,Qatar Mobility Innovations Center, Doha, Qatar , Smart Tracking System for
School Buses Using Passive RFID Technology to Enhance Child Safety,Journal
of Traffic and Logistics Engineering, Vol, 1, No. 2 December 2013
[2] Mr.V.Sivakumar,M.E.1, P.Dhivagar2, S.Rajkumar3, P.Sivamanikandan4,
B.Arun5Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering,V.S.B
Engineering College, Karur
[3] Anwaar Al-Lawati, Shaikha Al-Jahdhami, Asma Al-Belushi, Dalal Al-Adawi,
Medhat Awadalla and Dawood Al-Abri ,Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, RFID-based System for School Children
,Transportation Safety Enhancement, Al-Khod 123, Oman.
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Department of ECE, AVS Engineering College, Salem
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