Hello, I’m a graduate student at the Utrecht school for Art, Media & Technology (Netherlands). We’re working on a system for blind people using a RFID tagged floor (location grid) and a wireless RFID reader attached to the foot. This has been done before as you can see here:
http://labelyourenvironment.hku.nl/best … er%204.jpg
and read about here: http://labelyourenvironment.hku.nl/best … ximity.pdf
Our application is going to be different though (ours will be used for sports and games and focus on visually impaired people) and our wearable RFID reader should be a bit different too.
Our prototype should be able to:
1: Read 13,56 MHz RFID tags on floor
2: Send tag ID to computer over wireless RF connection (we’re only reading tags, not writing)
3: Give vibration feedback on shoe (computer controlled)
It would be even better if we can incorporate audio feedback in the shoe (bluetooth audio) and if possible put 3 accelerometers that send data to the computer. However, sending TAG IDs and vibration commands will be our first main goal.
We thought of attaching an RFID reader antenna to the top of the shoe or if possible, around the ankle. The electronics should go in a box that you can attach around your lower leg. We’re a little worried about finding the right place for the RFID antenna because of its range. We don’t want a new RFID reader shoe, we want something that you can attach to any shoe. Maybe we have to amplify the signal somewhere somehow.
We were thinking about using the Skyetek mini M1 13,56 RFID reader. To go wireless, we thought about a Nordic nRF24E2, or the Crossbow Mica2dot, or the connectBlue OEMSPA331. So far the SkyetekM1/connectBlue option seems the best although we have no clue if we can add vibration (or audio).
We have no real electronics background except for hobby experiments. This project definately needs the most advanced electronics that we’ve worked with.
So we can use tips, good advice and direction. If anything sounds weird or impossible or can be done in a better way please tell us!
