Republic of the Philippines

Technological University of the Philippines

College of Engineering
Manila

GRADUATE PROGRAMS

Name : MENDOZA GILBERT M.

SURNAME NAME M.I.

Program : Master of Engineering Program - ECE

TOPIC PRESENTATION

Topic No. 1

I. General Subject Area

Application of Electronics Engineering in Classroom Management

II. Specific Topic

MCU-BASED ATTENDANCE CHECKER AT THE COLLEGE OF

ENGINEERING OF UNIVERSITY OF BATANGAS

III. Specifics of Research

`
A. Rationale

Efforts to improve school attendance are an integral part of the larger

school reform picture. Safe and healthy schools ones that employ a challenging
curriculum and reinforce high expectations for academics, behavior, and social
responsibility - are schools that motivate students to attend. Students are
expected to be at school and will get behind in their work if they arent. The same
should be expected of teachers. If teachers are simply to be teaching the life skill
of following through with ones obligation, then the teacher must live up to his/her
obligations as well. Attendance of both students and teachers into classrooms
are considered the starting point towards attaining a good education.

This research project focuses on a more automated attendance checking

using RFID with Zigbee features. The researchers saw the need for a
technological solution on the problems occurring in the department and probably
in the university. First, students are having a problem in finding faculty members
whom they have concerns with, considering that the department is situated in a
five-storey building. Second, in checking the attendance and punctuality of
faculties, the department heads are obliged to roam around the building, which
 the researcher find time-consuming and exhausting. The researcher saw the
manual method as very time-consuming and slothful.

The RFID based automation with Zigbee features will be targeting its
application on academic institutions to provide functions such as attendance
checkeR. It will offer a total solution that electronically records the facultys
attendance. It also an advanced system that will enables to run attendance
monitoring in a short period of time. With the help of combined knowledge in
networking and wireless communication technology, the proposed project will be
designed specifically to decipher the problems as stated.

B. Related Reviews

Technological breakthrough can be useful tools to help in the development of

new methods to eliminate the disadvantages of the classical methods while
enhancing its advantages. It is important to identify the correct tools to use in
commercial and scientific studies. Barcode readers, Bluetooth, Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID) and the new technology which is the Zigbee are just few of
the examples to such tools.

The Zigbee Technology: Overview

ZigBee is a specification for a suite of high level communication protocols using

small, low-power digital radios based on an IEEE 802 standard for personal area
networks. ZigBee devices are often used in mesh network form to transmit data
over longer distances, passing data through intermediate devices to reach more
distant ones. This allows ZigBee networks to be formed ad-hoc, with no
centralized control or high-power transmitter/receiver able to reach all of the
devices.

ZigBee is targeted at applications that require a low data rate, long battery life,
and secure networking. ZigBee has a defined rate of 250 kbit/s, best suited for
periodic or intermittent data or a single signal transmission from a sensor or input
device. Applications include wireless light switches, electrical meters with in-
home-displays, traffic management systems, and other consumer and industrial
equipment that requires short-range wireless transfer of data at relatively low
rates. The technology defined by the ZigBee specification is intended to be
simpler and less expensive than other WPANs, such as Bluetooth.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

RFID is only one of numerous technologies being recognized that are used fro
Automatic identification. Auto ID technologies are a new way of controlling
information and material flow, especially suitable for large production networks.
RFID technology has been available for more than fifty years but is only being
recognized during the past few years.

The RFID technology is a means of gathering data in a certain object without the
need of body contact or seeing the data carrier, through the use of
electromagnetic waves. RFID systems use tiny chips, called tags, to contain
and transmit some piece of identifying information to an RFID reader, a device
that can be interfaced with computers.

The basic premise behind RFID systems is that you mark items with tags. These
tags contain transponders that emit messages readable by specialized RFID
readers. Most RFID tags store some sort of identification number; for example a
customer number or product SKU (stock-keeping unit) code. A reader retrieves
information about the ID number from a database, and acts upon it accordingly.
RFID tags can also contain writable memory, which can store information for
transfer to various RFID readers in different locations. This information can track
the movement of the tagged item, making that information available to each
reader.

RFID tags fall into two general categories, active and passive, depending on their
source of electrical power. Active RFID tags contain their own power source,
usually an on-board battery. Passive tags obtain power from the signal of an
external reader. RFID readers also come in active and passive varieties,
depending on the type of tag they read.

Active tags. Because they have their own power source, active tags transmit a
stronger signal, and readers can access them from further away. The on-board
power source makes them larger and more expensive, soCactive RFID systems
typically work best on large items tracked over long distances. Low-power active
tags are usually slightly larger than a deck of playing cards. Active tags can
remain dormant until they come in range of a receiver or can constantly
broadcast a signal. Because of their on-board power source, active tags operate
at higher frequenciescommonly 455 MHz, 2.45 GHz, or 5.8 GHzdepending
on the applications read range and memory requirements. Readers can
communicate with active RFID tags across 20 to 100 meters.

Passive tags. Passive tags, on the other hand, are very inexpensive they can
cost as little as 20 cents apiece, and new technologies are constantly making
them cheaper to integrate into common materials and products. Because passive
tags are inexpensive, they will likely be the basis of most of the growth in RFID
implementations, so I will examine the technology behind passive tags in detail.
In addition to their low cost, passive tags can also be quite small. Current
antenna technology limits the smallest useful passive tag to about the size of a
quarter. The larger the tag, the larger the read range.
 C. Design Concept

ZIGBEE
ZIGBEE

Figure 1. Design Concept of the MCU-Based Attendance Checker Using RFID with
Zigbee Features

The system involved the integration of both hardware and software which must be
regulated by strict specifications to ensure desirable performance and have to satisfy
the design parameters. The following were the criteria used in the designing of the
RFID-Based Automated Attendance Checker.

The system will be able to automatically check the faculties attendance using RFID
technology. It will thus need an RFID Reader which is pre-fabricated. The RFID Reader
must then be interfaced to a module where the information obtained will be sent via a
Zigbee wireless communication technology instead of using the conventional wired
technology.

The computer then will be in-charge of the operation of verifying the RFID tags and
process the attendance checking. This includes recording the details needed (time,
date, and room assignment.).