RFID technology helps gym prevent towel loss

Gyms have always suffered from missing towels. In fact, the company's potential clients say an average-sized club needs to change 150 towels a month. These towels are often taken home by members inadvertently. Before the RFID system was installed, these gyms lacked a reliable way to prevent this type of loss. In addition, none of the EAS tags on the market can withstand the towel washing process and cannot track the towel after it leaves the room.

Therefore, nearly 12 gyms manage towels and prevent towel loss through passive UHF RFID solutions. It is reported that while preventing the loss of towels, the system can also manage the use time of towels, return time and confirm the time to wash.

The gym can choose the attachment method (sewing or sticking) according to its needs to attach the UHF RFID tag by itself, or ask a third-party laundry service provider to attach it. A UHF RFID Reader is installed at the entrance of the fitness center, and the data of the RFID tag on the towel is uploaded to the server for management. If someone leaves the fitness center with a towel, the UHF reader at the exit will inquire about the RFID electronic tag, and then send the tag information to the server through a wired connection. An alarm installed on the door will then sound, alerting staff or the front desk to check.

After the fitness personnel take out the towel, the RFID reader antenna will no longer read the tag information, and the system will bind the towel information with the personnel information. When finished using, customers can throw the towels in a box at the back of the closet. An antenna built into the box will detect the RFID tag and update the towel status in the software as returned. When the number of dirty towels reaches the set value, the software will send a message to the staff for washing and replacement. The closet can hold 200 to 300 clean towels, which should meet the needs of most gyms.

Due to the limitations of passive RFID technology, the wet clothes and water bottles in the gym bag in the project have brought some challenges to the reading of RFID electronic tags. Therefore, engineers conduct tests in liquid environments during the development and installation of RFID Antennas to ensure reliable reading of RFID tags at the required distances.

In addition to this, some gyms are planning to install UHF RFID closets to help manage towels on site. With this wardrobe, customers need an ID Card to open the wardrobe door. Then, the software can also update the information of the personnel who used the towels in real time.