high-density tag scenarios

Sensors Environmental
1

Dear SparkFun Team/Community,

I hope this message finds you well. I am currently completing a stage at EasyPost Belgium as production engineer. EasyPost is a multinational postal service company, specialized in simplifying and optimizing shipping and logistics processes for businesses. I am writing to you today with a specific inquiry regarding one of your products, the “SparkFun Simultaneous RFID Reader - M6E Nano.”

At EasyPost Belgium, we are continuously seeking ways to enhance our production processes and improve our mail tracking systems. Currently, we are exploring the possibility of incorporating RFID technology into our production and tracking procedures. Our idea is to affix an RFID tag to each piece of mail as it progresses through our production line. Once tagged, these letters are stacked in warehouse stacking bins.

My question is whether your “SparkFun Simultaneous RFID Reader - M6E Nano” is capable of reading all of these RFID tags (± 300 tags), even when they are stacked on top of each other in a bin. If your product has the capability to achieve this, it could significantly improve our production and tracking processes, providing us with valuable data and insights into our operations.

We are interested in exploring the potential of your products to enhance our production monitoring and tracking efforts. Therefore, I kindly request information about the capabilities of your RFID reader and whether it is suitable for our specific use case. Any technical details, documentation, or guidance you can provide regarding its performance in high-density tag scenarios would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. If you require any additional information or have questions about our requirements, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

2

The Nano M6E can do a lot… but I do not expect it can do this.

First of all, you will need to use the BIG(ger) MercuryAPI library in Windows or Linux. The Sparkfun library only handles a small subset. Under normal conditions, the tag that is closest to the antenna will respond first and keep responding. That highly impacts the detection of other RFID tags. To try to overcome that you need to test a combination of special GEN2 options like TARI, BLF, Q, Session, and target. These are NOT supported in the Sparkfun library.

Also, you might need to switch between multiple antennas with strong enough power (and thus a VERY strong power supply) to reach all the RFID’s. The signal might otherwise not be strong enough to reach all the tags in the staple.

As the different tags are nearly on top of each other in a stack, they may interfere with the signal and thus create misreadings. Of course that is also depending on the quality of the tags.

Apart from the technical side, the cost is one of the big blockers for RFID implementations. A QR-code or simple barcode is a matter of printing and thus the cost is extremely low. RIFD tags (while dropping in price and depending on the volume) are a multitude more expensive. $0.05 - $0.10 as an indication, but again price varies on volume and quality. That does not take into account the other costs (e.g. setup, labor associated with handling).

The cost is neglectable on an expensive package, but on less expensive packages there is quickly a cost/benefit turning point.

RFID for sure has its place and advantages in tracking goods but it does not mean it is the only and always best solution.