Re: RFID tags in Arctic conditions?

I get the impression the tags are static and possibly buried in snow for a year, the readers are mobile but probably have to withstand the same temperatures albeit not for a year at a time. If I have misread your intentions well, alas. Soldiering on...

1. Battery types: this will be critical to the readers as many types have reduce capacity below 0C (uh, 32F), significantly lower at -10C and freeze at almost exactly -20C (-10F). So avoid normal alkalines, lithium ion etc. Special alkaline types for low temperatures are available from one of the big battery manufacturers, Duracell I think, but for non rechargeables you'll need to be careful about circuit current consumption. Lead Acid may be your only option for rechargeable cells (heavy!). I strongly recommend you do far more testing than you originally assumed because batteries are often the Achilles Heel of instruments when operated in extreme environmental conditions; the battery manufacturers may CLAIM operation at -20C but capacity will be way down and they may gradually degrade if left that way for months.

2. However I have good news! I was looking into RFID tags myself recently and discovered SAW types are excellent at extreme environmental conditions, PLUS they can be self powered from the incoming RF pulse, PLUS their range is generally better than other types. Have a look at this page...

http://www3.sympatico.ca/colin.kydd.campbell/

If you scroll down to figures 21 and 21a you'll see the implementation of these things as tags is pretty straightforward, and already in use.

See the comparison between SAWs and different RFID technologies on page 4 of this document:

http://www.transense.co.uk/downloads/articles/edn_europe_0604.pdf

I would be interested to hear others' views of this technology. I'm a newbie to RFID. Have I missed something or is it really rather good?
--
Nemo
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Relevant Pages

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