Low-cost, pervasive antenna based sensing
There are many applications in IoT that demand data capture from low-cost sensors at scale and at low cost. For example, rapidly detecting unacceptable high temperature exposure in the cold chain at the item level. This project shows how UHF and chipless RFID tags can be adapted to serve as sensors in multiple applications such as agriculture, healthcare, condition monitoring etc.
We achieve this via creative antenna design or by interfacing the tag with electrically responsive smart materials. Sensor data is encoded in the amplitude, frequency or phase of a tag that can be easily detected by commercial RFID readers.
This allows for the development of ultra-low cost sensor tags that cost as low as 1c (chipless RFID) or 3-5c (UHF RFID). An additional advantage is that this approach makes no change to the data capture device or communication protocol so entities already using RFID infrastructure for identification can add the sensing functionality for no additional cost.
more information: https://autoid.mit.edu/projects/tabs-2023
Indoor radio tomographic imaging using arrays of tags
By setting an area surrounded by UHF RFID tags, one could estimate the position of an object after being put in the area, without any labels or tags on the object itself. Additional information (material composition, height, size, shape) could also be inferred from attenuation which results from obstruction of RF links between tags and antenna.
