[VB.Net] Best & easy way to detect user entry and exit, for attendance

[akhileshbc]

Hi all...

I'm trying to create a new version of my management system software(for a small computer institute). Currently I'm developing some new ideas that could be implemented in this version.

So, I came up with an idea of automated user entry & exit of attendance. In simple words, a student/employer in that institute can use his id card to simply enter his presence in the institution.

After a small research, I found that RFID tags and barcode ids are those 2 solutions available for me.

But which one is more affordable(in cost) & more easy for implementation ?
Or, any other solutions other than this ?

Thanks...

[baja_yu]

Barcode is I think definitely most affordable. Cards are easy to print and you need one reader. One other solution is contactless smart cards. I'm not sure about the price of equipment but it's the most elegant as users just need to pass close by to the reader. Our university has them for parking barriers control.
There are also swipe cards that have a magnetic strip on the back like credit cards have.

[Blakk_Majik]

RFID is definitely going to be the more costly to implement, simply because it's newer. As of right now, there is not set "standard" for RFID, so the costs can vary wildly dependent upon vendor and the type of implementation.

Barcodes have been around since the day before forever, and (compared to RFID) is a relatively cheap system to implement. The only limitation is that someone has to physically scan-in (using your example), whereas an RFID tag (either in the person, on their clothing/badge) can scan-in as long as they are close enough to the reciever unit to send a decent signal.

According to Wikipedia (the source we all love to hate):
"It costs 0.5¢ (U.S.) to implement a barcode, while passive RFID still costs about 7¢ to 30¢ per tag."

I would assume that the upper range (30 cents per tag) refers to more complex implementations (i.e. keeping track of cattle on a farm).

[akhileshbc]

Thanks guys...

I think, I should continue with barcodes.

repped both of u

[akhileshbc]

Any suggestions for the barcode format that I should use and a good affordable barcode reader ?

[baja_yu]

Be sure to check out smartcards further. It's a more robust and secure solution, as noone can visibly see and copy the barcode. Plus I don't think the equipment will be more expensive than barcode. Readers start from around $40 upwards and cards (which are programmable) are $3-5$). After a few Google Shopping searches equipment by a company called HID kept popping up a lot. http://www.hidglobal.com/iam/physicalAccess.php

[akhileshbc]

Thanks baja.. I'll check that.

I found these two representatives in India. I'll mail them regarding this.

 anithas AT hidglobal DOT com
 deepap AT hidglobal DOT com

And if you found anything even more cheaper than that, don't forget to post it here

[ntg]

It's true that barcode is definitely the cheaper and easier to implement. It's also the easier to trick. Barcodes can be easily forged or copied and thus cannot be seriously trusted. If that's not an issue for you now by all means go ahead with barcode (or magnetic stripe for that matter). Consider, though, that you may want to introduce additional capabilities in the future.

• Introduce physical access restrictions to certain areas and/or certain people and/or according to a schedule. In this scenario you would need RFID or smart cards to be sure that everyone keeps it honest.
• Use the card to host additional data. This may not seem a concern (after all, a scanning station can also pull data of a person once it scans a barcode). But it can be used to bring down the cost of a scanning station if no network access is needed.
• Use the card for other goodies, like turning it to an institute wallet. With it you could allow people to get one free soda daily from a vending machine, load it with cash to use in the institute or whatever you come up with.

[akhileshbc]

Thanks ntg...

I'm not concerned with heavy security and more features, at the moment. Because, most of the institutes here are not bothering about these things and are leaning towards cheap technologies.

How much will it cost for the magnetic stripe cards (for the reader and the cards) ?

[ntg]

Unit price depends heavily upon the volumes, obviously. For more than 10.000 HICO magstripes, cost comes down to a few cents per card. The price of the reader/encoder depends heavily also upon the interface (USB, keyboard extension, serial), capabilities (swipe-through, lock/eject) and packaging (stand-alone, combo). For a single reader you may spend as much as $250 or as low as $10 if you get it from eBay.

[akhileshbc]

Thanks...

And how's it being programmed ?
I mean, I want to store a unique id number, that's all. If it possible to include a photo or name of the card holder(embossed/printed on the card), it will be great.

[ntg]

What typically happens with magstripes (and barcodes as well) is you have two classes of machines: a card printing machine and card reading machines. You need to supply a couple of card printing machines along with software that will create appropriate cards and as many card readers as needed that will read the card information.

Card printing machines need to be connected to a computer that will drive them. You'll need to write a small application that will encode the card magnetic stripe contents and also print info/pictures on the front and/or back of the card. Card printers come with a comprehensive API and documentation for it. I've used a lot of different brands in the past - modern card printers are quite easy to program but by far the easiest I've come across was Evolis.

Before even creating your first card you need to make a basic decision: will you have empty blank cards upon which you'll print everything yourself or will you have pre-printed cards (for example, with the institute logo and info printed on the front along with basic card usage instructions on the back) and only print the cardholder info (this is called personalizing the card)? If you opt for blank cards, you can get them almost anywhere quickly. If you opt for pre-printed cards, you'll need to come up with a card layout and find a card printing service that will prepare them for you. You shouldn't have a problem finding one.

People that select pre-printed cards which are personalized on the spot do it because the pre-printed cards are typically of higher quality. As you may expect, there are different ranges of printing machines. The affordable ones are quite good but to get the quality of bank-grade cards, you need to get an expensive machine. The way around it is to have pre-printed cards with all the shiny stuff and then personalize the rest of the information yourself.

To take the magnetic stripe contents into account, you can do one of the following:

• Use blank cards along with a card printer that will print info/picture on the card and encode the magnetic stripe. You'll provide an application that selects the information to encode and also print on the card.
• Use pre-printed cards along with a card printer that will print the missing info/picture on the card and encode the magnetic stripe. You'll provide an application that selects the information to encode and also print on the card.
• Use pre-printed, pre-encoded cards along with a card printer that will print the missing info/picture on the card. You'll need to provide a file with info to be pre-encoded on the card to the card printing company. You'll also need to provide an application that reads the card and then prints the info/picture on the card.

If you want to be as flexible as possible and can live with a pretty-good quality, you should go for option (1) but bear in mind that the card printing/embossing process would be close to a minute and that you'd be using a lot of ink.

[akhileshbc]

Thanks ntg... Thanks for explaining in detail..

I think, barcodes are more suited for me. Because it is easy to print, read and is much affordable too. There won't be much use of this card system except for the attendance part, in the institute.

So, the card holder can just show it to the reader during the entry and the system will check the db for that particular id and if it has not been marked as "checked in" then it will be set as "checked in" otherwise set as "checked out" (ie. for the exit period)

Am I in right track ?
And, what is the standard for barcode that I could use ? I heard about different standards, but don't know much about it. The only info printed is the user_id.

[ntg]

EAN 13 is the most widespread barcoding standard.

Your reasoning sounds about right. You might also start thinking about accidental scans and errors. What will you do if someone checks in twice? Or checks out twice? Or checks out without having checked in?

[akhileshbc]

Thanks ntg...

You might also start thinking about accidental scans and errors. What will you do if someone checks in twice? Or checks out twice? Or checks out without having checked in?

I'll keep that in my mind
Also, there'll be a receptionist/computer operator for the system that will do the scanning jobs. That might add an extra security. I mean he/she can validate/cancel the scan.