The thread about lost range poles got me thinking. Has anyone thought about using RFID tags for surveying applications?
Could they be used to tag equipment and make lost things easier to find?
Could they be used to actually tag points?
If they can be queried from a distance it could help a lot of things, even finding those files you have somewhere, or that misplaced hammer?
I haven't checked out the options and costs yet. It just looks like an interesting technology. They use it to tag and id runners in races for example, it must not be too expensive.
- jlw
I think there is a limit on the range, like several feet. We looked at them recently for putting on pipelines to assist in construction as-builts. It is amazing what P/L companies are wanting "the surveyors" to capture these days on large p/l jobs. But that would be a nifty use of them.
There are a few systems out there. Haven't tried one.
Ford had this…
toollink
It won’t locate a lost tool. It will let you know the tool is not on the truck, and that's half the battle.
The kind that are used on livestock are only good at a distance of a few feet. The tag will tell you all sorts of information but you have to be close enough to see the tag exists in the first place.
I want to say that the chief surveyor for ODOT has mentioned the idea of placing them on survey monuments.
I've heard him talk about their use for quite a few things that make sense.
Embedded in concrete for catch basins, or almost any structure, for install date,m project number, contractor, age, depth, pipe size and type, manufacturer. Different types of end walls and wing walls for different types of culverts. Storm pipe runs with installation dates, project numbers, grades, type, manufacturer, etc.
Quite a few uses actually, the more I think about it! All type of construction control points. A host of information uses!