Physical positions detection using RFID for on/off sensors applications in harsh environments

This paper presents the design of a system allowing us to monitor physical position of equipment´s in electrical distribution switchboards. We obtained good performances by combining standard RFID (radio frequency identification) products and simple mechanical devices. By adopting a pragmatic approach and taking account of propagation in harsh environment, we finally realized a simple and quite low cost on/off RFID sensor for circuit breakers. Experimental results are confirmed and optimized using theoretical predictions. In addition, this principle could be used to monitor equipment´s with multiple positions (2 and more) involved