ITEADSTUDIO PN532 RFID Reader

Mmmm_Lemony

Folks,

New to arduino and working my way through a few projects.

I'm working on a particular project for college whcih requires NFC/RFID, and I've bought PN532 based RFID reader. Same as the one here: http://imall.iteadstudio.com/im130625002.html

There is a tutorial on its use with the pi here, but I'm using it with an arduino UNO.

I managed to get the correct library off iteadstudios, even with some example sketches. The issue I am having is how to wire it up to the arduino. I've gone through some of the sample code and it looks to be seeing it as a serial device, so gives no indication of the breakout pins to be used. I have searched high and low trying to find a schematic of its wiring to an arduino, but have not been able to find anything.

Adafruit have a similar layout board here but it uses a level shifter which I dont have. It's also looking for 3.3v whereas the iteadstudio is looking for 5v.

tl;dr Anyone have any experience with the RFID reader above? If not then in general, which RFID reader coupled with arduino gave the least amount of hassle getting up and running.

Thanks in advance!

Chet T16

The library in the link above uses SPI, the following pinouts should work:



Corresponding pins should be marked on the reader.

Mmmm_Lemony

Sorry, thought I had already thanked you for your post. Appreciate the help.

I ended up following a tutorial on youtube with a similar board which is wired as you suggested above (for SPI). I wired up as shown here and it is picking up the chip without any problems.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6Q1UjWmFeY

The issue I am having now is that it's not picking up the frequency of RFID's that I have (I don't have any 13.56Khz). I have invested in an ID-20 from sparkfun, which should have an increased physical range and rf spectrum which is needed for the project.

I need to be able to read a tiny rfid tag like the one here so need a different setup unfortunately.

longhalloween

I need to be able to read a tiny rfid tag like the one here so need a different setup unfortunately.

Your RFID reader will read the NFC standard 13.56Mhz frequency cards.

You'll need a different reader to read the low frequency 134.2kHz tags. These readers can usually be recognised with a coil of wire or a big ceramic block as an antennae.

There's a few at the bottom of the Farnell link. Kinda pricey.

Could you go with one of these: http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/125khz-rfid-module-uart-p-171.html instead and prove that your project works? It's a 125kHz, very common with personal ID tags.

This is Arduino compatible and there's plenty of sketches for it.

Here's a quick intro to RFID and an interesting way to measure the frequency
http://www.eevblog.com/2013/10/24/eevblog-539-rfid-tag-card-repair/

edit: I did a quick look for the ID20 you mentioned. Looks like it's just the chip. Did you get the breakout board too?

Mmmm_Lemony

longhalloween wrote: »

Your RFID reader will read the NFC standard 13.56Mhz frequency cards.

You'll need a different reader to read the low frequency 134.2kHz tags. These readers can usually be recognised with a coil of wire or a big ceramic block as an antennae.

There's a few at the bottom of the Farnell link. Kinda pricey.

Could you go with one of these: http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/125khz-rfid-module-uart-p-171.html instead and prove that your project works? It's a 125kHz, very common with personal ID tags.

This is Arduino compatible and there's plenty of sketches for it.

Here's a quick intro to RFID and an interesting way to measure the frequency
http://www.eevblog.com/2013/10/24/eevblog-539-rfid-tag-card-repair/

edit: I did a quick look for the ID20 you mentioned. Looks like it's just the chip. Did you get the breakout board too?

I did. I also picked up one of these which may be an option for the project to work if I struggle with reducing the hardware size and just using the ATmega chip on its own. I will hopefully be using a tutorial I found here. Seems pretty straighforward, but it's early days yet.

longhalloween

Mmmm_Lemony wrote: »

I did. I also picked up one of these which may be an option for the project to work if I struggle with reducing the hardware size and just using the ATmega chip on its own. I will hopefully be using a tutorial I found here. Seems pretty straighforward, but it's early days yet.

Here's an interesting one about uploading sketches to the ATMEGA without using the arduino board. Saves you removing and replacing the chip every time you want to update your code.
http://www.instructables.com/id/BaW-Bot-Part-1-Build-an-Arduino-on-a-Board/

Incidentally, I'm looking for a 13.56Mhz NCF reader and I'll buy your ITEAD module if you have no use for it.

tjamesmc

I have purchased the iTeadStudio PN532 RFID reader as well, and have gotten it to work with the Arduino thanks to this tutorial. However, I wanted to ask if anyone has gotten it to read NFC tags at the range advertised (3cm). I can only seem to get it to read tags about about 0.5cm to 1cm max. I realize this may be the tags that I have, I ordered a few different sizes/styles (amzn.com/B00DRDZ07A, amzn.com/B00AY3RVYQ), but same deal.

Can anyone recommend tags that would get better read range? Or do I simply need a stronger/bigger reader?

Thanks!