Slashdot Mirror
RFID for Laptop Inventory Tracking?
An anonymous reader asks: "We are in the process of getting new laptops and I was wondering if anyone has used RFID for inventory control of them? Like many places laptops have had a way of going MIA. In an ideal world I would like to be able to get a 'real time' update of where the tags are located. I also would like to know when a RFID tag goes by a fixed location such as a door.
What are people's experience both good and bad with RFID? Is this realistic? Where do I start? Had this been done with open-source?"
Cliff just use barcodes and have people sign them in and out as they are taken.
Why should you care where they are as long as you know who is currently responsible for it.
You need to look into active rfid's.
-- botsex is {grep;touch;strip;unzip;head;mount}
ELPAS (Visonic NA) is a company that makes that type of tag. Shameless plug, I install those systems.
Basically, the tag transmits constantly and the readers are spaced throughout the facility (not just at portals), and give a message if the tag leaves an approved area, is tampered with, or is not seen by the system. The system can even lock down doors when a tag approaches the exit, and integrate to CCTV to capture a picture of the thief. Also does wonders when you have twenty people in a conference room with the same Targus leather case.
They approached Michael Dell about installing at the factory. He doesn't want them as 1000's of laptops are stolen every year, requiring replacements..... Hmm, Profit Motive?
1. RFID can be readily defeated (e.g. with tinfoil, or by placing laptop in metallic container), it should not be viewed as a security mechanism.
2. The current model of IBM thinkpads have an integral RFID option (enabled via BIOS).
They approached Michael Dell about installing at the factory. He doesn't want them as 1000's of laptops are stolen every year, requiring replacements..... Hmm, Profit Motive?
As I imagine the theifs aren't using them to give venture capital proposals, it also means thousands of stolen laptops that get sold at very low prices, taking away some potential Dell sales.
...you can turn RFID on/off in the BIOS...
IBMs do have RFID tags, but I have no idea how to use them :)
I would go for WiFi localisation algorithms. I guess everybody will use WiFi in the company building anyway, and with this you will be able to determine exact position of every single person with laptop.
Go grab those torrents.
I'm currently involved in developing a wireless service tied to museums and libraries in Wales. The idea is that where people don't have their own kit, we'll have loan stock to avoid social exclusion. I don't think RFID is the complete answer to tracking the hardware (Laptops or PocketPCs) that'll be on loan, but it could be part of the system. Anyone with ideas about the ballpark figures involved in setting up something like this?
They won't go missing if you have a good system of knowing who has taken them out. People tend to steal less if they know they are the ones responsible for returning it. A signature on a sign out sheet goes a long way.
On a related note, is there an RFID tag / system that would be useful for finding my keys? Those Sharper Image things are so bulky.
The ______ Agenda
If you are willing to spend a few dollars for each tag, and install a tracking system, then what you are talking about should work. There is a good AIM reference summarizing this: What Is RFID? The advantage of an active system is distance, it can be meters away from a receiver. I remember talking to a friend working on this technology (14 years ago, sorry, I've lost touch and can't refer you). They were installing a system in a naval hospital to track the doctors by adding active tags to their base ID's, because the doctors were "too busy" to sign in and out at the guard desk. Sounds like what you want to do, substituting "laptops" for "doctors" . If you go to this site, select "Radio Frequency Identification" then "Systems" you will get a list of manufacturers: RFID Resources
Dude, I hardly ever hear "I'd love to get a laptop" without being followed by "My buddy gets them for cheap". They're quite content in receiving X-random-laptop with X-lacking-features. Meanwhile, I blew a nice chunk on an Inspiron 8500 and even after a year I still love the damned thing and use it daily.
Now don't get me wrong, I was once in the dark, having purchased (and quickly resold) a few questionably-obtained mobile computing apparati. I didn't resell for monetary gain, which didn't happen anyways. I resold because I wanted those things out of my life forever, they sucked monkey balls. Sure, for the typical suit who just wants to "read email" and look as rich as the guy sitting next to him, yeah fine, but for a power hacker you want the fastest, most connectable, graphically-superior machine out there. It just so happens that when you blow 2500$ on a toy, you will see no wrong in spending another 100$ or so on security devices to protect your beloved electronic companion. Me, I like how my Bios is modded to phone home during POST. And how everything is passworded to infinity and beyond. And how I never leave it in plain sight unless I'm standing near with a weapon of mass bludgeoning.
Long story short: stolen laptops suck, because good laptops have watchful caring owners.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
That may help for laptops for personal use, but you can often read in the newspaper about a social engineeri just walking into some business, and getting the receptionists to help him steal 20 laptops. And considering even though PHBs only use their laptops to check email, as a status symbol the PHB usually orders the most expensive laptop possible. :) Not too many thieves target the iBook(or at least that is my wishful thinking!)
My laptop anti-theft devices are
a) I'm a poor college student and I dress like one
b) I carry it around in a beaten up(on the outside) backpack, but one with a lot of padding.
c) my final line of defense is the laptop itself, an all white little clamshell with a glowing white apple on the other side of the screen
Unless you're using a strong active RFID, you're only going to be able to track a laptop to the door of your place of business. If someone takes it home and "loses" it, there's no good way to keep tabs on it. It could be possible to scan it on the way out the door and take a picture of the person carrying it though, kind of like that store system which takes a picture of someone when they remove an item from the shelf.
It's good to use your head, but not as a battering ram.
In a sense you're quite right. PHB's don't actively seek out and slaughter their notebook thiefs. My financial reasoning is quite different. Considering the market value for someone's head is around 500$ US (here at least - we're pooor), also considering I paid about 1500$ for my laptop, then anyone who deprives me of said laptop will be thrice beaten to death with an old Micropolis hard drive.
:)
But I do agree people don't seem to target Macs for some obscure reason. Perhaps out of ignorance (where's the start button?), perhaps out of brotherly respect "Macs rock, share the love, I'll yoink your roommate's Athlon".
In any event, the only way someone will get to your notebook, is by beating you into submission first. Now I don't know how big you are, but I know I'm not worried myself
-Billco, Fnarg.com
My solution was RFID. Then she could walk into an office, "hear" the items in the room, and go about her day. It sure beat any other system I could think of for tracking items (especially when techs, engineers, and managers trade items around the office without letting her know).
The problem? /. They are big and bulky and have a rather limited range (meaning inches, not feet). There was also a question of cost and how efficient it would be place a $1 RFID tag on everything from a server to a mouse.
Primarily size. RFID tags are not available in the "paper-thin" size you hear about on
:wq
get a marauder's map for laptops.
What you are talking about are reasons why people are trying to promote RFID. However, in order to track "MIA" laptops you would need to allow big brother to track all RFID tags in productions. Thus, if you went to starbucks with a stolen laptop the RFID scanner would immediately recognize this and you would get arrested. On the other hand, if you didnt steal your laptop anyone can track where you are and where you have been.
Good Plusses/Minuses.
GroupShares.com - An Interactive Stock market community. Just getting started so check it out!
-------
artlu.net
Here's what you do- set up your access points so that each one gets a separate set of DHCP addresses. Using SMS or the open-source equivalent, have the DHCP servers querry the laptops for asset tag numbers upon connection, and log both connection found and connection lost. Then all you need to do is query the SMS database for asset found and lost times to track a given laptop. This means when it does leave the premises, going off of the DHCP system, you've got the time recorded- which you can then compare to the security tape at the door.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
YES!! I'm trapped in CmdrTaco's basement!!
\@o@/
It's a thought, but whenever someone reboots, has their system go to sleep, or shuts it down, it's going to look like it's disappeared.
You'd want to use a seperate tracking system than something that runs only when the system is operating.
Oh, and I'd have personally recommended Bluetooth as opposed to some 802.11 implementation -- as you can get distance estimates between two nodes (I have no idea how accurate they are, though). And of course, it has the same problem with not being on when the computer's not on.
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
My Mylar/Anti-Static/Faraday cage bag says that laptop never left the building, it's got to be here somewhere.
Muahahaha
Why buy RFID tags? These 1. cost money 2. only work within a few feet. Instead install a Distributed.net client. They have caught thiefs before. Of course if the hard drive is wiped or replaced, it won't but how many lazy thiefs would do that?
It can work, but you're going to spend about $5000 per doorway for a powerful enough reader, nevermind the cost of the tags. A tag around 2x3" will perform best, but where do you want to put that in a laptop? I've worked with smaller tags, like 1.5x1.5 inches, but their range tends to be considerably less (60-70% of the larger tags).
You'll probably be able to do something using those devices like they have in stores that set off alarms when someone leaves with something that hasn't been cleared. These, like many of the RFIDs (some of these aren't exacty what are called RFIDs these days) are passive, have no battery and work within a few feet of the reader (good for doorways). You'll spend several thousand though in addition to the tags, which will probably cost you around $4 or $5, which compared to the cost of a laptop isn't horrible.
It's perfectly viable, if not a little rough around the edges still. I'd look in to the good old fashioned security tag system stores use. The nice thing about RFID tags is you could tell which laptop is leaving, who owns it, etc because you could store all that info, but if you're just worried about them leaving the building period, go for the security systems.
Presently here, but not there.
although i've often thought that gps should be embedded into a few co-workers of mine that often go mia during the course of a day (likely to locate them in a near by tim hortons or starbucks)...
i know too expensive, not practical in an office...
Since laptops tend to either be in someone's office, or being carried by the owner, I would think the same concerns about tracking an employee by RFID would apply here. By putting an RFID tage on the laptop, you track the employee as well as the equipment. I believe this unintended consequence should be a factor in the equation when considering this issue. Aside from the ethics of the issue, the company's policies with respect to employee tracking devices, if such policies exist, would certainly apply. There may also be unintended tracking outside of the corporate environment, where the tag could conceivably be tracked by 3rd parties. Imagine being able to tail and locate the laptops of all corporate officers, or key personnel ? Corporate espionage can take on newer dimensions. Its bad enough that the person can be tracked, but now you can know when the person and laptop are NOT together in the same area, with the latter possibly unattended.
Track the laptops internally by observing which wireless transciever they're hitting. If you're good, you could triangulate the location...
Put an RF monitor by the door; so, if one passes through, the monitor sends a packet to the server and causes a photo (from the door camera) to be saved. Implement this in tandem with RFID anti-theft devices.
If a laptop turns up missing, when it passes into hotspots, you'll be able to track it as it send packets back to your server. Give this information to the local authorities and have them retrieve your missing property. Fire and prosecute persons responsible (you now have evidence in the form of photos, tracking information & a police report.)