The folks at BERG developed this neat method for visualizing the sensitivity of an RFID reader. Rather than using an expensive set of test equipment to measure the magnetic field intensity, they just hooked their reader up so that it lit an LED every time their card was detected, and then captured it using a camera. This is pretty similar to the technique used to make the Roomba art. They were also able to show that (due to polarization) the orientation of the card with respect to the sensor changes how it responds. Fascinating!
6 thoughts on “Seeing RFID on the cheap”
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Very cool and very impressive for their low-tech approach. Also, nice illustration of sidelobes in the antenna gain pattern shown in the preview pic for the 2nd vid!
It’s the tag that has the LED, not the reader.
I have just got to say, the footage of these interview sequences is beautiful! I know it’s simple, and this comment is off-topic, but I just couldn’t get over that! Such a visually appealing video.