Nordic ID Merlin has been rigorously tested and developed to the point where engineers are confident of its ability to perform under even the most demanding conditions. It’s also quick and easy to develop applications for the unit, no matter what programming language you choose. “There is no need to know how the hardware drivers actually work,” says Mäkeläinen. “Programmers control them via MHL, the Nordic ID abstraction layer, which supports C and C++, HTML, .NET and other languages.” The Windows CE 6.0 operating system is also highly customizable and does not require the use of a standard interface.
Nordic ID Merlin configurations include the Nordic ID Merlin UHF RFID, Nordic ID Merlin Cross Dipole UHF RFID, Nordic ID Merlin HF and the Nordic ID Merlin Barcode. But as our manufacturing facility is located only 30 kilometers away from the Nordic ID head office in Salo, Finland, we are able to turn out custom versions of the device in short order. In fact, our ability to respond quickly to customer demands is another advantage we have over competitors, most of whom outsource manufacturing to Asia. A custom version of Nordic ID Merlin has, case in point, just been delivered. This space-aged device, the Nordic ID Merlin RFID Blade, has a specially designed external (removable) antenna that makes it ideal for use in libraries and laundries, where it can read small passive tags from a variety of angles with ease. For example, the Blade is capable of reading a 16-millimeter diameter epoxy potted laundry tag as far as 17 centimeters away. Competing ISO15693 handsets are limited to a reading range of about 10 centimeters or less for most tags. For the Nordic ID Merlin, the average reading range is 20 centimeters, with a range of over 50 centimeters for some common tags. 12 • Nordic IDea