Integrated Auto Id Technology For Multi Disciplinary Undergraduate Studies (I Atmus)

Abstract

Automated Identification (AutoID) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies are unique in that their research and development are led by industry rather than academy. Therefore, there is a large knowledge gap between the best practices in industry and theoretical academic work, which should be bridged by the future engineers that are acquainted with such technologies. In order to fill that gap and fulfill the industrial manpower needs, the number of such individuals is to be increased. That can be achieved by developing next-generation laboratory learning environments, which provide hands-on experience for on-campus and offcampus students. For this reason, user-friendly, web-based applications are built as a way to give access to off-site students. A laboratory motorized hardware system is assembled in order to provide RFID technology testing setups. The overall environment is empowered by a programming language that yields remote agent control, RFID data acquisition, and abstract computations. Furthermore, the website contains online teaching modules for AutoID technologies and their application areas. The result of such an implementation is a powerful educational tool that is utilized to support innovative curriculum activities and provide hands-on laboratory experiments to on-campus and off-campus students. This project not only increases the understanding of AutoID technologies and their applications, but also improves students' attitudes about engineering education and enhances their confidence towards the targeted technologies. Partial support for this work was provided by the NSF CCLI program.