UNO Q toolroom administration retains loaner instruments from disappearing

In notably well-organized skilled settings, you’ll discover toolrooms the place workers can take a look at the instruments they want for particular jobs. The system prevents instruments from strolling off or going lacking. Wouldn’t it’s good to have one thing like that in your personal workshop? Bob Clagett designed an Arduino UNO Q-based system that achieves that dream.

This technique can’t truly find a lacking drill or 10mm socket, however it may inform Clagett who checked out the device final and once they did so. He can then go confront that individual and demand the device’s return — or at the least compensation or retribution. 

It really works utilizing a database, hosted on the Arduino UNO Q’s single-board laptop (SBC) facet. A USB webcam snaps a photograph of the checker-outer once they take a look at a device. And an RFID reader linked to the UNO Q’s microcontroller facet scans RFID stickers caught to the instruments. So, scanning a device’s RFID tag marks the device as “checked out” within the database, assigns a timestamp, and captures a photograph. The Arduino then sends an e mail to Caglett with that data and the picture.

Scanning the identical RFID tag once more will test the device in. And after registering every scan occasion, the Arduino shows an icon on its LED matrix to point success.

That {hardware} all went right into a 3D-printed enclosure that Caglett can place in a handy location in his workshop. Now, there’ll by no means be any query about who has that lacking 10mm socket — assuming everyone seems to be fastidious about scanning.