Environmental Sensors on RFID

Developments are on going with the aim of enabling the deployment of the internet of things. RFID (radio frequency identification) is one the technology considered to link wirelessly the different smart objects. Moreover, the monitoring of parameters during the shipment of goods is gaining a significant importance over the last years.

This could allow for instance to minimize the waste of perishable goods along the logistic chain. To detect cold chain breaking, several systems combining a temperature sensor and RFID communication appeared lately on the marketThey provide valuable information on critical events that may have occurred during shipment.

The integration of sensors with RFID will allow the deployment of a new generation of smart objects. We are working at the integration of sensors on RFID tags for environmental monitoring. Chemical and physical sensors are made out of flexible plastic foils and transfer to the tag at the moment. However we are targeting in a next step their direct large scale fabrication on the tags based on printing processes. We are currently performing the integration of a multi sensor plastic chip, composed of ultra-low power gas, humidity and temperature sensors, onto a RFID tag. The sensing chip is combined with very low power read-out circuitry and microcontroller for data acquisition and storage.
Other types of environmental sensors under development on plastic foil and that could be potentially integrated on tags are vibrations, shock, pressure and light sensors. Vibrations and shock sensors can have interesting applications in the field of logistics, machine tool and structure monitoring, safety, among others.


Ultra low power humidity, temperature and gas sensors
on polyimide foil for RFID tag.


makes interesting reading, think of the saving that this technology can make, picking up changes in the environment and triggering timely responses to catch certain conditions that may result in failure



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