Xerafy Embeds UHF RFID Tags in Metal

Xerafy claims that their UHF RFID tags not only work on metal, but embedded in metal – something our team has not seen before with UHF RFID tags. In this edition of The RFID Network, we’re going to put that claim to the test and see if UHF RFID technology really can be embedded in metal.

For many years, it has been well known in the industry that UHF RFID and metal doesn’t mix well. We’ve seen efforts to compensate for the physics by trying to shield the radiation from the metal causing bulky, expensive tags that limit their use.

"We’ve been given several different RFID tags from Xerafy:

• The Micro;
• The Nano;
• and the Pico;

At under 16mm in length, the Pico is one of the the smallest on-metal tag we’ve seen.

These are ISO-18000-6C (EPCglobal Class 1 Generation 2) compliant passive UHF tags, all of which are designed to o be attached to, or even embedded in anything metal, and affixed in place using a custom-formulated resin. We’ve seen low frequency tags embedded in metal before, but their read range is near contact. These tags can be read several meters away. The tags are also designed to survive temperatures of up to 480˚ F.

Given their specification, these tags are suitable for a number of applications including asset tracking of military, construction, as well as oil and gas equipment.

With the assistance of partners such Holland1916, XERAFY has enabled a wide variety of RFID enabled products such as printed metal tags, tools, bolts and zip ties. The RFID-enabled bolts are ideal for tagging just about anything that is put together with regular bolts, such as machines, assembly stations, and even construction. Maybe someday we’ll find these bolts at Home Depot and we’re using them for building “smart” homes, preventing counterfeit, ensuring quality procedures are checked, and tracking down to individual items.

Benchmark Testing

Durable Passive UHF RFID Tags are RFID tags that are specifically designed to withstand a variety of challenging environmental operating conditions. More specifically, the RFID tag must have an IP (Ingress Protection or International Protection) Rating which provides a standardized measure for durability. Additional methods for denoting durability include passing environmental tests such as MIL STD 810-F and BS EN 60068-2.

For the benchmark tests we’re doing here, our team used a CS462 stationary reader from Convergence Systems Limited. The CS462 is Powered by Impinj and uses the same technology as the Impinj Speedway Revolution reader. We attached a CS771 right-hand circular polarized antenna and varied the tag orientations for all test results shown below. For our held-held test, we used CSL CS-101.

We performed a battery of tests that measure the read distance of these tags at all different angles. To accurately measure the read distance, our team uses a laser distance meter that’s accurate up to ¼ of an inch. All of the results are averaged together and shown below.

If you would like more information about the Xerafy tags or to get a Xerafy RFID tag starter kit, please visit Xerafy in our Supplier Directory.

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