Radio in the Hive

Transmitters get smaller and smaller. The smallest transmitters today are measured in atoms and whole devices fit inside a pencil point. The problem has become the power source or the battery.You can attach radio tracking devices to all sorts of animals but only recently has it become possible to do so with insects. For that reason I was surprised to read that we were now tracking honeybees with radio telemetry.

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is a serious problem killing off bees, the dutiful pollinators of virtually everything you eat. (or at least everything eaten by what you eat)  The idea was that radio tracking would allow scientists to learn about the movements of bees prior to collapse perhaps providing answers. Right now it's unclear if the problem is viruses, bacteria, fungus, mites, or pesticides or all of the above. By monitoring the bees’ flights, scientists could detect changes in bee behavior. More here. Dr. Martin Wikelski at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology said “We could use that information to protect them.”

In 2009 Wikelski and his colleagues has succeeded in mounting a tiny transmitter to a bee. They had already succeeded with cicadas and dragonflies. They ran their first field tests in the village of Möggingen, Germany.  The radio transmitters looked like tiny silver backpacks with 3-inch antennas. The unit could be detected over a third of a mile away. That study found that Bumble bees flew up to 1.5 miles and explored areas over 100 acres. But there was a problem. A bumblebee weighs about 300 mg, the transmitter weighed 200 mg— A 66% increase. It's unclear what effect that would have on the bees behavior. I know it would slow me down. But honey bees are even lighter than bumble bees. they weigh in at roughly a twelfth of a gram, or 120 mg.  Current radio trackers weight more than the bee rendering that same technique non-viable.  Wikelski estimates the technology is close, perhaps 5 years away.

In 2007 and 2008, an team of scientists in Australia tried to instead track bees with tiny RFIDs. A RFID transponder has no battery and can therefore weigh substantially less. They glued the lightweight tags onto bees and mounted a scanner at the hive entrance. The data shows how many trips a bee made each day, for how long and when... but not how far or where. The goal today is to develop a radio tracking device that weighs about 20% as much as the bee— 24 mg, the same as the RFID.

The Incredibe, Edible RFID

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University seem to have settled on the word "ingestible" rather than edible. I kind of recoiled at the idea, but much to my surprise two years ago, the FDA approved an ingestible radio ID tag. Now, while the FDA is not exactly a reputable organization... they are all we have. So it comes as no surprise they they had no comment when Proteus Digital Health was issued patent #7978064 for a "Ingestible device with pharmaceutical product." The abstract is more vague than you'd expect would be allowed.

"A system and a manufacturing process are disclosed in accordance with the present invention that protect an electronic device and allows for placement or combination of the device within a pharmaceutical product or capsule. The system includes circuitry and components that can be placed within certain environments. The device includes an assembly including an electronic unit, a flexible membrane secured to the unit, and a protective coating."

Proteus has been at this since at least 2007. In that year they applied for a patent for a "Controlled activation Ingestible Identifier." Since then they've also filed on some "Ingestible circuitry" a "Body-associated receiver and method " and a "Miniature ingestible device." Most of that work was developed by Hooman Hafezi. You know where this is going. At some point in the future, you are going to eat a teeny tiny radio. More here.

The reason I bring this up today is a press release from Carnegie Mellon University. A research group there is taking some of these patents from Proteus and developing a RFID system that could be inside pills.  These would be embedded with encrypted codes to verify the "provenance and authenticity" of the medication. The idea is interesting, but it does mean that potentially every pill could contain a teeny tiny passive transmitter. Even stranger is imagining your colon full of RFIDs.

Carnegie Mellon alum L. Richard Carley was quick to emphasize that the RFIDs will be teeny tiny. “Think of a grain of salt. A fraction of a millimeter.”  And it's certainly true that some people embed RFIDs in their pets. Some have suggested embedding them in their children based on the same logic. (I think it's nutty but that's me.)  But the purpose of the pills is not just your safety. A UN report form 2003 estimated that the global drug trade is worth an estimated $321.6 billion." While that number may make you think of certain unsavory characters in your neighborhood, pharmaceutical companies just see their competition. So this technology will also be a tool for drug companies to wield against copyright infringement by the black market. It seems awkward for that battle to happen in your colon but apparently the stage is being set.

Car Fob Transponder

Car fobs (remote keyless systems) are small transmitters. It's also branded as "keyless" entry or "remote central locking." But no matter the make and model it has a RFID and/or touch controlled transmitter. (To ease my typing lets call it an RKS.)

The first RKS debuted on the Renault Fuego in 1982, a French-made autombile. It was sold in the United States through American Motors (AMC) dealerships. It tanked in the US but did fairly well in Eurpope and was a popular Coupe in the UK.  But the RKS feature gained popularity in the U.S. and was available on on several GM vehicles by 1989. RKS were predated by infared systems like those on certain Mercedes-Benz and BMW models.


The car fob  contains a  low powered radio transmitter. Their range us usually on the order of 15 to 60 feet. When you push a button the fob sends a digitally coded radio signal to a receiver unit in the car which executes the command.

Most America-made RKS operate at a frequency of 315 MHz. In Europe and Asia most RKS operate at 433.92 MHz.While all RKS use encryption to prevent unwanted access none of them are fool-proof. Later systems included a "smart key" which had an RFID on the fob. These vehicles couldn't be started unless that fob was within close range of the vehicle. In this application the RKS can also operate as a transponder and responds to a signal  from the car with a digital code. This became a common function in the mid 1990s. More here and here.