RFID Toys Cool Projects for Home, Office and Entertainment Smart Cards and Identification

337 Pages·2006·10.163 MB·English

by  Amal Graafstra

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RFID Toys
Cool Projects for Home,Office,and Entertainment
Amal Graafstra
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RFID Toys:Cool Projects for Home,Office,and Entertainment
Published by
Wiley Publishing,Inc.
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Copyright ©2006 by Wiley Publishing,Inc.,Indianapolis,Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
ISBN-13:978-0-471-77196-8
ISBN-10:0-471-77196-1
Manufactured in the United States of America
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About the Author
Amal Graafstrais an entrepreneur and jack-of-many-trades.Currently involved in no less than
three different companies,he still finds time to think up interesting ways to apply various tech-
nologies in his daily life and wield a soldering iron from time to time.Amal is CEO of
Morpheus Inc.,a computer and networking company that specializes in supplying managed
terminal environments to the medical industry.
He is also president of txtGroups Inc.(www.txtgroups.com),an SMS text messaging com-
pany soon to launch group messaging services across Canada,with plans for expansion to the
US,UK,and Australia.
Since learning about the contactless RFID technology used in cats and dogs for identification,
Amal wanted to leverage that technology himself.Getting an implant meant there was no need
to carry an RFID access card around and he could implement his own RFID access control
systems instead of buying expensive off-the-shelf products.Soon after getting his first implant
(www.amal.net/rfid.html) and posting some pictures of the process for a few friends,
word quickly spread over the Internet and soon he found himself talking to everyone from
industry players to clergy to book publishers about RFID technology and its possibilities.
Amal Graafstra can be reached at [email protected].
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Credits
Executive Editor Project Coordinator
Chris Webb Michael Kruzil
Development Editor Graphics and Production Specialists
Rosanne Koneval Denny Hager
Stephanie D.Jumper
Technical Editor Barbara Moore
Nathan Yocom Lynsey Osborn
Alicia B.South
Production Editor
Michael Koch Quality Control Technicians
John Greenough
Copy Editor Brian H.Walls
Kathryn Duggan
Proofreading and Indexing
Editorial Manager TECHBOOKS Production Services
Mary Beth Wakefield
Cover Design
Production Manager Anthony Bunyan
Tim Tate
Vice President and Executive Group
Publisher
Richard Swadley
Vice President and Executive Publisher
Joseph B.Wikert
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Contents at a Glance
Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
Chapter 1:Getting Started with RFID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 2:Getting in the Front Door. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Chapter 3:Stepping into Your Car. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Chapter 4:Logging into Windows XP Using RFID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Chapter 5:Building an RFID-Enabled Safe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Chapter 6:Taking Inventory with an RFID-Enabled Smart Shelf. . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Chapter 7:Letting Fido in with an RFID Pet Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Chapter 8:Tracking Employees and Time with Active RFID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Chapter 9:Monitoring Assets and Sending Alerts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Chapter 10:The Three R’s — Reading,wRiting,and RFID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Chapter 11:Extreme RFID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Appendix A:Hardware Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
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Contents
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
Chapter 1: Getting Started with RFID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
What Is RFID? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Early RFID — IFF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
RFID Tags and Interrogators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Contemporary Uses of RFID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
RFID Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
RFID Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Data Encoding and Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Project Preparations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Safety. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Chapter 2: Getting in the Front Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Electronic Strike . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Electronic Deadbolt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Parts and Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Get Started. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Step 1:Build the RFID Control Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Step 2:Prepare the Keypad Deadbolt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Step 3:Install the RFID Control Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Step 4:Install the Electronic Strike and Deadbolt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Step 5:Set Up the Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Chapter 3: Stepping into Your Car. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Parts and Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Get Started. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Step 1:Solder Together the KL042 Circuit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Step 2:Secure the RFID Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Step 3-A:Prepare the Keyless Entry Remote. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Step 3-B:Prepare Power Lock Actuator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Step 4:Wire Up and Encase the KL042 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Step 5:Mount the Antenna. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Step 6:Install the RFID Control Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Step 7:Install the Door Lock Actuator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
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Contents
Chapter 4: Logging into Windows XP Using RFID . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Parts and Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Build the Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Step 1:Prepare the Keyboard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Step 2:Prepare the RFID Reader. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Step 3:Prepare the USB Hub. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Step 4:Connect Components. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Step 5:Test Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Step 6:Add More Ports (Optional). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Step 7:Mount Components Inside the Casing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Step 8:Reassemble the Keyboard and Test. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Configure Your Computer for RFID Authentication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Step 9:Replace Your Windows GINA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Step 10:Set Up RFID Tags for Authentication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
A Word on Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
RFID Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Registry Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Chapter 5: Building an RFID-Enabled Safe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Parts and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Get To It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Step 1:Take Apart the Electronic Safe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Step 2:Program the BASIC Stamp 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Step 3:Build the Interface Circuitry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Step 4:Mount the RFID Reader Board. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Step 5:Build the RFID Control Circuitry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Step 6:Test and Reassemble the Safe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Chapter 6: Taking Inventory with an RFID-Enabled Smart Shelf . . . . . 133
Parts and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Build It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Step 1:Build the Shelf. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Step 2:Wire the Reader. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Step 3:Tag Your Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Step 4:Connect and Take Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Step 5:Build Your Own Antenna (Optional). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Chapter 7: Letting Fido in with an RFID Pet Door. . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Parts and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Build It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Step 1:Program the BASIC Stamp 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Step 2:Prepare the Stamp Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Step 3:Wire the SkyeTek M1 Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
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Contents
Step 4:Put It All in a Project Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Step 5:Prepare the Pet Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Step 6:Place the Antenna. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Chapter 8: Tracking Employees and Time with Active RFID . . . . . . . 183
Parts and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Hardware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Wavetrend L-RX201 Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Wavetrend L Series Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Where to Get This Stuff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Get Started. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Step 1:Wiring the Reader. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Step 2:Time to Tag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Step 3:Download the Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Step 4:Use HomeSeer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Chapter 9: Monitoring Assets and Sending Alerts . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Parts and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Get Started. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Step 1:Connect the Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Step 2:Tag Your Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Step 3:Download the Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Step 4:Extend the Coverage Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Step 5:Control Antenna Switching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Summing Up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Chapter 10: The Three R’s — Reading, wRiting, and RFID . . . . . . . . 241
Parts and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Working with Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Data Schema — A Brewery Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Byte-Level Data Mapping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Shaking Things Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
The Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Step 1:Program the BASIC Stamp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Step 2:Prepare the Project Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Step 3:Prepare the Microprocessor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Step 4:Connect the SkyeTek M1 Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Step 5:Fit It All In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Summing Up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Data Schema. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Binary Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
RFID Read/Write Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270