Identification of the Burial Depth of Radio Frequency Identification Transponders in Riverine Applications
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 141, Issue 6
Abstract
Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology enables bidirectional, remote communication between a reader and a transponder (or tag) with a unique ID via an excitation antenna. This study provides a framework for estimating the burial depth of a transponder from a fixed location as a means of assessing scour depth or for other riverine applications. In doing so, a low frequency (LF), passive RFID system is used, which operates at a resonance frequency of 134.2 kHz and can penetrate through saturated sediments. The objective of this research is the development and validation of a semitheoretical expression that relates the decay of the received input voltage (VIN) at the reader with the transponder burial depth or detection distance, , through a series of well-controlled experiments. This study examines the correspondence between and in air, as well as in water, gravel, and sand, and assesses the role of transponder orientation (perpendicular and parallel with respect to the excitation antenna) on the received . It is found that exhibits a universal behavior as a function of as it decays inversely with the cube of the distance () not only for air but also for water, gravel, and sand. More importantly, it is shown that the orientation angle between the excitation and the transponder miniature antennas as well as the sediment-bed composition/texture (e.g., sand, clay, gravel) surrounding the transponder can have a significant effect on the magnitude of the and on the decay rate of the versus curve. A change in the transponder orientation from perpendicular to parallel reduces the by one order of magnitude and the maximum detection by 26–76% for the different media. The greatest reduction in occurs for sand, likely due to its smaller void ratio that causes excessive defragmentation of the RF waves. These promising findings allow a relatively accurate, remote estimation of using the inexpensive LF, passive RFID technology and warrant future research and development on this topic.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Engineers Mr. Mark Nahra, Steve Gannon, John Thomas, Jeff Christ, Ahmad Hawash and especially Dave Claman and Stuart Nielsen for their contributions to the inception and completion of this research. This work was supported by the innovative grant TR-617 by the Iowa Highway Research Board—Iowa Department of Transportation as well as by the Washington Department of Transportation through funding provided by Hydraulic Engineer Mr. Casey Kramer. Partial funding of this research has been provided by the US DOT Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) (Program Manager: Mr. Caesar Singh) for the development of the GUI. Furthermore, the authors would like to acknowledge the useful discussions with Warren Leach & Vince Tranquili of OregonRFID™. The authors also wish to recognize the assistance of Timothy Lauth for conducting some preliminary experiments and of the mechanical shop staff at Iowa and now at Tennessee for their technical assistance.
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Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 141 • Issue 6 • June 2015
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 22, 2014
Accepted: Dec 17, 2014
Published online: Feb 9, 2015
Published in print: Jun 1, 2015
Discussion open until: Jul 9, 2015
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