Covid-19 has become one of the most dangerous viruses that have stopped the world. People all around the world have been affected by it that made them a huge loss to mankind. There are contactless technologies that emerged in the market to save more people. Contact-less systems are getting attention from a lot of governments so that they can increase the safety of the people. SB Components is always ready to use technology to make life better for individuals. Now SB Components developed a Contactless Payment Toll-Booth system to provide a way for an effective and contactless system for the current scenario. RFID Expansion for micro:bit is hardware for the implementation of a contact-less tax collection system that is based on the Radio frequency transmission Technology. Firstly, let’s discuss the idea behind the project and the advantages of the product in our lives.
Combat Coronavirus with contact-less system
If we go to some year back in the past before the COVID-19 impacted our lives, physically, mentally, and economically, Contactless payments were already widely used as it was saving time and efforts. After business started to run again at the time of Covid-19, people realized that there might be a transfer of the germs and virus with more transactions of money via cash. A technology is needed to solve the problem and that’s when the demand for contactless payment systems increased instantaneously. SB Components is constantly developing products that would make users adapt to the “new normal” environment to make people’s lives better. RFID Expansion for micro:bit is the product that can be used in the toll-tax POC systems to collect cashless transactions.
Hardware Required
Transportation is the main component of the economy of any country. All things like transportations start to begin to stabilize the economy. It is important for every person to do their business while being in a safe environment as well. If you want to develop an advanced toll booth system to minimize contact while maintaining the movement of vehicles. You just need the following hardware to develop the system
- RFID Expansion for micro:bit
- micro:bit
- Servo Motor(Preferred SG90 model no.)
- USB Cable
- Keyfob/ RFID Tags
Installation Process
- Open https://makecode.microbit.org/ and create a New project .
- Stack micro bit on edge connector of micro:bit RFID Expansion as shown in image.
- Connect 90 gram servo motor (SG90 or MG90) on dedicated slot of servo motor on RFID expansion board, for this guide i am using P2 for servo motor.
- Now arrange blocks on the makecode website using its drag and drop feature as below.
- Connect micro bit via usb cable to PC or laptop and click on the download button to upload it to your Micro Bit.
- Now show your RFID card on the RFID module reader, on detection of valid tag/card, servo motor will rotate to 90 degree. If Invalid it will stay at 0 degree.
Process of RFID Toll-Tax system
It is a cost-saving technology that can be easily installed in a toll-booth plaza. A user needs to have the RFID tags or Key Fobs that can be used at the location of the toll plaza. In this system, a user will be provided with an RFID tag or Keyfob that would be authorized to clear the toll plaza system. The authorized Key Fob/RFID tag will have the tag number that will be associated with the complete ID of the owner of the vehicle. A user can connect the RFID Expansion for micro:bit with Ethernet or Wi-Fi to enable the IoT system. When a user will come to the toll-plaza booth then they just have to touch the RFID card to the RFID Module at the toll-plaza. The RFID reader module will detect the user-ID from its card number.
Advantages of RFID toll tax system
Many of you might be wondering about the advantages and usage of the implementation of the RFID Toll tax system. There are the following things that will be the advantages for the people
- Time-saving – It would save the time of the people as they do not have to be wasting their time to swipe their cards or pay in cash as they can simply connect the RFID tag/keyfob to the toll tax system.
- Smoother Movement – People would make their movement smoother with the RFID system. This would make the transaction process easier which would save time and resources.
- Covid Safety – It would be safer in this environment where Covid has become one of the biggest problems around the world. It would make the contactless payment system that would be beneficial for all humanity.
