RFID Inventory Tracking

Tim Santeford — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 07:55:48 +0000

This project consists of two parts: a PPC client application and a PC base web service. The system was designed to track location and quantities of chemical inventory. The client application is capable of two way synchronization and is designed to be taken into the field where there will be no network connection. The application is capable of collecting and queuing up an enormous amount of container scan events. Once an entire room or location is scanned the interface allows the user to page through the details of each captured container. The detail screen allows the user to view associated data, set the fill level, and or and highlight the container for disposal. Written specifically to run on a Symbol MC9090-G handheld, the client application worked with linear and 2D barcodes as well as RFID Tags.

I overcame efficiency problems with Microsoft’s built in serialization mechanism by devising my own custom serialization/de-serialization methods. This enhancement cut web synchronization time by 10 ten times. By fully utilizing the relational database capabilities of SQLce, I was able to create a clean and highly productive interface that allows users full access to the company’s entire product and container catalog.

Hardware
Symbol MC9090-g RFID Scanner

Project Specs
Role	Sole Developer
Platform	Windows Mobile 6 .Net/Windows NT .Net
Database	SQLce/SQL Server
Database Size	15 tables with record counts in the 10k-100k range

Note to furture RFID developers: Gen 2 tags have a about a 80-85% read rate at about 5 feet in my real world tests with the 9090-G. Tags on metal containers like paint cans had about a 2 foot directional range. Of course tags inside metal cabinets are impossible to read.

Tim Santeford » Windows Mobile (PPC)

RFID Inventory Tracking