Hi,
I chatted with customer support and they suggested I post this question in the forum. I am looking for a way to read a unique ID /barcode on solvent kegs (25L) without using a manual barcode gun; I was thinking of a long range RFID antennae and tag, Is there something like that available? I noticed most RFID devices can only be used in short distances, however. My thought so far was using a raspberry pi to receive the unique ID/barcode from the keg which is situated about 4-5 m away. Are there any products on the market that can achieve this? Please advise. Thanks.
The following reader may work, but it requires specific gain antennas to achieve the distance you are aiming for: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14066
The antenna we suggest with this reader is https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14131. However, this is a 6dBi antenna so it might be able to cover the distance you want but I can’t guarantee that it will perform this way in all environments.
great, thanks for the advice. i think that would do the trick. I have some follow-up questions: are those adhesive tags that are suggested with this reader compatible with steel? If I stick it onto the steel keg, will it work ok? If I buy two readers so that it can read two kegs in two different fixed locations, is it possible for one raspberry pi to do this?
Unfortunately, we don’t have any documentation stating if steel will interfere with the operation of the antenna. It couldn’t hurt to purchase some for $1.95 just for testing purposes.
If you’re using tags on metal be aware you need a tag made to be used on metal otherwise your tags might not work well or will have terrible read range.