A battle for kilometers with NFC technology in the background

A battle for miles

Three schools in Gdańsk are taking part in the "Kilometer Battle" campaign. The task is to cover a distance equivalent to circling the Earth. The distance must be covered on foot or by bike in just thirty days. How is this possible? The number of kilometers covered by students, teachers and parents who took up the challenge and registered their participation is summed up.

How is the distance covered calculated?

Each participant received a proximity card, and NFC readers were installed around schools. The distance traveled is added to the pool by tapping the NFC card successively against two readers.

NFC technology

NFC technology was used to carry out the action. The proximity cards received by participants operate at a frequency of 13.56 MHz. These are NFC cards equipped with the Mifare Ultralight chip. NFC RFID readers are integrated with the GPRS module. After tapping the card to the NFC reader, its unique identifier is read and this information is transferred to the server.

NFC24 expert comment

The use of magnetic NFC cards, RFID readers and software enabling real-time monitoring of results allowed the implementation of a system that not only technologically supported the "Battle of Kilometers" campaign, but also had a significant impact on its popularity and attractiveness.

You could try to use the possibilities offered by the NFC module installed in mobile phones. Preparing a mobile application and enabling those interested to register and participate in the game using a phone instead of a contactless card would reduce the cost of the project (fewer cards issued and, therefore, produced).

NFC technology for health

The best thing about the whole action is that accumulating points and being able to track the results in real time really motivates you to move more. It's nice to see children and parents involved in the campaign, taking a detour to school or going for an afternoon walk every day. Ultimately, movement is health, so all participants in the mile battle will win.