University of Pennsylvania Electrical and Systems Engineering Department ABSTRACT: The last decade has seen the expansion of computer usage from scientific and business applications to common applications such as scheduling and appointment management uses. RFID technology is also quickly becoming a standard for corporations to track and manage their inventories. Despite this growth, computers are still not being used to manage everyday physical objects such as CDs, books and clothes in non-industrial settings. This project seeks to create a system that will focus on the management of everyday objects in non-industrial settings and that will seamlessly augment the capabilities of physical objects to allow them to have significant computational functionality. In the domestic setting clothing will be managed according to the users’ clothes and color preference, rating, calendar system and according to the weather. The frequently arising questions of “What do I have and when is it appropriate to use it?” will be answered. The placement of RFID tags on clothing allows them to be identified by specific properties which can help to manage and match each item better. Within the retail side the user will be able to expand his or her shopping view within a short period of time. The store’s database will be able to suggest clothing items from the entire store for the user according to what the user has already picked up and placed within his or her shopping cart. AUTHORS: Izukanne Emeagwali ESE ’05 Mary Obasi CSE ‘05 ADVISOR: Dan Lee Jean Griffin RFID Management for Domestic and Retail Applications Domestic System Overview Once the clothing with the Passive Tags arrive home, the user can use the Passive Reader and the SmartWardrobe application in order to manage their clothing. The goal of the SmartWardobe is to build an intelligent application that will accurately suggest clothing to user based on information that the application knows about or has learned from the user. When the user first creates an account, the application will initially ask for the users’ preferences by requesting input about their clothing style such as: the rating of the item or “what color would you like to wear that item with”, etc. All of the items that the user wears will be stored in his or her historical data chart. Every time a user wears an item, the rating of the item will be incremented. By keeping track of the users’ preferences such as clothing rating and frequency of wearing and the users’ schedule via an internal Calendar system, the application will be able to suggest clothing outfits that would best suit that person during that time. Retail System Overview The goal of the Smart Cart is to create a system that helps vendors and customers in the retail arena by enhancing and expediting users shopping experience. Passive Tags, will be attached to each clothing piece, within the store. Active Tags will be placed on shelves and assigned to different types of clothing items. The Smart Cart will have a laptop, Passive Tag Reader and Active Tag Reader attached. By scanning the items the user chooses via the Passive Reader, the Smart Cart will be aware of the type of clothing that is present in the cart. While the user walks through the store, the Active Reader will send Radio Frequency signals to the Active Tags located throughout the stores shelves in order to obtain the identity of the Active Tag. This identity will be linked to the stores’ inventory database where clothing match suggestions are predetermined. The Smart Cart will continually display the stores suggestions to the user via the laptop. These suggestions will be based on the items in the users’ cart. Software Module Diagram Retail Module Diagram Hardware Components How the Smart Cart Works The Active Reader communicates at a frequency of 433MHz and can read tags in its field from a range of ~ 3 to 300 feet away. An RS232 connection is used between the reader and the laptop. Active Tags contain their own internal power supply and transmit their own information continuously. Each tags has a memory of 2K bits. The Active Tags can be read through virtually all non-metallic materials. The Passive Reader communicates at a frequency of 13,56 MHz. This reader can read tags in its field from a range of 0.58 feet. A USB connection is used between the reader and the laptop. The Passive Tags are powered up by Radio Frequency waves sent by the reader. The tags operate at a frequency of 13.65MHz. Each tags has a memory of 2K bits. Group 13 Demo Day 4/21/05 Times: 11:00am-12pm 1:00pm-2pm