First off, I want to say this is my first post. I am excited to begin learning from the Arduino community! Due to this being my first post please notify me of any unwritten/written rules that I break due to me not remembering something from the forum rules topic. I apologize in advance if this is in the wrong section or if any rules are broken.
So to the question:
I have begun brainstorming ideas using multiple RFID read/writer shields from Adafruit. Due to the small area of the reader/writer part of the shield, I want to use 4 of them to increase the surface area that can be used for detection. This will allow a tag to be read over a larger area. I am using the Arduino Uno Rev3.
As I have been thinking about this idea, other questions have began to surface about the feasibility of this project.
- Four of the RFID shields will need to run at the same time. Power may be an issue if the only source is that of the Arduino. What is the best method for determining if the Arduino an handle this power output? If power is an issue, is there any places I could visit to learn how to add external power?
- If the situation arises, I would like to turn off the shields to conserve power. Is there a standard way of shutting of shields? In my mind I was thinking you could run the voltage output from the Arduino to a switch and then to each shield. If not needed, I would just shut the power off.
If there is an alternative way to increasing reading/writing area through use of a different product or added circuitry, please let me know! I have already used the Adafruit RFID Shield and have working code to store/read information from MiFareClassic cards.
Link to RFID shield from adafruit:
As stated before please give me feedback if I am not in right location, breaking written/unwritten rules, or any other things I need to pay attention to**
I am a full time student and may not be able to respond quickly. I will try my best to reply as soon as possible!
Thank you in advance for any input concerning this topic!!