RFID-Based Intelligent Bookcs Shelving SystemThein Moe Wing Shamsudin' M.J.E Salami' Wahyudi Martono3

Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Faculty of EngineeringInternational Islamic University Malaysia, Jalan Gombak,53 100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tel:+6019 3419 304, E-mail: theinmoewinWyahoo.com,Tel:+603 6196 4494, E-mail: momoh diiu.edu.my,Tel:+603 6196 4435, E-mailwahyudi diiu.edu.my

AbstractSearching and sorting misplaced books is a difficult task oftencarried out by the library personnel. Quite often, librarians arebusy with searching misplaced books which are left in wronglocations by library users. It is quite difficult and almostimpractical to place back all books to their assigned locationsdaily. To overcome this, Radio Frequ ency Identification(RFID) based Intelligent shelving system has been proposed toprovide an efficient mechanism of books managementmonitoring through wireless communication between the RFIDreader and the books. It is quite essential for the proposedsystem to have a smooth motion for the RFID reader during theshelving operation; otherwise acquired data will have no valuedue to inconsistency in reading the tags. Consequently, in thispaper, the performance of RFID reader motion and tags datamanagement such as retrieving information, matching withdatabase, sorting out the order and displaying the status ofbooks locations are discussed. A prototype consisting ofmonitoring PC with embedded controller, two dc motors withdrivers, RFID reader and aluminum frame stick on rack havebeen developed. The performance of the proposed system hasbeen investigated and found to be satisfactory. And it has a lotof potential applications, especially in its ability to alleviate theintensive labors and efforts in shel ving library books.

Keywords: RFID, Motion Control, Tags data management,Lab View User Interface

1. IntroductionIt is well known that RFID Technology has emerged as a veryefficient technology to contribute to the supply chainmanagement as it is flexible enough in terms of detectablerange and accessible mechanisms. It also provides significantimprovement on items identification, tracking the objects andstock control. As RFID allows the wireless storage andautomatic retrieval of data, as in [1], many companies arerealizing its importance of increasing performance within thesupply chain. Consider a typical library, in which each bookhas its own assigned location in order to get easy assessment.However, library users would often remove books fromperhaps multiple shelves and browse them through to searchfor intended ones. Then, it wuld not be easy to phce themback to their original locations which make them inaccessibleA similar situation occurs in many retail stores wherecustomers would try out things before deciding to buy them, as

in [2]. Eventually, thee items wuld be mixed up withoutputting them back to their proper places. Many approacheshave been suggested on how to restore books or stocks to theiractual locations. These procedures differ with respect to thetechnology, accuracy, frequency of updates, and the costs ofinstallation and maintenance, as in [3]. For instance, manual re-shelving using hand-held scanner in searching misplaced booksis shown in Fig. 1. The design and development of RFID-Basedbooks shelving system for automatic sorting of misplacedbooks in library is presented in this paper. The operation of thissystem relies on appropriate control strategy for smooth motionof RFID to capture (acquire) books data at appropriate speed.Software which displays the status of the books locations hasalso been developed.2. Design and Modeling

RFID reader has to capture data from books of each row andthen proceed to the next row until it accomplishes the taskHere, the RFID reader has to move very smoothly whilesending tags data to the main server through wirelesscommunication channel. An appropriate control strategy playsessential role in allowing the RFID to attain smooth and steadymotion during the reading process, as in [4]. The proposedsystem consists of both hardware implementation and softwareconfiguration. The hardware components are: book-racks,aluminum rail path, two dc motors for horizontal and verticalmotions, RFID reader with wireless Bluetooth and DAQ card,whereas the software tools are MatLab 6.5 and LabView 7.1.

Fig. 1. LIBRARIAN SEARCHING MISPLACD BOOKSUSING HANDHELD SCANNER

2. 1 HardwareMechanismsBook racks are built as a prototype and the rail path is alsodesigned and placed on top of each rack to enable the readerframe to move without any obstru ction, see Fig.2. RFID readeris attached to the conveyor which has vertical motion in orderto read tags from each row. It is essential for RFID reader toprovide wireless communication to avoid cable interruptionand fast response since it runs through iows and racks. Theactuators in this system are two DC motors of which one motorcarries the RFID attached frame and another one drives verticalconveyor to move reader up and down. Both actuators haveadded gear head to produce much higher torque during drivingmechanisms, as in [5]. The applied parameters like frictionbetween pulley and rail path, carried load (attached frame),gravity, force of inertia, and load torque are all considered indevelop ing control transfer function of the plant, which can beexpressed as in (1).

G(s)116.4975 (1)

s2 + 12.442s + 12.69

2.2 Simulation Studies

This section investigates good positioning and speed controlsystems which are needed to produce fast response androbustness for the proposed system, as in [6]. To satisfy theserequirements, the performance of PID, Fuzzy and NCTF-Fuzzycontrolleis have been evaluated for both horizontal and verticalmotions control, see Fig.3. It is observed that the PIDcontroller reaches its steady state in 4.5 s whereas both Fuzzyand NCTF-Fuzzy controllers reach their steady states in 4.5 sand 4.0 s respectively. Even though all controllers provide highaccuracy and smooth system performance, NCTF-Fuzzycompensator is considered the most effective to compensate forthe effects of any form of disturbance which can lead to poorperformance (inaccurate position, unsteady motion and poorunreliable data acquisition).

H o/ /Horizontal motion Vertical motion RFID Reader

12, L L

10

8

6a)a)Q

U)4

2

COMPARING THE PERFORMANCE OF PID, FUZZY AND NCTF-FUZZY

4 5 6Time (s)

7 8 9 10

Fig. 3. PID, FUZZY, NCTF CONTROLLER PERFFORMANCECOMPARISON

3. RFID System Operation

The main purpose of this section is to analyze the readermotion while acquiring data from books. RFID r eader play s theimportant role in collecting data from books' tags, the details ofbooks information would then be displayed either as the statusOK in its original location or misplaced. The main advantageof using RFID reader is that it can read tags from a distance of1.5 meters using a single antenna at a rate of up to 6 tags persecond and it can retain up to 100 tag IDs in its volatilememory, as in [7]. A circular polarized antenna is integratedinto the handle to read tags in any orientation, as in [8].Furthermore, the proposed system has made wireless readereasier to move form one rack to another in order to retrievetags information to update database using network datatransmission through Bluetooth, see Fig.4.

4. Wireless Communication via Bluetooth

The proposed system implements Bluetoothconnection to enable the reader move freely without anyattaching cables. Normally, using the cables has become thebane of many systems and therefore it would be difficult tofigure out what cable goes where, and getting tangled up in thedetails, as in P]. Bluetooth (cheap radio chip to be pluggedinto computer) essentially aims to fix these difficulties, and it iscalled cable-replacement technoloQv. see Fig-5.

Mo ffice

Bluetooth Signal from ReaderReceiver

Fig.4. RFID SIGNALS TC PCFig.2. LAB-SCALE PROTOTYPE

Reader

| Fuzzy Controller| PID Controller

NCTF Controller

-2 F 1 p p p p I p p p

tann

RFID reader starts scanning RFID tags.

ID tags (temp3) are divided into strings of18 digits each and inserted into temp4.

Eliminate any repeating ID tags (temp3) into stringsof 18 digits which are inserted into temp4.

...............j l-llilibMi mm=..mm=

Fig. 5. WIRELESS COMMUNICATION BEWTEENRFID AND PC

It is also aimed to produce a kind of flexibility where the readerwill be moving from one book rack to another. In this lab-scaleRFID system, the transmission range of reader is 150 mm andtherefore, using the Bluetooth wireless connection providesbest solution to communicate between RFID reader and tags.

5. Data Server management

A database is needed in this project as the scanneddata that refer to the tag ID from the reader of a book must becompared to a database in order to know the details and theposition of the book. The database stores a set of original datawhich consist of the ID tag, the author, the title of book, its callnumber and position. By comparing the scanned data with theoriginal data, the books can be identified either to be in thecorrect shelf, misplaced or missing. In order to perform thatfunction, LabSQL is used as a medium to store data to thedatabase. The step by step stages operated by MySQL fromretrieving tags to filtering, matching, sorting and finaldisplaying are shown in the flow chart depicted in Fig.6.MySQL is a fast, easy -to- use Relational Database ManagementSystem (RDBMS) used for databases on many Web sites.Speed is the developers' main focus from the beginning. It is a

reliable database management system as it can operate at manyoperating systems, fast, inexpensive, easy to use as well as

secured. This database is also capable of storing a large numberof data like book collections in a library or a resource centre. InMySQL, database has been separated hto 5 categories such as

temp3, temp4, temp5, original and results as mentioned in theflowchart where each one means:

* temp3: To store data read from the RFID reader. This data isunfiltered and may include several ID tags in one particular row.

* Temp4: To store the partitioned ID tags from temp3 that containsmore than 18 characters in a row.

* Temp5: To store the ID tags after eliminating any repeating ID tagsin temp3 and temp4.

* Original: Stores the original set of data of the books which includethe ID tag, author, title, call number and location of every book.Flag is added as an indicator whether the book is being scanned bythe reader or not. This table is used to be compared with the resultstable to determine the status of the book.

* Results: The information from tempS is copied here and beingcompared to the original table to determine the status of the bookswhether they are in their correct positions or not. This table consistsof five attributes similar to the original table, except that the statusattribute is added. It stores the book condition strings which can be

available, missingor misplaced depending on the book status.

Distinct ID tags (temp4) are inserted into tempS.

ID tags (tempS) are inserted into resultsunder tag column.

Corresponding title, call no., location of ID tags (results)are inserted into results from original.

Flag (original) is set to 1 for those data under thementioned operation.

'OK' status is assigned to ID tags (results) that belong tothe row.

'MISPLACED' status is assigned to ID tags (results)that do not belong to the row.

Corresponding data (original) of the same row but withflag (original) = 0 are inserted into results from original.

'MISSING' status is assigned to ID tags (results) thathave just being inserted into results.

Results are displayed in tabular form in

LabVIEW.

Fig. 6. FLOW CHART OF MYSQL OPERATION

6. Interaction between LabVIEW and MySQL

The necessary settings have to be done on LabVIEWwhile connecting with MySQL such as COM port, baud rate,data bits, parity bits, stop bits, flow control, delay before readand scanning method. COM port should be adjusted accordingto the communication port that the reader is connected tQLabSQL is a collection of virtual instruments (VI) that use theActiveX Data Object ADO) collection in LabVIEW so thatLabVIEW can be connected to almost any databases (includingMySQL), performing SQL queries, manipulae records andothers. Essentially it is a collection of VIs that acts as wrappersfor ADO properties and methods. Microsoft*) ADO enables theclient applications to access and manipulate data from a

LIWInterface the system; otherwise the desired tags will be out from theReal Svstem' reachable range. Moreover, the reading algorithms in

displaying captured data would further be analyzed to makeadjustment to include any neededfunctions.

MVSQL~~~~~~~~~~~LIA~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

databaseserverthroughanObjectLinkingandEmbedding~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.............................................................................

Database(OLEDB)provider.Inthisproject,themostsuitable~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...........................................th is to re ltip le ta ith sp as it ld le .................................................................................................................................................................................................................

thereadertoscanthetagscontinuously.TheRFIDtagsthatare~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~..................................

7.UserInterface ____ El~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~........................Forpracticalpurposes,itismuchessentialtohaveSystem 41~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-.......................................................

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTI wish to acknowledge that this research has been in progressdue to supports from postgraduate research, faculty ofengineering, IIUM.

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