This paper outlined the information of Radio frequency identification technology in tracking the tool in the construction jobsite. Tool accessibility is very important in the productivity of construction team. This research has developed to improve the efficiency of tracking tool and to study the system of storing operational and maintenance data by using radio frequency identification technology. This paper demonstrated that active radio frequency identification technology can be used to track the small tool and storing the operation and maintenance data on the tools in the construction site despite metal inference and low temperature. The methodology includes the involvement of two electrical construction firms; the technique is experimented on many construction job sites. Economics, lack of up gradation, lack of vision and range data from the tally were recognised as the most significant factors limiting radio frequency identification commercialization for tool tracking.

1. The application of active Radio frequency identification technology for tool
tracking on construction Job sites.
Abstract:
This paper outlined the information of Radio frequency identification technology in tracking
the tool in the construction jobsite. Tool accessibility is very important in the productivity of
construction team. This research has developed to improve the efficiency of tracking tool
and to study the system of storing operational and maintenance data by using radio
frequency identification technology. This paper demonstrated that active radio frequency
identification technology can be used to track the small tool and storing the operation and
maintenance data on the tools in the construction site despite metal inference and low
temperature. The methodology includes the involvement of two electrical construction
firms; the technique is experimented on many construction job sites. Economics, lack of up
gradation, lack of vision and range data from the tally were recognised as the most
significant factors limiting radio frequency identification commercialization for tool
tracking.
Keywords:
Radio frequency identification technology, tool tracking, construction jobsites.
1.0. Introduction:
RDIF technology is a wireless sensor technology which works on the principle of detection of
EM waves. The RDIF system consists of an antenna, a transceiver and a transponder. The
antenna performs the task of emission of radio signals and it organizes the communication
channel between the tag and the transceiver. While transceiver functions to collect the
data(Domdouzis et al., 2007). RDIF is the most expected technology which will transform
the operations in the engineering and the construction industries. It is also having the
limitation like other technology, but significant qualities are accomplished.
In spite of special characteristics of any project has the important effect on the labour
productivity is availability of hand tools. So it is important to improve the efficiency of
availability of tools in the jobsites. According to the industry strategy on the tool availability
in the jobsite is to overstock the hand tools in the jobsites(Kazaz and Acıkara, 2015). It is
better carry the excess tool, but it requires the additional. So for the proper utilization of
project’s capital, we need to use the RDIF technology.
This paper describes the review approach of the application of active radio frequency
technology for tool tracking in the construction jobsites.

2. 2.0. Importance of tracking tools in the construction job sites.
The construction site includes the warehouse unit, storage unit, fabrication unit, installation
unit, storage unit. The receiving, locating, finding, and dispensing the required right tool to
the right place at the right time is necessary in the job site. The present practise, in all the
construction jobsites still following the manual material tracking system, 4 – 6% of the total
project cost is spent on this manual tool tracking system. It may increases in the large
projects. So the material management is very essential in the construction jobsite in order
to achieve the productivity of the labours(Grau et al., 2009). Hence there is need to adopt
the upgraded technology to track the tools in the construction job sites, the RFID application
is one of convenient technology of that kind.
3.0. Description of technology:
In the year 1906, Ernst F.W.Alexanderson demonstrated how the radio waves are generated
continuously and transmission of radio signals(Landt, 2005). The application of technology
to track the tools and materials is not a novel idea. Barcodes has been used to track the
materials in the construction and other industries as well. The barcodes used in the
construction industry faced the problem like short read range and durability, which require
a clear line of sight and undetectable if it is erased or scratched and dirty.
The RFID technology was first described by stockman(Stockman, 1948). He also described
the “reflected power communication”, the RFID experimented was continued until 1990.
After that it was first implanted for the highways in the Texas(Technologies and (AIM),
2002). From that time RDIF application is used for multiple industries. Today RDIF
technology is categorised into the active and passive system.
3.1. Passive RFID tags:
Passive system constitutes the low cost components of the RFID system. This is because
passive system will operate without onboard battery which is required to transmit the data
from the reader. This system has small storage capacity which is reducing the cost of chips
and board. And these are smaller than the active system counterparts (Ye et al., 2009).
Jaselskis & El Misalami developed the passive RFID system for tracking the pipe supports;
they found that passive tags are more durable than the use of barcodes. But they observed
some limitations that are reader should always near to the system and defects with the
metal inference of radio waves(Jaselskis, 2003).

3. 3.2. Active RFID tags:
The considerable difference between the active and passive tags is that the transformation
of the information take place without adding the electromagnetic field in the active RFID
system and it consist of battery(Hameed et al., 2015).
The read ability of the active system is significantly higher than the passive tags by adding
the onboard battery in it. By using the active tags there will a possibility to achieve the read
range of 15 – 25m and they have the ability to read through metals also. This ability makes
some interest for the tool tracking technology in the construction industry. Additional
power by the onboard battery is used to store the data in the system and this tag has the
memory capacity of 32 to 128 kilobytes in the market(Goodrum et al., 2006).
4.0. Prototype description:
The prototype tool tracking tag was made to track tools in the moving environment and to
record the tools which are in the same location. This system is evolved to assist the sub-
contractors whose crews work on multiple jobsites. Other industries use the RFID for other
applications. But here, the research is concentrated on the mobile RFID system. The job
duration of any contractor’s crew is limited. So the contractors are very much concern about
the time and the financial stuffs. In order to utilize the worker’s job duration, the availability
of tools plays the significant role. Therefore, the research developed the RFID technology for
tracking the tools(Goodrum et al., 2006).
The active RFID system which is of 32GB memory capacity is used for the prototype tool
tracking. The characteristics like long read range, size and ability to read through the metals
are made to select this system for tool tracking. The memory of the active tags is used to
store the maintenance and operation data for tools. Before this system was used concrete
maturity testing and now it is modified for tool tracking by evicting the outer casing and LED
power indicator and also some modification in the battery spares. But no changes were
made in the antenna, chips and processors. The active RFID system is mechanised by 3.6
voltage battery which is of 2.1 AH capacity and system operates at 915MHz with a battery
span of 5 years at 600 reads per day.
The reader for the active RFID system is enrolled on the personal data assistant [PDA] of the
personal computer memory card international association [PCMCIA] card. The windows CE
software is used to create spreadsheets for PDA(Wang, 2008). Initially the tag is stripped
down for further modification and all the components are inserted within the tool. After
that casing is installed as the protection is concerned.

4. 4.1. Experimental project:
Two electrical construction firms are engaged in the field trials of the prototype tool
tracking system. Before starting the field trials researchers made the firms to recognise the
common hand tools like hammer, band saw and reciprocating saw. The RFID tags are
installed inside the hand tools. The installed tools are distributed to different jobsites in
order to check that will work in varying conditions or not and also the durability. These tags
are exposing the hot and cold climate, vibrations and metal inference. Weekly basis test is
carried out to check any performance reduction. During the field test the tagged tools are
experimented to be read at varied distance and these distances are noted. Three trials are
made the read the recorded positions. If the three trials are successful in reading the
recorded position then that readings are considered as ‘‘Observed sporadic observation
point.’’ In case no trials are successful then that observation consider as ‘‘Observed no
detection point(Goodrum et al., 2006).’’
The performance of the tag is decides not only based on the read range but also by the
ability to store the data. These abilities are measured by loading a spreadsheet on each
tool’s tag before surrendering into the contractors. The virtue of the data and capacity to
update is measured on the each trial.
The site chosen for the experimental project was located in the Central Kentucky, the
project of construction of generator and chiller station. The tools were not closed to the
building and also in the typical environment condition [below 12ºc]. Other projects were like
plant maintenance project, interior renovation project and plant expansion
project(Goodrum et al., 2006).
5.0. Experimental project results:
From the experiment, we can conclude that active RFID systems have the wide read range
capacity and durability needed for the tool tracking. In the 3 months trial period,
observation noticed that read range of the active RFID tags were between 3m to 9m. As per
the metal inference concerned, read range of the active RFID reduced in the cold
temperature and no physical damaged is observed(Goodrum et al., 2006). The result
description is showed in the below table 1.

5. Jobsite Temperature[ºc] Tool type Read rang[m]
Chiller station 10 to -12 Band saw 3.0
Facility restoration 21 to -1 Band saw 7.5
Plant expansion 24 to 13 Reciprocating tool 9.0
Plant maintenance 24 to 18 Hammer drill 4.5
Table.1 experimental project results
5.1. Chiller station
During the trial, we got varied results in terms of read range in the field. In this period the
tools were exposed to the various environment conditions and tools were not surrounded
by any concrete slab and masonry walls. In order to improve the read range mechanical
equipments are installed in the tool’s proximity.
5.2. Facility restoration
The project which is considered is interior renovation of existing commercial facility. The
electrical contractor was involved in the setting up the new electrical line, cable and conduit
data. The facilities are not affected by the temperature since the space is covered by
exterior walls. So that temperature inside is maintained between -1ºc to 21ºc. The
surrounding walls are composed by gypsum and the floor by concrete slab. The tagged band
saw was used to store the data in the site and the read range is 7.5m. In trials, this was
observed no loss in the data.
5.3. Plant expansion
The read ability of the reciprocating saw is finest of all the tools in the site. Even when it is
near to the gang box it has achieved 9m. The read range is extended due to the following
reasons. The tools are provided the most power when these are exposed to the
temperature between 18ºc to 24ºc and this is the ideal condition(Lahokallio et al., 2015).
This tools which consist the metal by itself, which reduces the read ability range by tool
itself.

6. 5.4. Plant maintenance
The contractor for this project has given the responsibility to maintaining this site. The tools
are surrounded by the steel supports, manufacturing machineries and concrete slab. The
tools were stored in the gang box which is made by steel. The tool called hammer drill in the
site which is used to store the indoor facility and it is avoided to expose the temperature
below 18ºc(Trebar et al., 2015). The consistent read range of hammer tool is less than the
expected range at 4.5m and this is due to the metal inference.
6.0. Discussion on the project results:
The researchers were retested tools in the laboratory to determine the read ability. The
tagged tools were retested without the metal interference between the tag and the reader
and got the consistent result of 15 – 25m.
From the observation we got different read range across different job sites. The RFID tags
are stored inside the tools and the tools were stored in the metal gang box, there are many
factors affecting the read range of the system. First is read ranges are varied when the
component was directly from the manufacturer, it should be tested before supplying into
the contractors. Second was presence of metal components decreases the read range of the
tags. Finally the varying the temperature also had a impact on the read range of the
system(Goodrum et al., 2006).
The tags used in the trial project were mechanised by the lithium/thionyl chloride [Li/SOCl2]
batteries. Even they were operating well in the varying temperature, sometimes voltage
drop occurs during the low temperature. This results to the decreased in the read range of
the system(Boyle and Goebel, 1995).
With the above limitations there are many positive applications are recognised by the use of
active RFID system. Firstly, it can track the many tagged tools at one time. The active RFID
system’s performance was not reduced when it was used typically in the jobsites and tagged
tools can read through the composed walls [masonry units, drywalls, steel studs].
Before the undergoing with the experimental project there was perturbing that
electromagnetic wave which was produced by the tagged tools may interfere the
performance of system, but after the periodical observation researchers concluded that
there was no change in the read ability of the system.

7. 7.0. Limitations:
The researchers identified the some limitations with the implementations of the active RFID
system for tracking the tools. Those limitations are classified into 3 categories: [1]
economics, [2] lack of technical standards, [3] inadequate range data.
7.1. Economics
The active RFID system costs are the top constraint affecting the wide scale use in the
construction industry. According to the research it costs around 75 dollars in the year 2003,
it more expansive than the normal embedded tools. In the active RFID active system the
tools are additionally modified that are not necessary for the tool tracking. This system was
facilitated with the temperature storage data and it can be also used for the concrete
maturity testing. The system is functioning to track the tools by using the mobile reader
range and it was one time read able data(2005a)
7.2. Standardisation
The standardisation of the industries has been expanded by the International Standard for
Organization (ISO) for all the industrial technology. In the ISO 15693, the standards have
been proven for the commercially effective RFID segments. But due to the inadequacy of
the technical standard in the system like affordable with the temperature and metal
interference issues, it was not possible to meet the construction industry standards(2005b).
7.3. Inadequate range data
The active RFID systems do not able to provide the range data from reader to the data.
During the experimental trials, the reader was able to find the tagged tools within the range
of that without giving the information of the accurate distance. This problem was due to the
metal interference and the temperature(Montaser and Moselhi, 2014).
8.0. Critical analysis:
According to the researchers the cost of the RFID system is too high to implement in the
construction industry, but when any gadgets are produced in the large quantity the cost will
decline. And now the RFID tag cost is 10 dollars. So it is easy to implement in the
construction industry.
There are some advantages from ISO 15693, which are formation of open software for the
active RFID system to allow anyone to interfaces with the tags. The passive RFID readers
have ability to interface with the manufactures tag. If it is possible to achieve the same
standards in the active system, then it is easy to make the RFID arena(Motamedi et al.,
2016).

8. By using the static readers throughout the jobsites in order to make the virtual gates, helps
the track the movement of the tagged tools. It is also possible to integrate the readers into
the gang box; it helps the usage of inventory tagged tools within the gang box.
Finally by the evolution of radio frequency, the RFID technology has become the tool to the
material management like tracking the construction materials, tools, equipments, and
labourers in the construction jobsites. In the past several years, the RFID application played
the vital role in the transportation, manufacturing industries, security and access control.
The RFID system is very durability and having extensive storage capacity compared with the
bar codes. It is having very good working capability in the raucous environment in the
construction jobsites. So it is necessarily to adopt this technology in all the construction
jobsites.
The author feels that further research is required in order to implement the active RFID tags
in the construction field.
9.0. Further research
The further research is needed to implement the RFID technology in the construction field.
As per the limitations are considered the research is required mainly in the case of
temperature interruption in the read range of the system and also in the metal inference of
the gang box of the system. The read ability issue of the tag is also the main drawback of the
system; the further research is essential to overcome by this problem. The other limitation
like standardisation can be easily eradicated.
10.0. Conclusion
The tool tracking is essential requirement in order to improve the efficiency of productivity
of the labour in the construction field. The RFID technology has outstanding prospective to
enhance the inventory tool in the construction jobsite. During the 3 months trial, the active
RFID system showed the high durability. The cold temperature reduces the read range of
the system. By the field trial results, the observation concludes that the cost constraint, lack
of standardisation and the lack of the range data are limiting factor of the system to
implement in the construction field.
From the further research there is possibility to find the solution for the limitation observed
in the field trials.

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