BAHIR DAR UNIVERSITY

Bahir Dar institute of Technology

Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Electronics and Communication Engineering Stream

Semester project Proposal on

Automatic Attendance and Classroom Environment Monitoring using RFID

GROUP MEMBERS ID NUMBER

Mekdes Adinew 1103016

Dagmawit Teshome 1102777

Selamawit Daniel 1103113

Eleni Tadele 1102981

Advisor: Ms Edom T.
 DECLARATION

We are students of Bahir Dar University in Bahir Dar Institute of Technology (Bit), faculty of
Electrical and Computer Engineering. The information found in this proposal project is our
original work and all source of materials that will be used for the project work will be fully
acknowledged.

Name:

Mekdes Adinew Abate signature:----------------- Date:_____/____/____

Dagmawit Teshome signature:----------------- Date:____/_____/____

Selamawit Daniel signature:----------------- Date: :____/____/____

Eleni Tadele signature:----------------- Date: :____/____/____

This project proposal has been submitted for examination with our approval as a university advisor.

Project advisor signature Date

Ms Edom T. ___________ _____/_____/_____

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

In the name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful, we would like to express our gratitude
to all person which contributed their great experience and learning opportunities in working on our
Project proposal. We would like to express our sincere gratitude our advisor Ms Edom T. for aiding
us through this whole project proposal Lastly, we also would like to thank our friends for assisting
us technically or mentally when we were working on this project proposal.

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 ABSTRACT
Most educational institutions like our university Bit, are concerned about student attendance. The
existing typical attendance system require students to manually sign the attendance sheet every
time they attend a class. Due to the challenge of the manual method of taking attendance at colleges
or universities an automated attendance system needs to be adopted. Also the classes are conducted
inside a confined space and are difficult to attend a lecture if the environment is too hot or too cold,
to achieve effective learning, the right physical environment inside the classroom should be
maintained.

This project implements Radio Frequency Identification RFID student attendance monitoring
system, which provides the functionalities of registering students and recording attendance. Having
a system that can automatically capture student’s attendance by flashing their student card at the
RFID reader, which is the device capable of reading and recalling information stored inside the
RFID tags and it can really save all the troubles. The purpose of this project is to develop a wireless
system to detect and maintain the attendance of students using Arduino board, together with this
the relative humidity and temperature sensor DHT11 will be used in this project to monitor the
temperature and humidity and inform if the values are out of range.

In this paper we proposed an idea on how we can track the attendance of students in an automatic
manner by using this technology in an education institution environment we will be able to solve
the daily problems in our universities for tracking students attendance and monitoring classroom
environment.

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Table of Contents
DECLARATION ........................................................................................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGMENT.............................................................................................................................. ii
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................. iii
LIST OF TABLE.......................................................................................................................................... v
LIST OF ACCRONOMY ........................................................................................................................... vi
CHAPTER ONE...........................................................................................................................................1
1. BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT ...................................................................................................1
1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................1
1.2 Literature Review...............................................................................................................................3
1.3 Problem of statement .............................................................................................................................5
1.4 Objective .................................................................................................................................................5
1.4.1 General Objective ........................................................................................................................5
1.4.2 Specific objectives ........................................................................................................................5
CHAPTER TWO .........................................................................................................................................6
2. SYSTEM METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................................6
2.1 System description .............................................................................................................................6
2.2 Methodology .......................................................................................................................................6
CHAPTER THREE .....................................................................................................................................7
3. SCOPE AND SIGNIFICANT OF THE PROJECT ..............................................................................7
3.1. Scope of project .................................................................................................................................7
3.2. Significance of project .......................................................................................................................7
CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................................................................................8
4. COST ANALYSIS AND TIME LINE OF THE PROJECT ................................................................8
4.1 Cost and Materials Required ............................................................................................................8
REFERENCE .............................................................................................................................................10

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LIST OF TABLE

Table 4.1 Cost and Materials Required ..........................................................................................................8

Table 4.2 Time frame for the project .............................................................................................................9

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LIST OF ACCRONOMY
DHT11 Digital Humidity and Temperature

GSM Global system for Mobile communication

LCD Liquid crystal Display

RFID Radio Frequency Identification

RFID-RC522 Radio Frequency Identification-

SAMS Space Acceleration Measurement System

SD Secure Digital

SIS Students Information System

SMS Short Message Service

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 CHAPTER ONE

1. BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT

1.1 Introduction
It is a critical subject to track and manage student’s attendance in college, and university
environment. Since it can be helped to urge students to attend on time, amend the efficiency
of learning, increase learning grade, and finally boosting and improving the education level.
Calling student’s name or taking student’s signature are two traditional methods for tracking
the attendance of the students in the classroom and they are more time-consuming. Presently,
attendance of students is taken by the lecturer on paper based attendance registers. There are
various disadvantages to this approach such as data is not available for analysis because
attendance sheets are not uploaded to the system, time taken for data collection reduces the
effective lecture time and fake attendance by students.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a new technology in communication system which

can be define as a medium used to identify and track the special tag implanted into an object
or a living thing by using radio frequency wave. It is a wireless mean of communication that
use electromagnetic and electrostatic coupling in radio frequency portion of the spectrum to
communicate between reader and tag through a variety of modulation and encoding scheme.

Classroom comfort is affected by the climate, season, acclimatization of individuals and

thermal history. In rainy season and winter, classrooms become more humid while in dry season
and summer they become hotter. Although climate sensitive building design can help in
controlling classroom temperature and humidity, the question of how many classroom
buildings in the world is climate-sensitive therefore, arises. On the other hand, over population
of students in classrooms can cause temperature and humidity problems .Humidity can increase
in a classroom as a result of students’ exhalation and temperature can increase as a result of
heat generated by the students. Furthermore, the effect of temperature on individual depends
on nature and size of person, the clothing they worn to lecture and amount of physical work
activity done in classroom. However, extremes of temperature (hot or cold) in classroom are
associated with health problems which negatively affects learning. High temperatures can

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affect the ability of staff and pupils to concentrate and to work effectively, and can cause
physical discomfort and illness.

This project is basically based on, integrating various components which are RFID reader,
RFID card, and microcontroller a portable RFID based attendance system can be set up and
become the solutions to address this problem. Uniquely identify each person based on RFID
tag is one of its special ability that can make the recording attendance process become more
faster and easier compared to conventional method. The RFID system have two important
features. First, the RFID card i.e the microchip having the capacity to store information with
authentication and second is RFID module for reading and writing identity information from/to
RFID card. Also a classroom temperature and humidity monitor will be included with a system
that detects and displays levels of the actual temperature and humidity, and when condition is
not safe for students and academic staff and classroom facilities to enable students and staff to
take control actions.

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1.2 Literature Review

Based on the research, a few systems that similarly to the proposed project are found. Firstly,
the article about RFID based Attendance System with an SMS Alert. This work is to simplify
attendance recording system by using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.
RFID based Attendance recorder with SMS alert System is a web based application that will
be developed. The system will be developed by using GSM (Global System for Mobile
communication) technology and database support. The information from RFID Database
handling System will be used for taking attendance and for sending SMS alert also. This System
interacts with parents by sending message. Therefore, the system functionality is not only
records the student attendance, but also sends alert SMS to their parents when the student is
absent [1]

The second system is Attendance Management and Monitoring System by Using RFID &
Zigbee. This article discuss about the students will be identified by placing passive RFID tag
in the student’s ID card. The student identification system (SIS) will take care of identifying
while he/she enters the classroom and if the student moves out of the class and enters some
other class room or any other location within the campus, a message which indicates the current
location of that student will be sent to student attendance and monitoring system (SAMS)
through ZigBee module. The SAMS is placed at the administrative office where the complete
information of the student is sent. 8 This system identifies the location and marks the attendance
with respect to timetable database and the information will be sent to the concerned staffs or
parents through internet in case if he/she is absent.[2]. The third system is Arduino Based Smart
RFID Security and Attendance System with Audio Acknowledgement. The article is discuss
about the secure system that provides information about authorized and unauthorized persons.
In this system when card brought near to the RFID module it reads the card information and it
compare with the data in the program memory and displays authorized or unauthorized entry.
The door opens for authorized entry and marked the attendance corresponding to that code id
and save in excel sheet format in SD card and after that display it’s all information on the LCD
like name and employee code number that link with authorize entry and welcome message with
audio greetings by taking their name which is already saved into SD card and for unmatched

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entry the gate remain closed and alerts the security person through SPEAKERS by playing the
separate audio file saying entry is unauthorized.[3]

Temperature and humidity are very important parameters of the environment in various
industries like medicine, food, paper mills, textile, metrological, semiconductors, services etc.
In recent years, optical fiber sensors have attracted more attentions in sensing and measurement
areas due to their many advantages over their conventional electronic counterparts. Similar
works in this particular area make use of the Short Message Service (SMS) facility so as to
alert the user as seen in the paper [4].The temperature-humidity sensor could be also used in
tissue culture lab use this particular mechanism and use a GSM module to send a message
which displays the present status of the temperature and humidity and displays the message
“Tissue Culture lab parameters exceeded”. But majority of times such an alerting message
could easily go unnoticed, the user or the person in charge is sleeping in case if the intended
person in sleeping.so it is better to log the data in a remote computer in case of such an event
so that he can keep an track of the data. Another work in use the alarming system for the
Attending staff [5].

The temperature and humidity measurement sensor can fail if the user of the in charge is Away
for the situation where the emergency is taking place [6]. A temperature and humidity rise and
alarm following it would be unnoticed, so a robust device combines an alerting and data logging
system is needed to avoid this kind of situation. To sending the values of temperature of the
environment the sensor is exposed to, by SMS for the user or the person in charge [7]. Also, by
creating microcontroller database, this design described in the paper can be used as a
modification for alerting the user by giving an “ALERT SMS” when the temperature have a
deviation from a critical value preset by the user [8]. The system of server guard maintenance
mechanism presented in this paper is totally different as it doesn’t take any software which has
to be run in personal or any computer [9]. The response of our designed system presents the
temperature or humidity is out of range as defined by the user by using Arduino and DHT11.

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1.3 Problem of statement

Bahir Dar University is one of educational institutions that use manual method in recording
the attendance which is by writing name on paper. Due to the challenge of the manual of
taking attendance at universities an automated attendance system needs to be adopted. The
challenges include difficulty in keeping attendance list over a period of time, unnecessary
time wastage in getting the accurate number of attendees, coupled with improper
documentation as students insincerely writing for an others attendee. Also the classes are
conducted inside a confined space and are difficult to attend a lecture if the environment is
too hot or too cold.

1.4 Objective

1.4.1 General Objective

The general objective of our project is adopting automated attendance system,
controlling and monitoring the classroom environment in Bit.

1.4.2 Specific objectives

 To study the problem of current system in the proposed system
 To develop a real time attendance system using RFID
 To study different simulation software
 To design overall system architecture
 To simulate the system architecture
 To test the functionality on how the system works
 Design and implementation of a temperature and humidity monitoring embedded system.

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 CHAPTER TWO

2. SYSTEM METHODOLOGY
2.1 System description
The student scans (RFID Tag) into (RFID Reader) where (RFID Reader) reads the (ID) for the
student in particularly via student ID (Reading Process) and then transfer information via Arduino
board (Microcontroller Process).

The classroom monitoring system design consists three sections - one senses the humidity and
temperature by using humidity and temperature sensor DHT11. The second section reads the DHT
sensor module’s output and extracts temperature and humidity values into a suitable number in
percentage and Celsius scale. And the third part of the system displays humidity and temperature
on LCD. The system connection is based on single wire serial communication. First Arduino send
a start signal to DHT module and then DHT gives a response signal containing temperature and
humidity data. Arduino collect and extract in two parts one is humidity and second is temperature
and then long term stability. This sensor has a resistive type humidity measurement component and
NTC type temperature measurement component with an 8-bit microcontroller inbuilt which has a
fast response and cost effective and available in 4-pin single row package.

2.2 Methodology

Selecting Literature Data Select

title Review collection available
and materials
Analysis

Analysis of Analysis of
Presentation the the design
simulation

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 CHAPTER THREE

3. SCOPE AND SIGNIFICANT OF THE PROJECT

3.1. Scope of project
In this project, there are several limitations that involve which are duration time to complete, the
sources of knowledge and respondance contribution. A perfect planning must be created to
eliminate all the limitations. From that, the first important step need to do is studying the
fundamentals of RFID and embedded system from any trusted sources such as published articles,
journals, books and conference papers. By doing that, deeper understanding especially in theory
can be gained and practical studies can be made. In order to set up the device, embedded system is
used and also can be called as Hardware/Software Co-design. The main objective of the system is
to uniquely identify and to mark attendance for a students. This requires a distinct feature having
the capability of distinguishing different person uniquely. This is possible by the new emerging
technology of RFID. The main parts can be divided into two. First, detection and storing the data
that including RFID system and the second part is transferring data.

3.2. Significance of project

The development of this system was very important to every university because applying
attendance will be done easily and systematically. Using this system will reduce improper
documentation as students insincerely writing for an absentee among others. This system is for
the benefit of all universities, companies and schools because it is used to determine if the person
arrived or not. The time frame of the Lecturers will be safe to provide their session, RFID has
sometimes been used to access control in many different areas, from asset tracking to limiting
access to restricted areas. Although the use of RFID systems in educational institutions is new, it
is intended to solve daily problems in our university.The temperature and humidity monitoring
system in the project is significant in making the learning teaching environment comfortable and
productive by informing if the value are out of range.

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 CHAPTER FOUR

4. COST ANALYSIS AND TIME LINE OF THE PROJECT

4.1 Cost and Materials Required
Table 4.1 Cost and Materials Required

NO Materials Quantity Price/Birr Total(ETB)

1 Arduino SIM kit 1 500 500
2 DHT11 Temperature and 1 600 600
humidity sensor (4 pins)
3 Sunfounder RFID-RC522 1 300 300
4 Resistor 10k ohm 1 150 150
5 Solderless Breadboard Full 1 600 600
size
6 Jumper wires (generic) 1 500 500
7 LCD 1 170 170
Total cost 2,820

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4.2 Time frame for the project/work
Table 4.2 Time frame for the project
No Activities November (2015) December (2015) January (2015) February (2015)

Weeks Weeks Weeks Weeks

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
1 Selecting
project title
2 Studying
different
resource about
our project
3 Writing
proposal
4 Studying
simulation
software
5 Studying
overall system
architecture
6 Designing the
system
architecture
7 Simulating the
system

8 Analysis the
result

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REFERENCE
[1] (U.Sai Lalitha, M.Gopal Reddy, Ch.Surya Prathap Reddy & T.Manidhar, 2017 RFID Based
Attendance System with an SMS Alert. International Journal of Advanced Research in Electrical,
2371-237

[2] (Dr.MJ.C.Prasad, Dodda Satis Reddy, Juhar M 2017) , Attendance Management and
Monitoring System by Using RFID & Zigbee, International Journal of Modern Trends in
Engineering and Research, 235-239

[3] (Yashi Mishra, Gaganpreet Kaur Marwah, Shekhar Verma, 2016), Arduino BasedSmart RFID
Security and Attendance System with Audio Acknowledgement, International Journal of
Engineering Research & Technology, 363-367

[4] N. H. A. Aziz, W. N. W. Muhamad, N. A. Wahab, A. J. Alias, A. T. Hashim, and R. Mustafa,

"Real time monitoring critical parameters in tissue culture growth room with SMS alert system,"
in Intelligent Systems, Modelling and Simulation (ISMS), 2010 International Conference on, 2010,
pp. 339- 343.

[5] E. Parrish and T. Hickey, "A Temperature Monitoring System for Use on Normal Newborn
Infants," Instrumentation and Measurement, IEEE Transactions on, vol. 21, pp. 59-60, 1972.

[6] L. Ruiz-Garcia, P. Barreiro, and J. Robla, "Performance of ZigBee-based wireless sensor nodes
for real-time monitoring of fruit logistics," Journal of Food Engineering, vol. 87, pp. 405-415,
2008.

[7] N. Zarka, I. Al-Houshi, and M. Akhkobek, "Temperature control via sms," in Information and
Communication Technologies, 2006. ICTTA'06. 2nd, 2006, pp. 2678-2683.

[8] R. K. Megalingam, V. Radhakrishnan, D. K. M. Unnikrishnan, D. C. Jacob, and A. K.

Sudhakaran, "Autonomous Smart Server Guard for advanced safety measure using wireless mobile
technology," in Mechanical and Electrical Technology (ICMET), 2010 2nd International
Conference on, 2010, pp. 654-658.

[9] S. J. Brown, "Remote health monitoring and maintenance system," ed: Google Patents, 2001.

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