I have been running out of business cards, so I have created custom wood cards with RFID chip integrated:
Parts
With a laser cutter, plywood, veneer plus NXP NTAG213 RFID stickers, it is easy to create cards which can be read by any modern smartphone:
From previous projects I had 1.5 mm plywood, bamboo and black walnut veneer available, plus some NXP NTAG213 stickers available.
Search for ‘carbonized bamboo veneer’, ‘walnut veneer’, ‘aviation plywood’ and ‘NTAG213 sticker’, and you should find everything on the usual platforms. Alternatively you can find wooden business cards with the RFID already included (just make sure it using an NTAG213, NTAG214 or NTAG215).
The NXP NTAG213 operates at 13.56 MHz and has 144 user read/write bytes. Alternatively, the NTAG214 (504 bytes) or NTAG 215 (888 bytes) can be used. 144 bytes should be enough for a web-link, e.g. to your your company or personal website. Other options are to use free sites like https://enbizcard.vishnuraghav.com/ (Github: https://github.com/vishnuraghavb/EnBizCard). For storing more data (e.g. all the vcard information), I recommend the NTAG214 or NTAG215 version.
Glue the veneer on the plywood, with the RFID sticker on the back, between the veneer and the plywood to have it hidden. It is on the back because the laser might go through the veneer and would damage the NTAG.
Then the card is engraved and cut with a laser cutter:
Another version is this one: the 1 mm plywood on the back, with a 3 mm birch plywood with the Pilatus mountain on the front, with the RFID sticker in between.
Programming
I used my smartphone to program the NTAG. The NFC Tools and NXP Tagwriter app worked for me, programming my vcard and a web link to the NTAG.
Summary
That’s it: with this I have a custom RFID business card which can be read by any modern smartphone. They are easy to produce, and can be customized as needed.
Happy RFIDing 🙂
Links
- NXP NTAG 2013: https://www.nxp.com/products/rfid-nfc/nfc-hf/ntag-for-tags-and-labels/ntag-213-215-216-nfc-forum-type-2-tag-compliant-ic-with-144-504-888-bytes-user-memory:NTAG213_215_216
- NXP Tagwriter app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nfc-tagwriter-by-nxp/id1246143221
- NFC Tools: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nfc-tools/id1252962749
- GitHub to create business card website: https://github.com/vishnuraghavb/EnBizCard
MCU on Eclipse 
Swiss Army knife ? ;-))
LikeLike
That’s certainly going into that direction ;-). I’m using it already to trigger different events, run by HomeAssistant which has nice RFID capabilities.
LikeLike
Pingback: DIY wooden RFID business cards « Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers!