RFID tags along to track your vehicle

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: Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, so far confined to warehouse tracking and other small-area applications, is now put in conjunction with VSATs to track vehicles. This new system, developed by Core Projects and Technologies Ltd, is the latest to hit the Indian vehicle tracking market, where card- swiping and GSM-based equipment are the norm.

The company launched a vehicle tracking pilot project on the Delhi-Jaipur highway last week.

Sanjeev Mansotra, chairman of the company, says, RFID grids have been placed along with VSAT terminals at four places at an approximate equi-distance of 50 km. The RSRTC passenger buses moving between Delhi and Jaipur have been fitted with RFID transponders (tags), whereby their movement is tracked, monitored and managed. Each vehicle has been designated a unique ID. Monitoring is done and updated every half-an-hour, as the vehicle moves along the highway.

The system uses different instruments such as bar-codes, RFID tags, Bluetooth, web cams, etc, for capturing the data. The data is then transferred through various mediums such as VSATs, optic-fibre, GPRS, etc, to the control centre. The registered user can log on to the system through internet and can view the current status of the vehicle. The user can generate an HTML report or even ask for a video feed from the web cams fixed at different places along the highway.

Industry analysts say, the current Indian logistics tracking sector is “non-structured and single dimensional”. The IT logistics sector for tracking people, assets and vehicles is expected to be a Rs 500 crore industry over the next 2-3 years.

With the cost of an RFID tag between Rs 2,000-25,000 each, Core Projects says that large scale logistics companies wouldn’t mind the expenditure incurred for a highly effective vehicle monitoring, managing and tracking system. Emphasising on the project’s technical competency, the company says that RFID tags and other data capture tools can be placed on to the individual consignments as well. This would help immensely in inventory management.