Below are three of the top stories in automated data collection, RFID and the Internet of Things in recent weeks.
Apple is said to be Release New RFID Tags to Stop People from Losing Things
At its annual conference to be held sometime in September, Apple is expected to announce a new RFID-based iPhone app to help consumers stop losing things like wallets and keys.
As reported on the MacRumors.com web site, based on information found in an internal iOS 13 build, Apple will introduce some new type of RFID tags. The internal build uses phrases like “tag your everyday items” and “never lose them again” which confirms a tracking tag.
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| By doing this she is able to start her Model 3 by simply placing her hand near the door. . |
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The app is said to work by simply beeping when start to move away from the tag so you don't forget wallets or backpacks in restaurants or at your friend's house. The tag is likely to support geo-fencing so you can set it to automatically disable in some places like your home.
It is also said users can put the tracker in "lost mode," which will use iPhone and Find my Phone to track the tag. Finally, Apple will also add an augmented reality mode which will help users follow the path to find their tagged items.
Puma Tags All Items in Flagship Manhattan Store
Sports brand Puma opened an RFID-enabled flagship store last week on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, with the tags used both to track inventory and enhance customer experience.
RFID tags are sewn into each product label, which allows Puma to maintain a comprehensive and up-to-date view of inventory levels. The technology also provides an identifier to help spot counterfeit returns.
Consumers visiting the store can point their phone at product labels and access digital experiences and services, including augmented reality (AR). The tag enables the Puma system to know which SKU a customer is interested in.
“Our newest flagship store is truly alive with innovation,” remarked Russ Kahn, senior vice president of retail for Puma North America.
Tesla Model 3 Owner Implants RFID Key to Open Car With Arm
We've reported on so-called bio-hacking many times, with people around the world having RFID chips implanted in their hands between the thumb and forefinger to do things like open garage doors, turn on computers, and use copy machines at work.
Now, another application.
"Annie DD," a software engineer with emerald green hair, had the idea to implant the RFID chip of her Tesla key card into her right forearm. By doing this she is able to start her Model 3 by simply placing her hand near the door. There's also no chance she'll ever lose or misplace her key card with the implant.
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This bio-hack wasn't easy. It involved dissolving her Tesla valet card with the RFID chip in acetone just to get at the chip. Annie DD then had to find someone to do the chip injection, for some reason in her forearm not her hand.
She then had an expert encapsulate the chip in a biopolymer that's safe to use inside the body or under skin.
Doctors she talked to turned her down when she asked them to implant the chip in her arm. She then found a tattoo named Pineapple to do it for her. Apparently he got the job done.
Intel Tunes its IoT solutions with the help of Blueberry Farmers
Of course, keeping tabs of the supply chain isn't just important for the purposes of efficiency, but also for ensuring the quality and safety of the product being stored and shipped. Maintaining a temperature-controlled supply chain is a vital part of business for produce, as well as other fresh foods and products like pharmaceuticals.
With that in mind, in July 2018, Intel teamed up with Curry & Co. for a pilot project to refine its supply chain tracking solutions.
As reported by ZDNET, specifically, the team deployed the Intel Connected Logistics Platform (ICLP), Intel's Hyperledger Sawtooth Blockchain and Microsoft Azure to track a truck of blueberries. The project began as soon as the berries were harvested at Sinn Farms, a small family-run farm in Marion County, Oregon. It followed the berries as they were processed at the Curry & Co facility and as they were delivered to a customer in Portland.
The ICLP encompasses both hardware and software. Customers can deploy a collection of sensors, including one "parent" and as many "child" sensors as needed. They can monitor variables such as temperature, humidity, light, tilt shock and location.
All of the sensors can communicate with each other, and the parent - or gateway sensor - relays information to the cloud. The gateway sensor is also GPS-equipped, unlike the others. Customers can establish how frequently they want data captured and sent back to the cloud, in "near-real time."
The ICLP then communicates the data it collects to the cloud while simultaneously creating an immutable record on the blockchain. It can connect with Hyperledger Sawtooth Blockchain platform or any other blockchain ledger system.(See graphic below).
For the Curry & Co. pilot project, Intel tracked the temperature, humidity and location of the berries. They deployed one gateway per "lot" of berries -in other words, one gateway for each crop of berries harvested. They used a collection of "child" tags to trace each pallet of berries collected.
The insight Intel gained during the pilot helped it develop the second generation of ICLP, which can accommodate a wider range of cold chain use cases. When the pilot started, the Intel team thought its sensors were optimized, said Laura Rumbel, a consumer experience enabling director at Intel. But they soon learned where their assumptions had gone wrong.
For example, "our assumption was when you put a sensor on a flat of blueberries, as the temperature came down, the humidity would come down," Rumbel said. "But that's not what happens. It's actually an inverse model, where as the temperature goes down, because of the off gassing that happens, it can actually make the humidity rise."
Intel says it also gain valuable insight on managing battery life.
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