Inkjet-Printed UHF RFID Sticker for Traceability and Spoilage Sensing of Fruits

Abstract

This article presents an ink-jet printed ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID) label for tagging fruits. The proposed tag antenna is based on a hybrid configuration, which consists of a loop, dipole-like strips (DLSs), and eye-shaped rectangular nested slots. The loop fulfills impedance matching proposes, while the eye-shaped slots assist to maintain high imaginary impedance to mitigate capacitive effects of high permittivity surfaces of fruits. Moreover, the dipole strips help to reduce the loss resistance caused by the high permittivity of the surface of the fruit. Therefore, the overall tag configuration provides a good impedance match with the Alien H3 RFID chip in the whole U.S. UHF RFID band. Furthermore, the fabricated prototype of the proposed tag antenna achieved a read range of 3 m after mounting on apple. Moreover, an automatic weighing and billing experiment is performed by placing the tagged apples inside a refrigerator. Overall, the performance of the proposed tag antenna is tested after mounting on apple fruits of different shapes and sizes, which indicates the robustness of this tag. Moreover, the tag antenna is also tested for sensing spoilage of apple fruits. The read range of the proposed tag antenna reduces up to 42% on spoiled apples. Therefore, this tag can be suitable for automatic sorting, weighting, and billing of fruits in smart cities, vending machines, and departmental stores.