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Glissades des Pays d’en Haut, a toboggan resort in Quebec City, Canada, is deploying passive EPC ultra-high frequency (UHF) RFID tags to track and determine the “Tornado” sleigh’s movement on a landslide and determine when it reaches its destination. Staff can view this information in real time to ensure that the sleds are not experiencing safety issues.This is based onRFIDThe Sled Line Control & Safety solution is provided by Toronto technology company GAO RFID.
This winter resort is a 35-minute drive from Montreal, where travelers can ride sleds at speeds of up to 80 kilometers per hour. To ensure that only one sled is on the slope at any time, operators need to carefully manage the departure time of each sled, says Mathieu Berthiaume, consultant on the Glissades RFID project. When one sled is slower than specified or gets stuck in the snow, and the crew does not notice this and starts the other sled, this could lead to a potential accident. The Tornado sled can hold eight people and weigh up to a ton when fully loaded, so any collision would lead to a major accident. Therefore, the operator wanted to find a system that would let the crew know the track of the sled.
In 2013, the operator signed an agreement with GAO RFID, and GAO RFID will provide an RFID system that can operate in low temperature, high wind and heavy snow environment. The operator installed six GAO 236015 UHF readers as well as GAO 236018 UHF readers on the slope. Company CEO Frank Gao said the reader can be used in extreme environments. In addition, the company attached Omni-ID Max tags to each sled. These EPC Gen2 tags can be read at distances up to 10 meters.
When the sled passes through the gate at the top of the slope, the reader reads the ID number on the sled tag and automatically closes the gate to prevent the next sled from passing through.When the sled reaches the bottom of the slope, the stationaryReaderThe tag information can also be read and the operator notified to start the next sled. The hydraulic door at the top still needs to be manually operated by staff, which also provides an extra security guarantee. If an employee tries to start the next sled before the previous sled has reached the finish line, the system will automatically block it. Glissades also installed cameras at the bottom of the slopes, allowing employees to see what’s going on at the finish line more intuitively.
Berthiaume said: “Before installing the RFID system, the operator also tried other technologies. Initially, they used motion sensors to track the movement of the sleds. Unfortunately, sometimes the system failed. Metal sensors are installed at the bottom of the slopes so that the sled will automatically alert when it reaches the end. However, snow conditions change frequently and the system often fails.”
So Berthiaume researched other technologies and found GAO RFID, which he found to work perfectly. “RFID technology is great,” he said. “RFID has a wide viewing range and can be adjusted.”
The ski resort piloted the system in November 2013. Berthiaume said the technology could not only help control landslide entrance gates, but also provide data management capabilities. “Now we have a clear picture of the number of sleds at each moment, the speed position and the arrival at the finish,” he said.
This data gives the company a better view of sled usage and helps the company improve operational efficiency.
Berthiaume said: “I don’t think the automated system can replace the operator. But it will be a good helper for them. This system can improve the safety performance of this ski resort.”
(The exclusive manuscript of rfid world network, please indicate the source author for reprinting!)
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