Custom IoT solutions as a technology have bridged the gap between physical and the virtual worlds. The data from the connected devices can be exchanged in real-time for anomalies and analysis. Most researchers say there would be approximately 26 billion connected devices in the world within the next couple of years.
Nowadays we are seeing a trend of custom IoT solutions. This may be due to the diverse requirements coming from all genres of industries. Some want to reduce operational costs and increase productivity, while the others give emphasis on worker safety and improving customer service and experience. Today we shall look at one custom use-case that we can do using RFID technology and UWP app.
Finding Key Pairs for Bank Lockers
We all know how a bank locker’s function. One key would be with the client and it’s matching pair would be with the bank authorities. Now, this is something I have personally experienced. The bank personnel would come with a set of keys, will look in carefully at each of them, identify the cuts and tip and finally selects one to put in the locker hole. Most of the times, the selection would be wrong. This causes delay and can have a negative impact on the user experience.
In this smart key pair finding system, we developed a custom solution that could resolve this issue big time. Each client key is attached with an RFID tag and its pair is also attached to its clone. When the client comes for accessing the locker, all they need to do is scan their key in the counter and subsequently a LED light would blink near the paired key in the storage shelf. This would reduce a lot of manual effort of finding the key pair and definitely increase the user experience. When the client scans the key, their locker details would get displayed in the computer screen of the bank authority along with the information of where the key pair is stored.
How the custom IoT solutions was built?
Such a requirement required both hardware and software development. The application was developed on Universal Windows Platform (UWP) in Visual Studio 2018. Simultaneously RFID based solution was done for tracking the key pair in the storage shelf. As said earlier each Key would be embedded with an RFID tag. The tag is then scanned by an RFID 13.5 MHz reader placed at the counter and the information is registered in the app along with an identification number. The shelf cabin unit was custom built, and had an in-built RFID reader and was powered by Arduino Pro-Mini. When the client come and scan the tag on the reader, a buzzer alarm and LED would be triggered near the corresponding key pair in the storage.
If you encounter any such problem and are in need of a custom IoT solution, do write to us