Evan Welbourne, a CSE grad student, sent the following reminder about RFID equipment in the CSE undergrad labs. If you’re interested in this technology, check out the CSE RFID group’s web page for info about participating in a research study.
Those of you who are around this summer may have noticed some new equipment in the cable trays. These are RFID readers which we’re using in the RFID Ecosystem project (http://rfid.cs.washington.edu/).
If you are not familiar with Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID), you can read our RFID fact sheet (http://rfid.cs.washington.edu/images/RFID-fact-sheet.pdf) or see the Wikipedia entry on RFID (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFID). A few key points are:
– We’re using passive EPC Gen 2 RFID technology
– An RFID reader’s primary function is to detect when an RFID tag passes within 3-4 meters of one of its antennas. This information may then be sent over a network to a server for further processing.
– Our readers only detect EPC Gen 2 RFID tags, moreover, they only detect tags which we have explicitly registered for use with our system. As such, if you happen to be carrying an EPC Gen 2 RFID tag (which is currently very unlikely unless you have a WA state enhanced driver’s license), our system will not detect or record your tag
– The RFID reader’s antennas emit about 1 watt of power each, this is approximately the same amount of power a cell phone emits when it’s in use.
– If you are familiar with RFID, you may also be familiar with the controversy over RFID technology in the media. Some consider RFID to be a threatening, “Big Brother” style surveillance technology while others consider it to be the best answer to overwhelming challenges in asset tracking, healthcare, supply chain management, public health and safety, enterprise intelligence, etc. In our research, we’re trying to evaluate the risks, benefits, and challenges of RFID technology in careful, long-term user studies in which participation is optional, participants have control of their data and may opt out at any time. For more information, please see our FAQ: http://rfid.cs.washington.edu/FAQ.html
– These readers have been installed in the undergrad labs so that at some point in the near future undergraduates can participant in our studies if they choose to.
These 2 readers (and possibly 2 more) are likely to remain in the labs over the coming year. If you have any questions or concerns please email me.
Thanks!
Evan