https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14131
I love that to demonstrate this, they used a frisbee test.
I play disc golf, and semi-routinely lose discs. I want to place RFID tags on my drivers, then carry a SMALL Arduino with an antenna to find missing discs.
My question is - what would the range be? It would have to be 10’ minimum, prev 30’. And it would have to be directional, or interpretable by me to be directional (i.e. signal strength increases when pointed towards target and I would create feedback (beeps) that were based on that)
Thoughts on if this is feasible? Would have to be entirely portable, battery powered, small enough to carry around - and the antenna seems rather large and power hungry… Looking for advice.
Hi, thanks for posting on the forums.
Our simultaneous RFID reader would be your best bet, however, the range depends on how you configure the antenna. Smaller antenna setups tend to be less range.
The M6E is pretty power hungry so you would want to use a lipo battery with a higher capacity. Maybe a 6Ah one but it does add bulk to the project.
There is also the issue of safety if you are going to walk around with an antenna:
“Warning: Ensure that personnel do not stand in the radiation beam of the antenna unless they are more than 21cm away from the face of the antenna (to adhere to FCC limits for long-term exposure). See Datasheet for more information.”
The onboard antenna can detect tags within 1-2 feet. So if you have ever gone metal detecting it will be a bit like that.
A better alternative would be to use a BLE tracking device. Something like a TILE tracker. Significantly cheaper and easier to use. Just need the device and a smart phone. I believe it emits a sound and has a range of around 90M in most cases. Might be worth looking into.
I hope this helps. Let me know how else I can be of assistance.