RFID management for tracking and inventory

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Technology) is a field of computerizing recognition process that is progressively gaining thrust in recent years and is now being seen as a means of enhancing data handling procedures, complimentary in many ways to other data capture technologies such as bar coding. A variety of devices and associated systems have been developed to satisfy a broad series of applications. Regardless of the diversity of applications, the ideologies upon which they are based are quite understated, even though the technology and technicalities associated with their function can be quite innovative. The RFID technology can be of most useful help in short range surveillance and monitoring as it is both efficient and cost effective. Using RFID tags to uniquely identify a person or an object is achieved easily. The whole apparatus is easily scalable to achieve higher distance ranges by using higher grade tags or by using battery powered active tags. This paper aims at showing an example of how RFID technology can be used as a tracking and inventory management tool in huge labs where the large number of equipment and the small size is a challenge that engineers have to face on an everyday basis. We list out the various algorithms that can be used in a real time lab scenario to manage the equipment, keeping cost and security considerations in mind.