Automatic vehicle identification with sensor-integrated RFID system

Sensor is one of the popular devices used in many applications nowadays including the intelligent transportation system (ITS) which is widely utilized in the automatic vehicle identification (AVI) system. In this research, we propose an implementation of photoelectric sensors as a vehicle detection tool in an RFID-based poultry traceability system to detect poultry transport vehicle entering and leaving an animal checkpoint. The information concerning a vehicle behavior will be used to control the RFID readerpsilas operation and the vehicle movement throughout the checkpoint instead of the animal checkpoint staff. Practically, animal checkpoints are not entirely separated from the main road which means that a vehicle entering a checkpoint might not be a poultry transport vehicle. In this paper, an algorithm to distinguish a poultry transport vehicle from a regular vehicle based on the vehiclepsilas length and height is presented, sensor selection considerations for outdoor use is also included. The proposed system is fully automatic, no checkpoint staff is required to control the RFID reader and signal the vehicle movement. In addition, the overall power efficiency of the system is improved because the reader talk time is minimized.