RFID-enabled license plates to identify UK vehicles

[PfcHammer]

http://www.rfidnews.org/news/2004/06/10/rfidenabled-license-plates-to-identify-uk-vehicles/

RFID-enabled license plates to identify UK vehicles
Thursday, June 10 2004

The UK-based vehicle licence plate manufacturer, Hills Numberplates Ltd, has chosen long-range RFID tags and readers from Identec Solutions to be embedded in licence plates that will automatically and reliably identify vehicles in the UK.

The new e-Plates project uses active (battery powered) RFID tags embedded in the plates to identify vehicles in real time. The result is the ability to reliably identify any vehicle, anywhere, whether stationary or mobile, and - most importantly - in all weather conditions. (Previous visually-based licence plate identification techniques have been hampered by factors such as heavy rain, mist, fog, and even mud or dirt on the plates.)

The e-Plates project has been under development for the past three years at a cost of more than £1 million, and is currently under consideration by a number of administrations. It is hoped that e-Plate will be one of the systems trialled by the UK Government in its forthcoming study of micro-chipped licence plates.

...

The system is expected to be used to identify vehicles for applications such as security, access control, electronic payment, tracking and processing, traffic management, and customer service. Commercial applications could include car dealerships, rental companies, insurance companies, fleet operators, and parking garages. In the public sector, the main applications would include enforcement (compliance with road tax, insurance, and mechanical checks), access control to restricted areas, combating vehicle theft and associated crime, and traffic flow counting and modelling.

[AndyTiedye]

1. Until People Start Taking the Batteries Out

[truthisfreedom]

2. or switching plates.

[Nihil]

3. "Oops, that was unfortunate ..."

I suspect the "batteries" will be the same type of one-off cells that
are in singing birthday cards and other such trivia.

Now, if the manufacturers aren't exceptionally clever (e.g., provide
multiple redundant cells or some other high-cost alternative), there
will thus be a point on the number plate where a "delicate tap" with a
hammer would defeat this latest step towards Minority Report policing
whilst still allowing the plate to meet the law on legibility.

IIRC, the law only specifies minimum & maximum character size, font
rules (non-italic, etc.), character spacing, minimum & maximum plate
size, plate colours and plate locations (basically the patches that
are checked by speed camera registration number search algorithms!).

There didn't used to be anything about "approved manufacturer" or
other such crap that would prevent you from making up your own legal
(but RFID-free) plates.

Anyone in a position to correct me on this please?

Nihil

[oscar111]

4. BatteriesUnnecessary:passive RFID

why not a passive rfid? A pole mounted radio wave source blasts out a wave, like MRI does, and the rfid reflects it with a unique pattern.

[Briarius]

6. passives don't have the range

typical passive tags have to be within a foot or less to work. The power drops off too fast after that to turn the passive tags on.

[LibLabUK]

5. Reg plate manufacture

"There didn't used to be anything about "approved manufacturer" or
other such crap that would prevent you from making up your own legal
(but RFID-free) plates."

Law has been/will be changed.

They want to make the manufacture of registration plates accountable. They also want to make sure that plates comply with the rules (as you stated above).