Ah, SmartRider - my nemesis. I found this one on the ground and in the spirit of scientific enquiry, cracked that sucker open.
Actually, I plan to try and embed this into a nifty resin bangle - or ring? - and I didn’t really ‘crack’ it open, I used acetone to dissolve the plastic card (and most of the chip too - see last photo).
Click the More tag to see some more pics (click to enlarge).
This is the chip itself - a bit messed up from the solvent, but still working. The way a RFID card like this operates, basically, is passively - all the chip contains is a serial number. The ‘reader’ produces an electromagnetic field, and when the card is moved close, the electromagnetic field induces a current in the coil in the card - a miniscule amount, but just enough to power up the chip and send the serial number back through that field. I understand it’s been around for ages - since the 70s perhaps.
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I was thinking of doing this myself. if you uncoil the antenna and make it into a tighter coil I believe this will increase the pickup and put it into like a wrist band.
Comment by Phillip 05.14.10 @ 9:37 amLeave a comment
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Ha! This is awesome. I have a found Smartrider too! must give it to you, so you can make me a Smartrider ring.
Comment by Stephaine 10.07.08 @ 7:39 pmps. I think I scared your gf today.