RFID Scanning with Zebra Devices

RFID Scanning with Zebra Devices

We’ve supported barcode scanning using external barcode scanners by Zebra for some time now. Recently, we’ve extended our support for products in the Zebra range by enabling support for RFID scanning using Zebra devices.

At present, our support for RFID scans using Zebra devices is made possible through the Zebra DataWedge functionality. In testing and demonstrating our support for RFID scanning with Zebra devices, we configured a Zebra RFID device for our tests using the following configuration:

Test device and Configuration


Zebra Software: DataWedge version 11.3.40

OS: Android version 11

Device model: Zebra MC333U

RFID Tags: Generic UHF RFID Tags


The RFID scanning mechanism we demonstrate in this article shows how you can start building apps that run on Zebra devices with RFID capabilities.

What is RFID?

RFID, which stands for Radio-Frequency Identification, is a technology that allows objects or items to be identified, tracked, and managed using radio waves. It is an automatic identification and data capture system that uses electromagnetic fields to transfer data between an RFID tag and a reader. 

RFID technology is extensively used in various industries, including retail, logistics, healthcare, transportation, agriculture, manufacturing, and more. It offers advantages over traditional barcode systems, such as non-line-of-sight communication, faster data capture, higher data capacity, and the ability to read multiple tags simultaneously.

Getting Started

Before you begin, you will need to ensure the following:

  1. You have the eFormsMobile app installed on your device. 

  2. You’ve opened the RWDemo app on your Zebra device at least once (this is necessary to create the RWDEMO profile that you will use to interface with the RFID tag reader).

  3. You’ve created a CSV data source of your tags using the 123RFID app and imported this as a data source into Appenate.

Configuring DataWedge

You can now start to configure DataWedge.

Set up DataWedge Profile

  1. Open the DataWedge app on your Zebra device and select the RWDEMO Profile.

Configure RWDEMO Profile

  1. Ensure that the RWDEMO profile is enabled, as shown in the image below, and click “Associated Apps” to associate eFormsMobile with the profile.

Associate Apps with Profile

  1. After you click “Associated Apps”, click on the kebab menu in the top-right corner to add a new app association.


 

  1. This will then bring up a list of apps installed on your device. Select eFormsMobilefrom the list; this will open another list from which you will select the option with the asterisk as shown below:


 

Disable Barcode Input

  1. Once added, go back to the main RWDEMO profile menu and scroll down. Disable the Barcode Scanner as shown below:

Enable RFID Input

  1. Scroll down to RFID Input and ensure you have RFID enabled with the hardware trigger also enabled, as shown below:

  1. Now click on “Reader selection” to ensure that you have the reader selected as shown below:


 

Configure Reader Settings

  1. Go back to the main RWDemo configuration screen and configure the reader’s settings as shown below:

Configure Keystroke Output

  1. Scroll down to “Keystroke Output” and configure it as shown below:

Ready to Test

At this point, you are ready to start scanning RFID tags and processing them in Appenate. Open the screen in eFormsMobile that you want to read RFID tags into and ensure the cursor is active and flashing in the text area you want to capture RFID tags into.

Make sure that your device isn’t connected to the cradle charger. If it is, the RFID reader won’t read tags.

As soon as you press the trigger button on the Zebra device, it will start reading tags into the text area that has the active cursor. You can then use your data source with the list of RFID tags you prepopulated to determine how many tags have been read and how many have not. The tags will be read into the text area, as shown in the screenshot below, and you can then process it according to your own objectives.

Should you require any assistance in getting your RFID tags to read into our platform, please do not hesitate to contact our support department for assistance.


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