Design and Implementation of an Innovative RFID based Intelligent Voice System for the use in Museums and other

Applications
1

Sudip Dogra1, Subir Kumar Sarkar2, Rajanna K M3

Electronics & Conm Engg Department,Meghnad saha Institute of technology,Kolkata, India 2,3 Electronics & Telecom. Engg Dept,,Jadavpur University,Kolkata, India, 1 e-mail: dogra_sudip@rediffmail.com, 2sksarkar@etce.jdvu.ac.in, 3rajanna_km@ieee.org other applications of our designed system are discussed in sec V. Finally, we conclude with section VI.

Abstract Museums are the places where ancient and rare

artifacts or objects are kept for public viewing. Millions of people visit many popular museums every day. The detailed description of show pieces may not be given in every case. The visitors to an international museum are multilingual and description of the antiques cannot be given in all languages. In this paper, we have presented the design and implementation of an RFID based system that can describe the objects to the visitors in their preferred language through MP3 player, via a headphone. Our system uses the promising RFID technology for contactless identification of right sound tracks and a BASIC Stamp TM processor to perform rest of the operations.

II. RFID IN BRIEF Radio Frequency Identification [1], popularly known as RFID, is one of the latest wireless technologies that is finding

Keywords Museum, object, Processor, RFID Reader, Tag I. INTRODUCTION

EOPLE visit museums to enjoy and learn from the art and antiques. Usually, the description of the object is displayed on the boards; this may not be visible to all the visitors during crowded hours. Many visitors prefer listening to a guide. So the voice description is preferred, moreover they prefer it in their own regional language. Our work addresses these issues through RFID. The paper is organized as follows: In section II we have described RFID in brief. The operation details of the designed system are explained in sec III. In sec IV the hardware and the programming is elaborated. Advantages and

use ubiquitously. The principal components of RFID technology [2] include a tag, also called the transponder, a reader or the interrogator, and the controller or the host which, in most cases, is a PC or a workstation running a database and storing the control (often called middleware) software [3]. The information stored in the tag can be read by the interrogator from a distance depending upon the read range of the interrogator or reader. This information is sent to the database for further processing by the control software. A tag may be a passive tag or a semi-passive tag or an active tag [4-6]. An active tag can be re-writable and we can make use of such rewritable active tags with sufficient memory for data storage. Fig 1 shows a simple RFID system consisting of a tag, a reader and a host. Many new applications of RFID are being developed in recent years. RFID is being used in medical application[8]. Patient monitoring system, hospital equipment monitoring system etc are being developed with RFID. This technology has got applications in traffic control [9], laboratory equipment management [10], home safety [11] , position monitoring[12] ,etc.

Fig 1: A simple RFID System

161

Design and Implementation of an Innovative RFID based Intelligent Voice System for the use in Museums and other Applications III. OPERATION OF DESIGNED SYSTEM IV. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SYSTEM We have developed and implemented this system using an RFID reader, a BASIC StampTM processor [7], RFID tags, MP3 player and a special hardware board designed by us. The circuit diagram of the system is shown in Fig. 3. The intelligence of our system resides in the RFID system and the processor. Parallax Inc. RFID reader and tags are used in this system. The Parallax Inc. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Reader Module is a low-cost solution to read passive RFID transponder tags up to 1 - 3 inches away depending on the tag. The RFID Reader Module can be used in a wide variety of hobbyist and commercial applications, including access control, automatic identification, robotics navigation, inventory tracking, payment systems, and car immobilization. This reader has the following specifications: Fully-integrated, low-cost method of reading passive RFID transponder tags Single-wire, 2400 baud Serial TTL interface to PC, BASIC StampTM and other processors Requires single +5Vdc Supply Bi-color LED for visual indication of activity 0.100 pin spacing for easy prototyping and integration The Parallax Inc. RFID Reader Module works exclusively with the EM Microelectronics-Marin SA EM4100-family of passive read-only transponder tags. A variety of different tag types and styles are made available by the popular Parallax Inc. Each transponder tag contains a unique identifier (one of 240, or 1,099,511,627,776, possible combinations) that is read by the RFID Reader Module and transmitted to the host via a simple serial interface

In system design, there will be a number of RFID tags for each item/object of the museum. Each tag corresponding to a particular item is for a different language. For example, if we want to provide the description option of four different languages (Ex. Bengali, English, Hindi and Kannada) for an item, we need four tags. Each RFID tag has a specific identity. These tags are fitted on/near the items as shown in Fig 2. There will be a special carry box containing the RFID reader with relevant hardware with provision for headphone connection to it. The voice descriptions of the objects can be heard through this headphone. The visitors will be provided one such unit at the ticket counter. If the visitor wants to listen to the description of an item in a specific language, he has to put the carry box near the tag for the corresponding language of that item. The recorded voice description will start playing within a few seconds. The recorded voices are of fixed time duration. If the visitor wants to listen to the description of the object in another language he can do so by placing the box near the corresponding language tag. A visitor can stop the audio commentary by just pressing the reset button. The visitor returns this carry box and headphone before leaving the museum.

IV.

UNITS

Tag1 English

Tag2 Tag3 Hindi Bengali

Tag4 Kannada Fig. 3 Circuit diagram of the system

Fig. 2 The arrangement of language tags on/near the object

162

International Conference on Technology and Innovation (ICTI-2011) . C. General Operation Theory BASIC StampTM modules are microcontrollers (tiny computers) that are designed for use in a wide array of applications. Many projects that require an embedded system with some level of intelligence can use a BASIC StampTM module as the controller. Each BASIC StampTM comes with a BASIC Interpreter chip, internal memory (RAM and EEPROM), a 5-volt regulator, a number of general-purpose I/O pins (TTL-level, 0-5 volts), and a set of built-in commands for math and I/O pin operations. BASIC StampTM modules are capable of running a few thousand instructions per second and are programmed with a simplified, but customized form of the BASIC programming language, called PBASIC. D. The operarion of the hardware is as follows The tag IDs are stored in the memory of the processor. There is a separate voice track ID for each tag ID. The tag identity received by the processor from the RFID reader is compared with the existing IDs stored in the processor. Corresponding to each ID there is a recorded voice in a MP3 player. The processor now can switch to a particular track stored in MP3 player corresponding to identity of the tag. The processor also needs to do few more things before it plays the track. At first the MP3 player is turned ON, then a particular track is selected and the Play function is operated. Thus the processor automatically operates the output port to play a particular track. The programming of the processor is done by using PBASIC, designed by Parallax Inc. The processor can be programmed through the USB port of the host computer.

Fig. 4 The Parallax Inc. reader module

A.

Electronic Connections The Parallax Inc. RFID Reader Module can be integrated into any design using only four connections (VCC, /ENABLE, SOUT, GND).

Following circuit for connecting the Parallax Inc. RFID Reader Module to the BASIC StampTM microcontroller: The reader is fitted with BASIC StampTM processor. The ID of tag which is read by the reader is transferred to the processor. We have used a modern BASIC StampTM processor in our design. This processor has the following specifications: B. BASIC Stamp Processor BASIC StampTM [7] is a very strong processor. BASIC StampTM microcontrollers have been in use by engineers and hobbyists since it was first introduced to them in 1992.

E.The steps of operation are as follows 1. The RFID reader reads the identity of the tag. 2. The reader sends this identity to the BASIC StampTM processor. 3. The processor now selects the track number corresponding to this ID. 4. MP3 player is powered ON. 5. Proper signals are given to the MP3 player by the processor for selecting the right track. 6. Play button of the MP3 player is operated by the processor. 7. When the track playing is over the processor puts OFF the MP3 player. 8. Control is passed to step1 when reset button is pressed at any time.

Fig. 5 The BASIC StampTM processor with attached board

Fig. 6 The Designed System

163

Design and Implementation of an Innovative RFID based Intelligent Voice System for the use in Museums and other Applications V. OTHER APPLICATIONS This system could be used with some modifications for guiding blind people in their campus or in some unknown places. The tags, in this case, will be placed at different convenient locations of the place. Our designed unit of RFID reader will be with the blind person. This reader will have a little longer range; active tags could be made use of in this case. Whenever the person approaches a tag and an obstacles tag comes under the range of his reader, voice descriptions will be heard, mentioning the blockings and subsequent audio instructions will guide him to safety. Thus, the blind can be guided by our system. This system can be used in zoo for description of different animals, their origin etc. In that case the descriptions of different animals will be recorded in different tracks of MP3 player. Tags (Different for different languages) will be fitted with the cages of animals. Whenever the unit (developed by us) is touched with the cage tag, corresponding voice announcement will start in preferred language.
Thakare, Y.B.; Musale, S.S.; Ganorkar, S.R.; , "A technological review of RFID & applications," Wireless, Mobile and Multimedia Networks, 2008. IET International Conference on , vol., no., pp.65-70, 11-12 Jan. 2008 [7] BASIC Stamp Syntax and Reference Manual 2.2 from Parallax Inc.. [8] Kony, M.; Walter, M.; Schlebusch, T.; Leonhardt, S.; , "An RFID Communication System for Medical Applications," Body Sensor Networks (BSN), 2010 International Conference on , vol., no., pp.71-75, 7-9 June 2010 [9] Chunyan Deng; Linfu Xue; Wenqing Li; Zhiguo Zhou; , "The real-time monitoring system for inspecting car based on RFID, GPS and GIS," Environmental Science and Information Application Technology (ESIAT), 2010 International Conference on , vol.2, no., pp.772-775,17-18July2010 [10] Liu, Zhe; Yi, Jianjun; Chen, Changming; Gu, Chunhua; Fan, Tijun; , "Development of a management system of laboratory equipment based on UHF RFID," Information Science and Engineering (ICISE), 2010 2nd International Conference on , vol., no., pp.2763-2766, 4-6 Dec. 2010 [11] Hui-Huang Hsu; Po-Kai Chen; Chi-Yi Lin; , "RFID-based danger prevention for home safety," Aware Computing (ISAC), 2010 2nd International Symposium on , vol., no., pp.56-60, 1-4Nov.2010 [12] Saad, S.S.; Nakad, Z.S.; , "A Standalone RFID Indoor Positioning System Using Passive Tags," Industrial Electronics, IEEE Transactions on , vol.58, no.5, pp.1961-1970, May 2011

This unit can be used for teaching / learning process of blind peoples. Blind peoples read through brail method. If tags are fitted on text books (printed tags), the blind person can touch our developed unit on a tag and can listen to the corresponding text. The voice announcements / description of texts to be prerecorded within the MP3 player.

V.

CONCLUSION

This paper described an indigenous system to guide museum visitors by voice description of artifacts with multilingual options. The system describes the artifacts through a headphone to a visitor without disturbing other visitors. ACKNOWLEDGMENT Subir Kumar Sarkar thankfully acknowledges the financial support from UGC wide order no.36-100/2008(SR) REFERENCES
[1] [2] [3] RFID A Guide to Radio Frequency Identification V. Daniel Hunt, Albert Puglia, Mike Puglia by Wiley Interscience 2007 RFID for Dummies Patric J. SweeneyII Wiley Publishing Inc. 2005 RFID Handbook Fundamentals and applications in contactless smart cards and Identification by Klaus Finkenzeller Second Edition Wiley 2003 Want, R.; , "An introduction to RFID technology," Pervasive Computing, IEEE , vol.5, no.1, pp. 25- 33, Jan.-March 2006 Weinstein, R.; , "RFID: a technical overview and its application to the enterprise," IT Professional , vol.7, no.3, pp. 27- 33, May-June 2005 Chawla, V.; Dong Sam Ha; , "An overview of passive RFID," Communications Magazine, IEEE,vol.45, no.9,pp.11-17,September2007

[4] [5] [6]

164