Michigan Live is reporting that the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAS) has had great success with a new system that allows college admission administrators to capture prospective student information from scanned barcodes, rather than requiring students to fill out information forms with pen and paper.  The system is similar to the barcoding applications that have been deployed at business trade shows and conferences, but has been tailored for college fairs.  The process is quite simple, a bar code is assigned to a student upon entry to the college fair.  This printable bar code is linked to the student's relevant personal information stored in a backend system database.  As the student visits each booth, recruiters can quickly scan the student's bar code to retrieve the student's contact information, allowing the recruiter to spend more time discussing the school's programs rather than waiting for students to complete tedious paperwork.
 

There are many advantages to replacing the college fair paper contact forms with a bar code solution.  First and foremost, the data that is exchanged is much more accurate.  With pen and paper, college recruiters often struggle to read a student's handwritten form.  Secondly, the system speeds up the data exchange process.  Recruiters can spend more time speaking with students.  And lastly, students don't have to drive home with a severe case of writer's cramp.

You may be surprised to hear that the system described above is not difficult to implement.  If you are interested in a similar application, please contact the bar code and data collection experts at RACO Industries.

We get asked all of the time about justifying the cost of a rugged mobile computer over a non-rugged or a consumer-grade device. Depending on the product, there can be a large cost differences between the two product types. There are three points that we like to make when justifying the cost difference:

1)      Ruggedized mobile computing devices like the Motorola MC55 is designed to resist damage from drops, humidity, misuse and other environmental issues. Consumer- graded devices are not designed this way and after-market cases only provide minimal protection. To put it simply, you drop it….you break it.

2)      Battery life is a very important factor for mobile computing. Ruggedized devices are intended to work for a full eight hour shift with options available to extend this time. This does not just include voice communications – it also includes data transmissions, scanning, image capture and all of the other functions needed for a mobile worker. The battery life for consumer graded devices will die out after only a few hours if used in this way.

3)      The costs for IT to support consumer-graded devices are nearly three times as high due to the increased failure these products. We ask a very simple question…do you want your valuable IT personnel to spend their time on IT projects or troubleshooting broken smartphones? 

For detailed information about the total cost of ownership for mobile computing, view Venture Development Corporation’s white paper. For more information about the value of ruggedized mobile computers, contact a RACO product specialist or visit www.racoindustries.com.

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What many people don’t realize after the purchase of a handheld scanner, editing capabilities are already programmed in when the product leaves the factory. Scanners such as the Motorola LS2208, Honeywell 3800g or the Datalogic Powerscan are configured with a simple editing tool that allow the users to make changes in the scanner without making costly changes to the software application. 

The most common problem that arises is when the scanner arrives and either the Enter Key has been programmed in or not programmed in at all. For example, when any of the scanners from Motorola –either corded or cordless – are shipped, they are pre-configured with no post amble. In other words the data that is scanned is sent to the screen ‘as is’ with no CR / LF / RETURN or Enter Key. However, many users want the Enter Key to be automatically sent to the application after a scan. This allows users to do a scan one bar code after another without having to hit an Enter Key on the PC keyboard.  

The solution is quick and simple. Get the reference guide or the product manual from you handheld scanner.  Then go to Scan Data format page and scan the Data + suffix barcode. This will add the Enter key or CR/LF to be automatically sent with the data stream. In case you should ever need to remove the CR/LF or Enter Key, just scan the Data as is barcode.  That’s all there is to it. 

The manufacturer’s product manuals provide instructions to do more advanced formatting, such as tabs or other special characters, but this can be tricky. Contact your RACO representative for assistance with additional handheld scanner programming instructions.

If you intend to design an Enterprise Wireless Network that performs well, detailed planning is critical.  Today I'm going to examine 5 key things to consider before moving forward with an Enterprise WiFi installation.

Site Survey      Do I need to get a site survey?   The answer depends on the expected use and performance of the WLAN. A site survey involves two different things - spectrum analysis and coverage mapping.  The spectrum analysis checks to see if there is any interference with other frequencies.  The coverage mapping simulates the access point placement to ensure proper coverage requirements.   Can a wireless system be installed without a site survey?   Yes, however proper coverage and optimal functionality can never be guaranteed.  Imagine building a model car in a dark room, it is going to take longer and you really don’t know what it looks like until the light is turned on.  A proper site survey allows you to see what you’re working with before, during and after the installation.  Also, it is important that a site survey be conducted during a normal working environment - with machines, forklifts and or people moving around - to ensure the operation will be properly scrutinized. 

Usage   What type of data will be going through the wireless network:  small data collection transactions, phone calls (VOIP/SIP), and or large file transfers?  Will users require the use of the wireless network while moving from one area to another?  Each of these types of questions corresponds to important design requirements.   For instance, if users will be moving around then 100% coverage will be required to and from each of these areas and the system must be capable of roaming users between access points.

Coverage    What are my coverage needs?  Do I need to cover the entire building/facility?  Can this change in the future? This will answer how large the wireless system needs to be initially and does it need to be scalable enough to facilitate the rest of the building or another building entirely in the future. Planning in the beginning will save future costs in time, performance and money.  

Area Layout and Obstacles   The thing to remember here is that metal is the enemy; it can completely block signals as well as create multipath, which can confuse access points.  Special considerations need to be taken when looking to install wireless infrastructure in an environment that contains a lot of metal – including the building’s construction.  Water and other liquids can present problems as well. Since the human body is composed of mostly water, people can also obstruct wireless signals and limit the utilization of a WLAN.

If you are looking for additional assistance, contact RACO's Advanced Solutions Group (ASG).  RACO's team of network engineers are certified in both Motorola and Cisco wireless networking technologies and have integrated these components into a multitude of corporate networks.

To encode the tags we are using a Zebra R110Xi RFID printer. 

The configuration is for vendor compliance in a 3PL or third party distribution center.  The tags will be read as the SKUs are moved through the dock doors and read again as they enter their vendor destination.

Setting up the reader

The XR400 has 4 possible antenna pairs.  Two antennas, a Tx and Rx.  Each pair can be one choke point or portal.  A shipping dock door for instance would be a good choke point.  Using epcSolutions software simplifies the setup process since it is designed for vendor RFID compliance.   There were three main troubleshooting issues we ran into while configuring the software to start the reader polling and setting the proper RFID tag type.

The first problem was actually finding the reader on the network in order to enable us to log into the Administrative Console via its IP address a web browser.  The “default” IP address was not correct and even after resetting the XR400 it did not take on the default IP.  By plugging the XR400 into a switched network and running Wireshark on another computer, we were able to see broadcast packets coming from a 192.168.0.73 address. Putting that address into a web browser got us into the Administrative Console.  The default user name is admin with a password of change. 

The second problem was that the epcSolutions software was unable to “start the reader”. Through some trial and error we discovered that the XR400’s polling was the issue and had to be disabled in the Administrative Console in order to let the software start the polling itself.  With polling enabled the software is unable to start the reader and gives an error that says, “Symbol reader returning error status 0x80”.  The polling option is under the “Scan Control” menu item.

Next the tags we needed to read were Generation-2, Class-1 (G-2, C-1). 

This is setup within the XR400 Administrative Console, under the “Read Point Class” menu option.  Then assigned to an antenna pair/portal.

After clearing those hurdles the tags are now being read and all the lights are green.  One of the major problems that must be dealt with when configuring RFID is that tags are automatically read and will continue to be read every 1 or 2 seconds for as long as the tag remains within the polling area.  Therefore, whatever data collection software is used as an RFID manager it must be ready to manage multiple reads.  

The little screencast Video shows how often or quickly the tags are read and reread.

http://www.screencast.com/t/nQ3TyCV82