chrispeng
For several years, Nextbike, a German bicycle rental system provider, has consistently used NFC RFID tags to identify bicycles in stations and allow authorized users to access these bicycles. By using RFID tags in bicycles, the company can not only ensure that the authorized person has access to them, but it can also confirm whether they are returned on time. Users can also use smart cards with built-in NFC tags to access bicycles.
Nextbike was founded in 2005. At that time, there were 20 rental bicycles. The total number of bicycles currently exceeds 30,000. In the past, before borrowing a car, customers had to call the hotline to receive a pickup code.
(A Smart-TEC RFID tag is embedded in the front fork of each bicycle)
Later, Nextbike installed an automatic payment terminal, allowing users to rent bicycles through an application on an NFC mobile phone or a high-frequency 13.56MHz RFID smart card. Users can also log in to the Nextbike website using their smart phone and the locked ID number. When the user has permission, the system will automatically unlock.
In 2011, the company contacted Smart-TEC to seek an RFID tag that could provide a unique identifier for bicycles. Klaus Dargahi said that Smart-TEC focuses on custom labels. In this scenario, the difficulty lies in how to create a metal docking adapter that can be placed in the groove of each car’s front wheel fork, so as to prevent the label from being damaged or scratched.
(Sebastian Schlebusch of Nextbike is standing next to the company’s bicycle rental automatic payment terminal)
Smart-TEC encapsulates an NFC RFID inlay in epoxy resin for protection. The company also needs to fine-tune the label position so that the label can normally transmit data from the environment surrounded by the metal frame. The label is attached by glue.
When returning the bicycle, the user needs to lock it in the empty SmartDock. Schlebusch said: “The SmartDock includes an electromechanical lock. After the SmartDock’s RFID reader reads the bicycle tag ID number, such as the cloud-based Nextbike office software confirms that the ID number is authorized, it will trigger to lock the bicycle.”
Nextbike office software can also help manage idle bicycles and payments. The system has 1.5 million authorized users.
(Each SmartDock has a built-in RFID reader in the electromechanical lock)
In 2011, Nextbike installed 66 bike rental stations in Nürnberg. Subsequently, the system was installed in 10 cities in the Ruhr region of Germany, marking a total of 3,000 bicycles and 300 rental stations with SmartDocks.
In 2014, the company began to provide the SmartBike system and installed RFID readers on bicycles. Users with “e-Ticket” and NFC phones running the Nextbike app can read bicycle readers. After the bike reader software recognizes the tag ID, if the ID has permission, the system will automatically unlock it.
(SmartBike has a built-in RFID reader, users can use NFC mobile phones to unlock and rent)
Schlebusch said that at present, the company has put into use a total of 30,000 RFID-tagged Nextbike bicycles in 18 countries around the world.
