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Student
Projects 2005 Applications
of RFID Technology
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In 2005, the application
of RFID technology was identified as the focus topic for
the Annual Student Projects. From February to July 2005,
Students from HKPU (Hong Kong Polytechnic University),
CityU (City University of Hong Kong) and UM (University
of Macau) participated in the projects on the applications
of RFID technology for different industries.
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Four HKPU students worked on the “RFID
for Pharmaceutical Packaging Line” Project. They combine
Siemens Moby RFID with Siemens Machine Vision to create a system
to monitor the pharmaceutical packaging process and ensure its
being up to standard.
The second team was a group of 4 CityU students. In their project
“Multi-Purpose Autonomous Robust Carrier for Hospital”,
RFID was applied in developing an intelligent mobile vehicle
which can communicate with central control centre and navigate
through the hospital building autonomously to move trolleys
and carry heavy goods while avoid obstacles.
The third project team consisted of 5 UM students whose project
focused on “RFID for Casino Application”. The students
studied and investigated how RFID can be used to combat fraud
and strengthen customer relations management.
The application of RFID technology is a hot topic in the industry
and it is expected to be more and more popular in Hong Kong.
2004 Automated Car Park
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at introducing the concept of “Automated Car Park”
to fit in Hong Kong’s real life environment of shortage
in parking space. In a period of six months, from February
to July 2004, a student team consisting of 6 HKPU (Hong
Kong Polytechnic University) students and 4 IVE (Hong
Kong Institute of Vocational Education – Tsing Yi)
students tried to turn the “dream” automated
car park from a concept into a realistic and practical
project. |
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Siemens and HKPU have already extended
plenty of support to the development of the Automated Car Park.
Siemens has provided its advanced technological products including
SIMATIC WINCC?SIMATIC STEP 7 and SIMATIC MOBY for running the
programmes. There were also continual technical support and
advice from 2 system integrators, Mice Engineering and ITMation
(both are Siemens’ business partners). The project has
been developed successfully, and a three-dimensional model of
the Automated Car Park of 5 feet wide and 6 feet long was made
for demonstration purpose. The design
of the Automated Car Park was just like a fully automated
warehouse. Procedures such as car parking, taking, tracking
and billing can all be operated automatically at one location.
Cars would be carried to available parking slots identified
by the fully automatic conveyance system. The aluminium multi-layer
parking racks save a lot of space. Owing to limited parking
space in Hong Kong, such highly efficient, highly secured
and space-saving automated car parks will be the best solution
and therefore has good development potential.
2003 Warehouse Automation Simulation
The objective of the project is simple: To help
students of Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HKPU) correlate
their academic knowledge with real-world applications and
help HKPU strengthen its ties with the commercial sector in
Hong Kong.
The project was a showcase to demonstrate how
innovative industrial automation technology can be tied in
with the fast-growing logistics industry. First phase began
basic operations in January 2003 while in second phase –
the “User Interface” stage in April, the students
prepared an animated version of the automated warehouse model
for a hands-on experience with the innovative MOBY electronic
identification system, which was new to Hong Kong.
The automated warehouse model was built using
a special type of industrial “LEGO” components
that come with sensors, actuators and DC servomotors –
automated by a SIMATIC S7-300 PLC system. MOBY identification
systems control and optimize material flow. They are reliable,
fast, and economical, insensitive to contaminants, and store
data directly in the product. Siemens provided the product
know-how for the automated warehouse project, while ITMation
Ltd. (a Siemens’ business partner) provided industry
and technology know-how to implement the SIMATIC and MOBY
systems into the LEGO warehouse model.
While the traditional bar code system still
dominates Hong Kong’s logistics industry, the MOBY identification
system is poised to transform the old standard through its
innovative, economical and environmentally friendly approach
to traffic control and transport logistics, as well as data
storage. |
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