RFID

Reliable, Rugged and Predictable…LF RFID
June 2008

Dynasys President Bob Scher shares his expertise on what makes low frequency RFID so reliable, rugged and predictable, and discusses the latest industrial applications using LF.

Listen  Bob Scher  President  Dynasys

Texas Instruments interviewed Bob Scher, president of Dynasys, about the company’s recent applications and the use of low frequency RFID technology.

The interview with Bob can be heard by clicking on the “podcast” button located above. You can also read the podcast transcript below.

TI: Hello and thank you for tuning in to this Texas Instruments podcast. Today we’re speaking with Bob Scher, president of RFID integrator, Dynasys.  We’ll be discussing low frequency RFID including how LF stacks up against other frequencies and we’ll also be talking about recent innovative applications that Dynasys has worked on.  Thank you very much Bob for speaking with us today. 

You’ve been in the RFID business now for more than a decade so with that experience, what are some of the big applications of low frequency that you’ve seen?

Good morning. Dynasys has been involved in low frequency devices probably well over ten years and Texas Instruments low frequency technology has been around probably longer than 15 years.  It’s a very reliable and predictable technology.

A low frequency application most people have seen is in marathon and triathlon events where athletes tie transponders to their sneakers and are given chest bib numbers and they’re detected as they go through checkpoints for timing and lap counting.

Another very important application is in the semiconductor manufacturing environment where silicon wafers are being processed and the work-in-process flow has to be monitored very carefully for quality control purposes.  We use low frequency glass tube transponders on each of the trays so as each tray is swung into position we detect the fact that a particular wafer is entering a certain level of the process. Semiconductor manufacturing has used Texas Instruments low frequency devices for many years for these types of purposes.  

TI: Listeners may be more familiar with UHF and HF, but what do you think the attributes of LF are that really make it the most appropriate frequency for the applications you’ve just discussed?

The attribute Dynasys has as a reseller is that we offer all different types of RFID technologies and we’re not stuck on any particular one.  We do offer UHF and HF as well as active devices, but we find that low frequency devices – passive low frequency – has many, many special attributes that these other technologies do not offer. 

Low frequency operates in what is called a near field environment and this near field provides a very stable and predictable magnetic coupling that does not necessarily reflect and cancel off of surfaces.  UHF, although it has its attributes, is very unpredictable in its detection pattern since it does create a bouncing signal that reflects off of any conductive surfaces causing cancellations.  LF does not have that problem and it gives you a very solid pattern, very predictable attenuation pattern that can be easily calculated and repeated over and over again. LF devices are very reliable. They are ruggedized devices and the beauty of them is they penetrate liquids and work very well near certain metal surfaces if you are careful and know how to use them.

TI: And are there any other recent applications you’ve been working on that you can talk to us about?

Yes, we have a number of exciting applications. One I’m working on right now is identifying core samples for a geotechnical soil analysis company.  There’s a very interesting project being done today around Lake Okeechobee [in Florida].  They’re actually putting in a 140-mile damn called Hoover Dyke that’s being overseen by the core of engineers. The geotechnical company I’m working with is going to be pulling hundreds of core samples out of the earth to test soil to make sure it’s stable enough to hold the dyke. And these soil samples have to be warehoused and analyzed and retrieved in a very organized way.  We selected low frequency to be able to identify each of these core samples and slurries because some of these slurries are wet, mud, loose rock and have certain metallic contents where we feel that UHF and HF would just not be appropriate to give you the same reliability as LF.

We’re also working with an underground utility company that’s providing cables and pipelines underground.  They needed a transponder that can penetrate wet earth reliably and, again, low frequency devices have that beautiful attribute of being able to penetrate through liquids and being able to be used near metals where UHF and HF would not be appropriate.

We have another manufacturer of compost materials that make very elegant, very strong and lightweight aircraft panels and different very strong composite materials using carbon fiber and certain types of resins that tend to absorb or reflect UHF and HF signals where LF seems to penetrate through the carbon fiber and resins, and give us very reliable detection.

TI: And that’s all the time we have for now.  Bob, I’d like to thank you very much for sharing your RFID insights and innovative applications with us.  And thank you everyone for listening. Stay tuned for our next TI podcast.
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About Bob Scher
Bob Scher is the president and a founder of Dynasys Technologies, a Florida-based engineering company. For the past 20 years Bob has focused on the development, manufacture and distribution of Automatic Identification and Data Collection equipment.