RFID Journal Staff asked 14 years ago I know there are a number of systems available that allow for the monitoring of temperature and location. What would you recommend?
—Name withheld
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The best option is the one that works best in your particular application. Aeroscout offers active RFID tags with temperature sensors. The devices operate at 2.45 GHz and communicate with Wi-Fi nodes. If you already have a Wi-Fi network at your facility and just want to track temperature, this might be a good option.
There are also battery-assisted ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) tags based on the ISO 18000-6C standard that can record temperature. If you have already installed an RFID system based on that standard, this could be the most cost-effective way to add remote temperature-sensing functionality.
If you are tracking the location of shipping containers with RFID, there are products that can inform you of the temperature within each container. Savi Networks offers this as a service (see Royal Food Import Expects E-Seals Will Save It a King's Ransom).
I would suggest you consider the following questions:
• Do I want to monitor the temperature of a fixed asset, such as a refrigerator, or a mobile asset?
• Do I need to know the asset's location and temperature in real time (in which case an active system would be required), or is it enough to get the temperature when the asset passes through a portal (in which case a battery-assisted tag would work)?
• What existing infrastructure do I have that might make the deployment less expensive?
• What additional benefits can I obtain from the system?
Here are some links to stories that might be useful to you. Note that a few of these articles are available only to Premium Members.
• Florida Hospital Measures Success of Temperature-Tracking System
• Using RFID to Monitor the Temperature of Drugs
• Strawberry Grower Deploys RFID to Fix Temperature Troubles
• Altierre Sees Opportunity for Temperature Tags
• RFID Helps Medlog Monitor Pharmaceutical Cold Chain
• Video: How to Use RFID Temperature Sensors
• Israelita Albert Einstein Hospital Uses RFID to Track Temperatures, Assets
• Microsoft Uses Wireless Sensors to Track Data Center Temperatures
• DHL, AeroScout, Microlise Team to Track Temperature for Pharma Maker
—Mark Roberti, Editor, RFID Journal
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