Tracking Mobile Assets using RFID

This paper proposes a system that is aimed to enable users or lab technicians to track mobile assets or laboratory equipment using RFID. The system is developed to improve the effectiveness of laboratory data management by tracking laboratory equipment location automatically and identifying its specific points using RFID. In addition, the designed system also creates a standard of operating procedures(SOP) for the loan of equipment in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering in UTP. This work uses the method that stores a serial number that identifies the equipment in the laboratory and perhaps other information on a microchip that is attached to an antenna (the chip and antenna together are called an RFID transponders or tags). This system is designed to track real time location of the asset and input to the system, which can be assessed using PC by the technician. Low frequency RFID reader of 134.2 KHz is used for the system. This system for the time being focuses to track mobile assets such as multimeters, keypads, LCD displays and many more other lab equipment that is easily mobile in the lab that may also support the RF technology. The concept is simple; first place the transponder that contains a microchip with an antenna to the equipment. Then use the LF reader (a device with one or more antennas) to read data off the microchip using radio waves. The transponder can be read independently of its orientation. The reader passes the information to the computer to be displayed. A graphical user interface (GUI) is built using Microsoft Visual Basics 6.0 and communicates to the system using serial communication port (COMM port). Microsoft Visual Basics 6.0 becomes the basis of the operability of the system and the control of the workflow of the system.