Aalborg University will help you find your wallet · 10. January 2012
We’ve probably all been there. The annoyance and worry when you’ve lost your wallet or had your bike stolen. But now researchers at Aalborg University have started working on making tiny radio transmitters that will allow you to figure out where your bike, wallet or anything else is.
Soon it will be possible to find your stolen bicycle or lost wallet without the use of larger GPS receivers. With financial support from the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation and in conjunction with Munin Spot Technology Aps, Osama Nafeth Saleem Alrabadi, Industrial Postdoc at Aalborg University, will develop a type of small radio transmitter that you can put on the things you care about most. This could be something like a valuable painting, an expensive tool, or a wallet if you’re in the habit of losing it. An antenna in miniature form will also be developed that can be mounted for example on a mobile phone cover so you can find what you have lost via your phone.
"The project aims to develop a compact and easily usable search module for use on mobile phones. This way, you can expand the possibilities for finding lost persons and objects equipped with RFID devices quickly and efficiently. An RFID device, or Radio Frequency IDentification, is a special type of technology, and you can think of it as an advanced version of a barcode that can emit radio signals,” explains Gert Frølund Pedersen, Professor at Aalborg University, who will act as a mentor on the project.
The idea is that the antenna must be so small that it can be built into a cell phone cover while also being so cheap to buy that the product can be widely distributed to consumers. When, for example, a purse is lost and the small radio transmitter is in the wallet, you can figure out on a computer where the wallet is approximately located, and when you're in the area, you can figure out which direction to search in with your mobile phone. The radio transmitter will emit a small beep, making it easier to locate the thing. A sort of “you’re getting warmer” at a high level.
"It’s vital that the radio transmitter is small and that the battery lasts a couple of years or more. The problem with GPS devices is the battery runs out quickly and they’re also big and bulky, so you can’t put them on a painting, for example." says Gert Frølund Pedersen.
But it's not just things that you can use this invention for. There are several aspects to it since the small radio transmitters can also be used in humans or animals. Nursing home staff can benefit from putting them in the pocket of mentally impaired residents who often wander off from the building. Or dog owners can put it in the collar of dogs that tend to run away.
Contact information
Osama Nafeth Saleem Alrabadi, Industrial Postdoc, Aalborg University tel. +45 99 40 86 03
Gert Frølund Pedersen, Professor, Aalborg University, tel. +45 99 40 86 60
Orla Møller Petersen, Munin Spot Technology, 8700 Horsens, tel.: +45 40 51 36 78
