|
|
Fujitsu unveils rugged RFID
Author: Gareth HalfacreePublished: 8th October 2009
The new, flexible RFID from Fujitsu can work even when subjected to two atmospheres of pressure or 120 degree heat.
The new ultra high frequency RFID tags are described by the company in a CNet article as being able withstand temperatures of 121 degrees Celsius - significantly above the boiling point of water, and well above the temperature at which traditional devices will stop working. The new tag is also flexible, meaning that it will survive rough handling much better than older RFID systems - and can deform safely under pressures reaching two atmospheres.
The reason for all the robustness built in to the tag is simple: Fujitsu is hoping to see the devices used in the medical industry. While RFID tags are often used to track batches of uniforms around a garment factory, their delicacy often means that once they reach the hospital or medical equipment manufacturing plant and are washed at a high temperature - required to ensure that no nasty germs breed on the uniform's surface - the tags are rendered useless. The new robust tags should, however, withstand repeated washings - even at boiling temperatures - and allow the automatic tracking of the uniforms using an RFID reader system.
Fujitsu claims that the use of the new tags could mean that batches of 100 uniforms could be scanned simultaneously both before and after being washed at high temperature, which could result in impressive efficiency gains when it comes to ensuring that workers get their clothes back in good time.
The possibility for the technology to be used to track workers rather than just uniforms remains, of course, unsaid.
Do you believe that RFID technology is the future, or should we be more concerned at the idea of a uniquely identifiable code which can be read invisibly and silently at a distance being attached to our clothes? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
Related
Comments (9)- Site Links:
- About
- Email Editor
- Newsletter
- Privacy
- RSS
- Score Guide
- Our Other Websites:
- Auto Express
- Channel Pro
- Computer Buyer
- Computer Shopper
- Den of Geek
All content © bit-tech.net 2000-2010
© Copyright Dennis Publishing Limited licensed by Felden
not necessarily, RFID works over extremely short distances. I can see the benefit medically, scanning a body area to reveal medical conditions etc and for other similar situations it will be useful, but in secure models RFID's encryption has already been cracked, so hopefully this can be applied to the 'next generation' of RFID.
@thehippoz: I LOLed ;)
Or tag my socks so I don't end up wearing a sports sock, and a normal sock at the same time?
Or tag all my clothes so I don't have to waste time picking out what to wear, just have a preset option of outfits. (Colorblind, and a techie leaves my wardrobe messed up most days).
As far as the tech fine, the EU will limit abuses, though I am sure the US will abuse the hell out of it until someone sues for 40 billion dollars (which by that time will be enough to buy a doner kebap in Germany)
Yours in Tracking Kebaps Plasma,
Star*Dagger