U.K.-based technology firm Extronics has enhanced one of its active RFID tag models to make it a hybrid safety and access-control device for an oil and gas company in Southeast Asia. The tag is one of ten varieties of active RFID tags offered by Extronics, whose next-generation tag will automatically come with both passive high-frequency (HF) RFID functionality and active Wi-Fi transmission.
The enhanced tag, to be released earlier this year, is based on Extronics' iTAG100 (anAeroscout technology-based tag) using active Wi-Fi transmissions, and has a built-in passive RFID tag for access control; it also includes space to store a photo ID. The enhanced tag will offer the same features and will be put to use by the refinery to track 8,000 workers, as well as provide them with access control and identification.
A mock-up of an enhanced iTAG100 tag with integrated access-control functionality
The company, one of the world's largest oil and gas firms, will be the first to utilize this technology and already employs Extronics' worker-safety technology at another site containing 1,100 workers. When it planned the adoption of the worker-safety system at the latest site last year, however, the company sought a hybrid solution.
Oil and gas workers carry a variety of safety and ID equipment with them every time they report for work. That can include personal protective equipment (PPE), gas monitors and identification, including photos, for the purpose of access control. With the addition of a worker-safety program, personnel could have yet another device for employees to keep track of. "The main driver is that workers have to carry so many things with them," says John Hartley, Extronics' CEO. The last thing businesses want to do, he adds, is to say to their employees, "'Here's another thing for you: a tracking tag.'"
In addition, the refinery wanted to ensure that workers would remember to bring the devices every time they went onsite. If the worker-safety technology were built into the access-control device, they simply would not be able to enter without it.
The hybrid solution was one the company was already building into its next-generation tag, according to Hartley. However, the firm required deployment before the tag could be released, so Extronics modified its existing active iTAG100 to include space for storing the picture and worker identification, as well as the built-in HF 13.56 MHz MIFARE DESFire EV1 RFID access-control chip. The chip, provided by NXP Semiconductors, complies with the ISO 14443A standard. The tag also comes with protection in the form of a TGUARD tag protector, to sustain the harsh environments in which such tags are often used.
When employees report to work, they will be wearing the worker-safety tag, either on a belt, in a pocket or on a lanyard around the neck. The refinery already has existing access-control readers installed at entrances, which previously required a dedicated HF RFID badge. Now, personnel will be able to simply tap their worker-safety badge near the reader, and the access-control software will engage the turnstile or gate to open, thereby updating their status as having arrived.
As staff members move around the facility, each worker's tag ID, linked to his or her identity in Extronics software residing on the company's own server, is captured by Wi-Fi nodes. The tags typically beacon at a rate of every 15 seconds, though that frequency can be adjusted as required by the company. The tag also comes with a built-in motion sensor. If it detects that the tag has remained motionless for a specified period of time (say, 20 minutes), it will transmit less frequently (such as every hour). That function will help to preserve the life of the badge's built-in battery.
John Hartley, Extronics' CEO
The software calculates the user's location based on the node receiving the tag transmission, the signal strength and triangulation (in the case of multiple node reads of a single tag). The density of Wi-Fi nodes determines location granularity, Hartley explains, but typically, companies like to track workers within a given zone, with a less dense Wi-Fi node installation, rather than spend the money necessary to create highly granular location capability.
The software can then accomplish a few things. It knows, for instance, if a worker enters an area in which a person is not authorized to be, and an alert can be issued to the appropriate managers. In the event of an emergency, the software ensures that workers can be pinpointed. They are typically assigned to a mustering site when alerted to evacuate. Managers can next access Extronics' Evacuation Manager software dashboard, or use an iOS- or Android-based app to view, on a mobile device, the names of any workers who have not reported to their mustering site. If a manager clicks on an individual's name, the software will display an icon on a map of the facility, indicating where that person is located, based on his or her tag transmissions.
The next-generation tag will not only come with the access-control functionality and ID and picture for worker identification, but also offer a fall-alert feature using a built-in shock sensor to identify if a worker has possibly fallen. Extronics has been providing worker-safety solutions since 2005, Hartley says, but the link to access control is new for the company and for the industry. "It represents a convergence of two systems," he states. "It's a very significant win for the industry," enabling the use of a single badge for both safety and access-control functions.
In fact, says Susie Adam, the firm's marketing communications manager, it may be the only product on the market that offers both features in a single tag. The tags can come with an emergency call button as an enhanced feature. They can also use a low-frequency (LF) exciter at a gate or exit that will turn the tag on and off, so that it will not continue beaconing if someone leaves the work site.
