RFID Chip Timing with Disposable Tags

You may have read in the sports press about the new RFID Timing Ultra System with its Battery Assisted Passive (BAP) tags.  Ideally suited to running and cycling events we're bringing this technology online for 2010 and its targetted at the larger events where chip retrival is simply unachievable.

Benefits are approx 150 reads per second across a 9m or 4.5m start line.  GPS time sync, GPRS data sync (no wires). 

Chips are printed to order and you can either attach them to the race bib themselves or simple post them out matched number to chip and let the participant stick them on the choice is yours.

Pricing on request but the bigger the race the cheaper the athlete cost and therefore the cost benefits are passed right along the chain.

The real benefits come when looking at events with over 5000 participants and the need for retrieval is completely eliminated.

BAPs - (Disposable tags to the un-initiated) Until now UHF tags have had problems being read on the human body. Several of our competitors have tried to address this by placing the transponder off the human body using elaborate tags on the shoe lace – a system that requires input from the competitor and is not ‘idiot proof’. All passive tags are severely compromised when placed very close to the human body due to detuning and loss of backscatter signal. Enter the Battery Assisted Passive or BAP tag. These tags use an ultra thin liquid battery that powers the onboard RFID chip leaving maximum energy backscatter to the reader. The tags are also specifically designed to be read next to the skin and tuned accordingly. The performance gains are remarkable for what is essentially still a passive tag that can be produced at low cost (unlike an active tag that uses a coin battery cell). The battery is non-toxic and has been cleared for safe disposal by the most stringent of environmental rules imposed in Europe.

The beauty of the BAP is that it can be worn on the back of the chest race number (Bib Number) completely eliminating the need for the competitor to perform fiddly manoeuvres with an adhesive label on their shoe. This really is the ultimate system for timing large running events throughout the world.