Brainboxes, specialists in Bluetooth and serial technologies, today announced it is cooperating with AgiInfoLink, to bring Bluetooth wireless technology to livestock tracking applications. The animals are tagged with an RFID ID tag soon after birth and from then on are tracked across a farm-to-market data network supplied by AgInfoLink. The wireless Bluetooth communication, made possible by Brainboxes’ serial Bluetooth converter modules, provides the important link between the reader and a PC or PDA which processes the information. The key application for this technology is for tracking the attributes associated with livestock and other agricultural products – from vaccinations, treatments and weights to movement and location history.

The rugged handheld reader is used to read an RFID tag, the Bluetooth communication then sends the data wirelessly back to the host. Following the identification, the PDA will inform the farmer of the ID and status of the animal or other item and advise the farmer of any action required.

The wands are called Tag Trackers and the one device incorporates RF-ID technology as well as Bluetooth technology from Brainboxes. To reduce the reliance on the very simple host equipment, Brainboxes supplied its serial (RS232) Bluetooth converter modules. These modules allow dumb devices to be enabled for wireless communication without the need for configuration or additional software. The module is a Class 1 Bluetooth device, which means it can operate wirelessly at a range of up to 100 metres (in an open field). Brainboxes Bluetooth converter is RS232-compatible, which means it will connect to a wide variety of legacy devices which may not have been designed to work wirelessly but which perhaps could benefit from remote operation.

Lee Curkendall, Vice President Business Development, AgInfoLink commented, “In Bluetooth-enabling our readers, it was important that the hardware and software were very easy to implement and configure. Brainboxes provided us with an ideal customised Bluetooth solution to a rather unusual problem.”

Eamonn Walsh, managing director of Brainboxes, added, “Brainboxes has vast experience in customising serial and Bluetooth devices to our customers requirements.” Walsh continued, “Our RS232 converters and embedded modules are seeing rapid take up in such industrial and retail applications since they require no configuration and can easily be applied to cable-inconvenient, cable-averse or cable-impossible applications. The convenience and cost-effectiveness of Bluetooth wireless technology means it is seeing a much wider take up in these applications”.