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RFID REader 32395 — Parallax Forums

RFID REader 32395

joy1joy1 Posts: 32
edited 2012-03-30 09:41 in Accessories
I purchased the RFID reader USB tag & Sampler...I've downloaded the VCP Drivers and then plugged in the Reader...I've downloaded the code from the website as well but I'm very confused as to how this is supposed to work. I just want it to start reading something but I'm not sure how to go about it. Can anyone help.

thanks

Comments

  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2012-03-24 20:40
    You have to have some kind of program on your PC that will:

    1) Open a COM port at 2400 Baud with 8-bit characters, no parity, and 1 or 2 stop bits. This COM port has to have DTR (Data Terminal Ready) turned on. Most terminal emulators have options to configure the port this way. If you're writing a program, whatever library routines that program uses to access a serial port should have provisions for this configuration.

    2) Once DTR becomes ready (on), the LED on the RFID Reader will come on. When a tag comes into range, the RFID reader will begin to transmit data to the PC as described on page 4 of the documentation. Your program will have to receive and either display or process the data.

    That's it.
  • FranklinFranklin Posts: 4,747
    edited 2012-03-25 13:37
    then plugged in the R
    To what and how?
    ...I've downloaded the code from the website as well
    What code and where did you put it? (how do you run it?)
  • joy1joy1 Posts: 32
    edited 2012-03-25 15:45
    I plugged the Reader into my computer via a USB port...the code I put in the Basic Stamp Editor is "RFID_basic.BS2" which I acquired off the website.
    "You have to have some kind of program on your PC "...what kind of program?? Will the Basic Stamp Editor not be enough?

    I'm obviously a novice here!
  • joy1joy1 Posts: 32
    edited 2012-03-25 16:13
    OK...so I now realize that I don't need the code for the Reader to work. I went into the debug command in Basic Stamp Editor and changed the settings as required. The light on the reader went red and when I moved the cards across the antennea, the tag ID's appeared in the debug window.
    This is what I want to do with the reader...Let's say I have 100 tags. I want to give 1 of them "status" such that if they are scanned over it will be recognized by the reader and activate a motor or some other device. How can I do this?

    Thanks
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2012-03-25 17:51
    The way you're using it, the Stamp Editor is serving as a "terminal emulator". In other words, the debug window of the Stamp Editor is displaying the serial data from the RFID reader. That doesn't sound like something you want to do. The USB RFID Reader can only communicate with the PC and with a program on the PC. You would have to write a program for your PC using something like Visual Basic or whatever you have access to. This program would have to watch the data coming in from the RFID Reader and compare it to whatever you want to indicate "status". Then the PC would have to somehow trigger a motor, maybe through another serial port.

    Alternatively, you would have to buy a Serial RFID Reader and a Stamp or Propeller board that would control the RFID reader, look for the "status" RFID code, and trigger the motor. It's possible to use a 2nd serial port to do this. Typically, you'd use a transistor hooked to one of the serial control lines like DTR (Data Terminal Ready) that becomes true when the serial port is opened.

    A third choice would still require you to write a PC program to get the RFID data. This program would send either the data or some kind of command to a Stamp or Propeller board on a 2nd serial port and this would then control the motor.
  • joy1joy1 Posts: 32
    edited 2012-03-26 09:10
    So in other words, I grabbed the wrong reader in the USB version which hooks up directly to my computer...I should have grabbed the Serial version
  • DocThomasDocThomas Posts: 31
    edited 2012-03-30 09:25
    That would work the same as above you just plug it in to the PC on the serial port insted of USB. Unless you have a serial device that is already looking for a certen serial input to activate it. Or You could build your own controler using some of the things parallax has.
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2012-03-30 09:41
    @joy1: Yeah. The USB version is really intended to interact directly with a PC, not a microcontroller like the Stamp. The serial version can be connected to a microcontroller or, with a USB to serial converter, to a PC as well.

    If you're willing to have a PC "in the loop" so the PC talks to the RFID reader, you can write a program for the PC that will look up RFID IDs and trigger either a relay or motor directly or communicate with a microcontroller that can control the relay or motor. It all depends on what you want to do and how you want to accomplish it.
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