Pet RFID chips

Dear all,

Just on the off chance that someone might know the answer.
Is it possible to read the rfid chips, used here in the UK to tag our dogs and cats, with the rfid readers used with the Arduino? Like the parallax rfid reader.

I realise that the ones elsewhere in the world might be a bit trickier. Like in the USA. Ive read they have various manufacturers doing there own thing. But I believe the UK ones are standard across the board. My vet has only one reader he uses for all chips.

I thought it might be interesting as my dog has one that is not only for identification but also transmits his temperature. Hes happier with this than the traditional thermometer inserted where the sun dont shine.

Also has some interesting possibilities like the cat flap you can buy now that only lets in cats with the correct chip id.

Gordon

The tag should be 125khz, which is pretty easy to read. It's serial conneciton which is easy to use on Arduino. If the tag is not encrypted, you might only need to worry about the standard it is using regardless of the manufactor.

However, equip thermosensor on the tag requires Active RFID, or an external circuit.

Great idea for a cat entry RFID system... ;D

The only implantable chips I have seen are the 125KHz ones. They are passive chips and carry an 8 digit code. I forget the name but it begins with an M (and it's not myfair thats a 13MHz card) the chip it is based on is the EM4223. While these are the most popular there are many other types. This is not the type I have seen being used with the Arduino.

Most readers output the data in the form of Wiegand data, that's two lines. One pulses with a logic one when there is a zero in the code and the other pulses when there is a one in the code. Actual asynchronous or RS232 type serial is not common but not unknown either.

http://www.rfip.eu/aboutrfid.php
Has some background although it says 132KHz is the standard low frequency which is not correct. This is just for one manufacturer who happen to be the first with this technology about 25 years ago. The modern standard is 125KHz

Thanks, thats given me a bit more info.

Gordon

I havnt done anything with this yet but thought anybody interested might like to see what someone else has done with the pet tags and other uses than id.

http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.asp?dept_id=44&pf_id=8916&_ctId=EkJRjN6AdPY42tLpAoNBpVzitn2L9QQCp7eeXn8BOog%3D

Pretty impressive but should not be anything that an Arduino hacker could put together.

Gordon