I need to know what to purchase to set up an RFID reader that can read a tag from 30-45cm away with a locking mechanism that can unlock a metal door on a dog feeder. It needs to run on battery power. Can anyone help me. I am not an electronics person.
Hi bcostanzo, and thanks for posting in the SparkFun forums!
Our [Qwiic RFID Kit isn’t going to have the range you’re looking for to scan a card. That kit only has a few inches of read range.
For 30-45cm of read range, the only thing we carry that would work would be our [Simultaneous RFID Reader - M6E Nano and I need to warn you, that’s not a really easy board to work with if you’re not really familiar with electronics.
If you did want to go that route, you’d need at a minimum the parts below.
You’d also need to supply your own door lock mechanism and a power supply for that and you would need to write the software that drives all the pieces. You might want to check out the [hookup guide for the M6E Nano just to get an idea of what you would need to do to scan tags.
Sadly, we can’t offer assistance hooking up the door lock mechanism or help you with the software you need to write, but other forum users might be willing to assist you with that.](Simultaneous RFID Tag Reader Hookup Guide - SparkFun Learn)](Wall Adapter Power Supply - 5VDC, 2A (Barrel Jack) - TOL-15312 - SparkFun Electronics)](Qwiic Cable - 100mm - PRT-14427 - SparkFun Electronics)](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/15093)](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11417)](SparkFun RedBoard Qwiic - DEV-15123 - SparkFun Electronics)](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14151)](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14066)](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14066)](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/15209)
Chris,
I thought I could add on an external antenna you have to boost the signal. Would that work?
Chris,
Is there anyway to hook all of this up to be powered by a solar panel with a rechargeable battery?
Bill
Chris,
Can I use any type of passive RFID tag to work with this system?
Bill
Chris,
Would the system you suggested turn on and off a dog feeder that is currently using a timer?
Bill
I thought I could add on an external antenna you have to boost the signal. Would that work?
If you’re asking about the Qwiic RFID, as long as you use the [ID-3LA module with the Qwiic RFID board you can use an external antenna. The ID-12LA that comes with the kit doesn’t have a provision for an external antenna. You would also need to custom build your own antenna for the ID-3LA and that would take some technical skill and equipment to do. Details on the antenna are on page 9 of the [datasheet for the ID-3LA. Using an antenna, you can get up to 30 cm of range.
Is there anyway to hook all of this up to be powered by a solar panel with a rechargeable battery?
Possibly yes, however that’s an entire project in itself and can get complex. You’re better off building a working reader first and then designing a solar power circuit for the reader.
Can I use any type of passive RFID tag to work with this system?
No, the tags you use depend on the type of reader you choose. The ID-12 and ID-3 use 125kHz tags and the M6E Nano uses 900MHz tags. They are entirely different from one another and not compatible.
It sounds like this is going to be a complex project and it would probably be less expensive and less time consuming for you to look for an off the shelf system that’s plug and play. Not trying to discourage you, but if your programming and electronics skills are not really great, you’re likely going to get pretty frustrated and have trouble getting everything to work.](https://cdn.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Sensors/ID/ID-3LA.pdf)](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11862)
Chris,
My problem is that we are designing a dog feeder that is made from metal to be used on ranches in Texas for dogs that guard livestock. I need to find some type of solution to make an RFID reader work. I just have to make a sample unit that actually works so I can turn it over to a manufacturer. I have a feeder that uses a solar powered timer to active it. Is there a way to hook up an RFID reader to a solar powered rechargeable 12V or 6V battery and then connect the reader to the timer to active it when the dogs come by the feeder? The timer could run on a separate solar powered system. Also would an active RFID tag system be a better solution to deal with the power drain? I appreciate any help. If email is better mine is bill.costanzo@ag.tamu.edu
Also, I have a grad student that can do the code writing, but not much else with electronics. So that is solved.
Hi Bill.
Unfortunately this is not going to be a simple thing and we don’t have anything that you can just plug together and have it do what you’re looking for. There is quite a bit of engineering involved in building a system that will work correctly all of the time under changing conditions. I’d hate for an unattended working dog to starve to death if something were to fail with your setup or code and the dog not have access to food.
The parts in my earlier post are as simple as as anything we carry, but it’s still going to involve some complex engineering, a lot of testing, and quite a bit of electrical and electronics setup to form a system that works satisfactorily. I strongly recommend contacting someone that specializes in RFID access control to see what kind of solutions they can offer. Those solutions will have hundreds of hours of testing and shown to not fail where something you build won’t have that.
[HID or [Atlas might be able to point you in the right direction for a simple system that meets you needs an possibly a modular system you can just plug directly into your feeder.](https://www.atlasrfidstore.com/)](https://www.hidglobal.com/solutions/rfid-animal-tracking-identification)
Chris,
Thanks for all your help. Altas was the one that suggested I contact your company as they apparently don’t have what I need. I will try HID. Even if I end up designing something, we will do all the testing of the product here at the research center.
Bill