[Finished Project] RFID Employee Time Clock (Version 3)

Microcontrolled

This is version 3 of my RFID Employee Time Clock, and now it actually works. I've also taken the "Ben Heck Initiative" and have been working hard to make my projects look as nice as they work, so I've housed it in this nice Parallax protoboard enclosure. Here's a picture:



The time clock can hold up to 9 employees, although with some minor modifications this could be made to 99. It keeps time with a DS1302 RTC and writes the time to an SD card. The employees check in and out with an RFID card swiped across the top of the box. The minutes are stored on the card as an HTML file and are displayed as an HTML table when opened in a web browser, where they can be printed. The Propeller automatically writes a batch file to the card when it is started up, which will clear out the old timekeeping files and launch the HTML file in a web browser.

I did a full writeup on this on my blog (shameless plug) where you can also download the source code. http://microcontrolled.com/?p=37

Any comments or questions are appreciated!

Thanks,
Microcontrolled

Duane Degn

If I were an employee, I'd sure like to see the time the time clock was recording. I'd also like to know how long I worked as I clock out.

Is there a display that goes with this?

I have a couple of employees and I've thought about something like this but I'd make sure the employee knew what information was being recorded. An employee shouldn't have to trust the box. They should be able to compare the time with their own watch so they know they're not being cheated out of some of wages.

You could have a seven segment display just under the lid so the box stays looking nice and clean but the time could be read through the plastic. (I think that would work.)

It does look nice. I also plan to start "Hecking" my projects.

I always enjoy seeing your projects.

BTW It's amazing you get such a cool dot com name!

Microcontrolled

@Duane Degn: Thanks!! You have a point, though, there should be some confirmation of the current time. I can't mount a 7 segment display on the top, though. First of all I don't want to cut a scrappy looking hole in my case for it, and second of all that's were the RFID reader is mounted. However, would a voice confirmation be good?

Thanks,
Microcontrolled

Duane Degn

I agree, you don't want to make an ugly hole in your enclosure.

I wonder if you could find a place to mount one of these to the outside with some double-sided foam tape. Maybe there's a way of running the wires to it from one of the holes already in the enclosure. These displays are pretty easy to control. It just needs power, ground, and a serial line.

I like the voice confirmation. I use an Emic here in my lab. It's nice to hear the information being recorded. But I still think a visual display is important. Of course this is just my opinion. But as someone once pointed out, I'm right most of the time.

Another possibility is to have a free standing display that sits next to (it can't be on top right?) the enclosure and have the data wires come out of one of the current holes.

It will come down to whoever your customer is. What do they want? One thing most people associate with a "time clock" is a "clock". A talking clock is great but most (if not all) the talking clocks I know of are also conventional clocks.

Just another thought. Would one of the small 7-segment displays fit anywhere behind one of the walls of the enclosure? I personally think it would look cool to have an LED display that shines through the Plexiglas. You would probably want to test which colors are still visible. (I might try this with my C3.)

Microcontrolled

Your right, visual confirmation is important. I'd probably go with a free standing display if any, but one behind the plexiglass would be best. However it is pure black plexiglass and no light seems to shine through it, so I'd have to replace one of the panels with an opaque plexiglass to get the 7 segment visual through it.

shanonmell

Great idea - and very cool.

But, I think this system already exists on the market.

It is the RTC-1000 Universal Time Clock from Icon Time Systems.

It is an RFID clock with display. The linux based clock hosts a website. Employees can view time punched and hours worked at the time clock display. I found it for $379.

Microcontrolled

Hmm...... My system's only edge so far is price, seeing that I can build it for about $70, however I originally considered adding an Ethernet port and having the Propeller host a site on the local network that would display the hours. I have worked with this on the Propeller many times before, so it would not be very hard to do at all, and the file is even saved as an HTML, so no additional conversion would have to be done. There is even enough RAM and cogs for it! The only problem is that the case I'm using didn't have enough room to fit the breakout board. If I slapped a nice Parallax serial LCD on it and added the Ethernet port, both of which could be done with LITTLE code modification, I could have the whole thing for $120; over $100 less than the other with little quality loss!
Hmm.... maybe a version 4 is in order. :-)

Edenzen

How do you propose that you prevent someone from using another's RFID tag to clock them in and out when in fact they are not in the office?

timesheet

Edenzen wrote: »

How do you propose that you prevent someone from using another's RFID tag to clock them in and out when in fact they are not in the office?

I believe Edenzen's question is meaningful in this situation. I believe there needs to be a tracking system to find out who is processing the tag and the timing tracked too, so that we can easily track down people misusing it. I believe a camera that tracks time too would be an excellent tracking system that can be used. Else, implementing a tool with camera that tracks the employees credentials would help too, such as [Deleted - Moderator].

Hope this helps...