First Look: RC522 RFID Reader/Writer ($4 on eBay)

[@jimsqueezle9840]

The fact that this man has a magnifying glass and used it to actually zoom up rather than showing a completely blurry close up is worth a thumbs up alone

[@ExStaticBass]

I built a Dalek once using RFID to identify it's master and guests. It had an airsoft cannon to pelt those who didn't "Identify" properly. It used a Raspberry Pi SBC for a main brain, an old Xbox Kinect for it's eyes and ears, and a bunch of micro-controllers for it's peripheral control systems.

[@DrBoiii-ly5jd]

That's dope asf tbh

[@murthenstephane6640]

#Whovian

[@T3rr0rByte13]

Thanks for this Julian. This is helping me write a security system for my home where a person would scan an RFID tag to turn off the security features... while it is still all in the future: alarm, facial recognition and video documentation. This is all a hobby at this point, I'm just loving coming up with solutions for problems I want to crack.

[@sharks3010]

This was one of the most concise and informative videos I've found on the use and management of these devices. It's given me a great first step and pointed me in the right direction to find out more. Thanks mate.

[@JulianIlett]

David Sharkey Thanks David

[@radioeast1]

+Julian Ilett How can I deactivate a RFID chip?

[@mattroh7248]

You can't. There is no such "deactivation" in RFID Devices.

[@Null257]

Disclosurer Radio Shouldn't reprogramming the chip with the wrong data accomplish your needs?

[@elamehdf]

cut it in half lmao

[@ReneeStevens98]

You've done an AMAZING job explaining this for a beginning hardware geek, like myself. Many thanks!!!

[@Sabhail_ar_Alba]

Thanks for that informative presentation. My own interest is to clone the RFID fob I have for entry into my apartment (which I've been informed will cost £60 if lost - apparently they need to "send an engineer" - lol).

[@funkydunky1671]

better find where a controller is in your appartment. determine the model, find the manual, reset it to factory defaults, and program your own cards into it. you will end up with a master card which can be used to teach our own cards as regular entry keys. the master card or any teached in regular cards of your landlord will no longer work :) no extra hardware is required besides a couple of extra compatible cards. do not forget to give your new master card to your landlord after you end the rent.

[@ggman1254]

Funky Dunky Why not just sell the masterkard to the most shady guy in the neighboorhood. You might get a bugs.

[@Bkazi123]

love how you were able to show sources as to where you found each information step by step. A very helpful video. thank you

[@tonypepperoni4706]

Just randomly popped up in my recommended. I'm using this exact setup in my engineering class so thanks for the help. You probably just got me an A on my final.

[@BGroothedde]

The Dutch people who cracked it actually cracked the public transit card system by overwriting the cards with information about credit for public transit.

[@abnormaalz]

The balance information was saved on the chipkaart instead of on a central server?

[@Jishnu.Janardhanan]

Uses of RFID ( i dont know how many of are implemented), If you got any ideas feel free to add them as replys. 1. Package tracking. 2. Access control. 3. To store product info in package replacing barcode 4. Store indoor/outdoor location information such as lobby, stairs, elevator which can be used by blind and other disabled people. Put the cards/tags in location and a reader in cane/wheelchair will read it. 5. Pet control, get some RFID tags and install RFID reader in kitchen door to keep them away from kitchen, If you dont like pets in kitchen.

[@Orientalmentor]

Can't believe there are so much information on just a 4 dollar thing.

[@enquire422]

Mechforce-USA Wait till they start to censor the internet!

[@vistron888]

I bought a bunch of those blue RFID tags for my alarm system. Originally they were fine but over time they become very weak. You have to touch the alarm receiver in a very exact spot and with the flat side of the tag, otherwise it just won't work. Meanwhile the original tag (grey block) supplied with the alarm works fine. There's something definitely iffy about these blue ones.

[@Skullkid16945]

I don't understand half of what I watched, but somehow I kept watching. Now at least I am more informed on RFIDs. Did not know they had a coil and chip inside them.

[@GregWoodsLancs]

Another really useful video. I too had a play with various cheap RFID, including the RC522. But in the end I settled on a PN532 based card, which is little more expensive, as it has compatibility with a greater range of tags, including NFC. Need more time to play with it though.

[@MaxTheGabri]

Thanks for this extremely useful video! I've bought it with actually no clue on how to get it working, but now that i've seen your video i have much clearer information on how to use it! Thanks a lot. :)

[@mid_knight]

We have started to use them on our project: Automated Library Management System, wherein we would be using the tags for identifying book, tracking, security checks, smooth technical processing of the books, easy to locate books in library and also certain membership management techniques for library users.

[@Vhbaske]

How much I love these of your tutorials! Thanks Julian.

[@msgcheckout]

Julian, there are hundreds of uses for RFID tags, like for instance, chipping pets, (these are tiny glass capsules which are placed in the neck of a dog or a cat or other animals, and the chip ID can be read and pets are registered on a data base, so when lost and found they can be reunited with their owners, you could use them on cat flaps that reads the chip of your pet and only allows it the access to come into the house and other animals are denied access. You could mark your property, etc etc, I understand that such technology will be implemented on supermarket items such that a reader will read all the items in your trolley and produce a bill that you simply pay and walk out without having to take items out of your trolley on to a supermarket conveyor belt for scanning individual product.

[@iansmith3301]

You think they're going to put RFID tags on every banana ever sold?

[@skubberson5378]

Sure. They put stickers on all fruits now anyway. Why not a low cost RFID sticker just like the ones they put on other packages?

[@noahfin5919]

Skub Berson it’s not needed

[@robinturner2300]

Large retailers already use RFID for garment stock control. They can identify each garment as it comes in the back door and when sold. They can also tell if it gets nicked...

[@linuspauly2380]

Well you could use it for hidden doors or something like that - you could just put the electronics inside something - you could also add those rf-relay-buttons to it so you could control anything with it - youd need a way to power it tho

[@anondimwit]

9v battery

[@JeffreyKemper]

Is this for low or high frequency? Does it store data on it like the r.f.i.d. used for pets? Can you erase the radio frequency? How. Can I disable it to not give a signal?

[@SirValiantIII]

Wonderful video, it gave me the perfect guidance as I set up my RC522 and began my RFID journey

[@micromachine7954]

I would love a video that explains how to install one these say in a vehicle. Like the new cars that have the chip in the key. You could set the reader near the keys and only allow the car to start if the chip is in proximity. It sounds like a fun project and it could potentially keep your car a little safer from theft. If you really wanted to get clever you could install it on the power supply for the fuel pump rather then the ignition and place the reader under a cup holder or something so if you were parking your car in a bad area all you have to do is grab the chip outta the cup holder to disable the fuel pump. Just thinking out loud here but I could think of all kinds of fun things to do with rfid if it wasn't so complicated to set-up.

[@TKomoski]

Saw it on Seller alice1101983 and I do have it in my cart. Thanks for the short tutorial about it. As you said what to use it for other than the intended use. Put it on the bottom of a cup and data log your drinking habits. My first project with it is to datalog my life. Cheers

[@dylanwilliams9860]

Since you asked at the end of the video, you could use one of those to generate a grocery list if you hook it up inside your fridge. Then just write the information (name, type, expiry) and have it attached to the object so when it expires or is out of the fridge for a certain amount of time it would write it on a digital list for you to take to the grocery store. Even make it more advanced and have it search your fridge for ingredients when you find a recipe you want to make so you know If you have everything required!

[@dylanwilliams9860]

Another idea I just had was if you felt like doing an air quality experiment but didn't feel like creating a webserver to compile the data to you could use a USB with a reader on it to read all your different stations and have them logged in that way.

[@naboulsikhalid7763]

most impressive instructions, made easier and simple. thank you. I will always keep watching and talking about your videos.

[@giomjava]

Link in description please! :) I'm not too lazy to watch the video and look it up myself, but it would be nice to know exactly which one you've used. Great video! Thanks

[@tombraselton2671]

Haha! I just got these to play with as well. Got it all working and thought the same thing: I don’t know what I would practically use it for…. Thanks for the video!

[@tmd63]

Just a note. "SDA" is the nomenclature of I2C communications which uses SDA, SCL, VCC and GND. It is another type of communications used by Arduino and Raspberry Pi. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I²C.

[@DigBipper188]

You just gave me the best idea for a keycard based power button... get one of these, an arduino and a relay...

[@adamjenkins3065]

Beautiful in depth description. So great. Thank you!

[@bertriksikken]

I have one of those inexpensive RC-522 readers. While it reads the card and the keychain thingy that came with the package just fine, I can't really get it to work with other mifare cards (both 1k and 4k cards, and yes I'm sure they're mifare). I've done a lot of experimentation with the library from miguelbalboa, like trying to change the receiver gain registers and the pmos and nmos conductance, but no success yet. Perhaps the supporting electronics to connect the RC-522 chip to the reader/writer coil is not up to specification, or perhaps even the RC-522 chip is fake? So, I guess you get what you pay for...

[@scarakus]

the coil of wire is the receiver for the wireless power...

[@jamesaddyman5506]

spent ages trying to get one of these working in conjunction with a data logging RTC/SD shield on a nano, both communicating over SPI. Turns out it doesn't have tri-state IO. When CS is high (chip disabled), it won't let any other device use the MISO line. Took hours to fault find this!! You'd expect an implementation of SPI to be able to share lines. Surely that's the whole point of SPI! Can't spare anymore IO on the Nano so going to have to try multiplexing the MISO line with a dedicated chip.

[@khashmeshab]

Great video. I've worked with the exact same modules, but because their range is extremely low, I couldn't use them for my project. And at the end, you say it's complicated! Huh? These chips has lots and lots of awesome features. For example if you take multiple cards or tags close to it simultaneously, you can get the list of all of them and then decide which one do you want to communicate with. Or you can pace two modules in front of each other and have a wireless connection using NFC. Now, those are complicated buddy!

[@awshuckaduckey]

Thank you for sharing this. I plan to try this out on reading microchipped animals for identification purposes.

[@EpicAwesomeWin87]

This is interesting! Im planning to make an adoptation of this tech to our shared laundry room at my landlords houses. Or maybe some totaly unecessary stuff like a RFID startbutton to an old PC.

[@frac]

One idea: Windows supports smartcard/RFID authentication. I don't know much about it, but you can require the presence of such a device to log in. With encrypted directories/drives it can make for an effective two-factor security system.

[@sykskysyk]

This RC522 module seems to be pretty inconsistent. The more expensive PN532 based modules seem to read all sorts of cards/keychains/stickers just fine, including a card that was originally included in the RC522 package, but which the RC522 itself couldn't read...

[@TheRadiogeek]

Very interesting stuff. Have you used it to read any access cards of a coworker of friend? I wonder what kind of readable information you would see.? Nice job on this video, keep this kind of stuff coming.

[@GregWoodsLancs]

my RFID/NFC project is for Scalextric Digital slot car racing. The Race Management Software needed a faster way to assign a car to a 'lane' and a driver to a lane. With an RFID sticker tag in the inside of every car and hand throttle, and each driver having an RFID card, the race setup process can be made a lot faster. Scalextric... it was never really for kids!

[@MeriaDuck]

About the compromised crypto, the guys doing it were PhDs, postdocs and researchers, with Bart Jacobs being the head professor. I worked at the same department two doors away from them. COincidently, the manufacturer NXP was from in the same city of Nijmegen. The whole (partly political) aftermath was 'interesting'. The group was at least capable of cloning access control chips, public transport chipcards and putting their public transport cards onto some spare sector of their passports etc. Fun times they were!

[@DiySpeaker-Vn]

Các bạn có thể tham khảo sản phẩm tại: www.sendo.vn/module-rfid-rc522-1356mhz-9375734.html

[@renxula]

Very good video! I don't think I've seen such an informative video from you recently, exploring something on a technical level and taking us along. I'm sure it's a lot of work to make, but hopefully you'll do something similarly in-depth every now and then... :)

[@roidroid]

_re: not sure what to use it for._ i have (eventual) plans on using it to automatically sense when the phone is docked into my smartphone robot. Perhaps even automatically pick up the phone and dock itself, if you simply put the phone nearby (it'd trigger a search routine). Sortof like a robot comically trying to reattach it's own severed head. One cool thing i've seen is people using RFID tags with cutting edge prosthetic arms. They put sticker-tags all around their house and the reader is in the arm, it tells the arm what context it's in. ie: There's a tag on the fridge door which automatically sets the fingers to "open the fridge" mode, one in the bathroom to set it to "hold toothbrush" mode. Handy stuff like that.

[@sunhuatom]

Probably some body has changed the default authentication password of those cards. RFID tags are very durable, normal usage wouldn't corrupt anything unless you have changed the authentication passwords to something you cannot remember or accidentally sent the kill command(some tags other than mifare support the kill command.)

[@sunhuatom]

or maybe those cards are not mifare types. common ISO14443A/B cards are more widely used in access control. mifare are mostly used when values like money need to be stored , like bus passes

[@PaioneRPF]

that is one hell of an awesome video, loved it. just got me one of those gonna try all kinds of automation things using nfc :)))

[@sundrak1]

Funny that they published the paper of de encryption (hack) study done in Holland. When everything transportation went digital in Holland, it automatically became a target for hackers. It was published in a computer magazine how it was done as well.

[@YeOldeSpellbooke]

Hi Julian. Thanks for the stream of cool electronics you post :) Keep up the good work!

[@pauls5745]

sure it works, but if you can code your own routines, you'll have more control and exactly the functions you want these days, many good resources for RFID on both ends. best thing is they are still inexpensive devices with free software if you do a little searching

[@reggiebacci]

I know exactly what you mean about cryptanalysis papers Julian - I glaze over after the first couple of pages usually. I can recommend Applied Cryptography by Bruce Schneier though, even if you just use it as a reference. Also, you were right, The Imitation Game is definitely worth a watch. Loved it, thanks.

[@roggamer100]

Please do more in depth videos about this it will be helpful.

[@332jatc]

You can use it as a Time Clock like punching in for doing your hourly work punching out taking a break and be able to start your data out of that way you can just download it and basically they're just for the month or the week or whatever

[@robertberman5701]

Very interesting video. I always wondered what was in these little cards and chips. Thank you for your many interesting vids! BB

[@milapravda3916]

I'd use it to tag animals, but it would require slightly larger coil antenna, or an extended range.

[@headbanger1428]

Always great watching your videos. Thanks!

[@OminousPinapple]

Hey there, Just wondering if you have considered using a screen recording program instead of a handheld camera? It would be a nicer viewing experience IMO.

[@gerlagerweij]

I don't think he's any good with computers :-p

[@duitargragon8677]

+Ger Lagerweij he can write assembly, so I would hope he knows what he's doing.

[@GregWoodsLancs]

I found I could make several 'broken' cards usable by writing data to them with my Nokia Lumia and "NFC Interactor" app. Once done, I could read and write them with the RC522

[@sebb810]

use it for what i'm going to use mine for, i'm gonna use an arduino with USB support or whatver it's called. And have it write the password for my pc if the right UID is read, it'll write my password on my pc

[@ericwes7351]

Very informative video. Would you happen to know if this device would read chips used for pet identification? One such chip is the ALLFLEX ISO FDX-B transponder. Thank you, Eric

[@iansmith3301]

This is awesome, where would one start learning on how to understand all of this?

[@BrittneyColemanActress]

I would like to know the same

[@gracechen1717]

Hi freind,This is grace from Greenrfid company,we are a card manufacturer in Shenzhen China.we can provide all kind of card to you. My Email is [e-mail] or leave your contact information.let's talk details.

[@7t3chguy]

Julian, could you please attempt to get IRQ Interrupts working on this module and make a video about it? Thanks

[@bojuwoyebabatunde5265]

Love this It helps me know more about it I wonder if I can use this to replace coin acceptor

[@VaupellGaming]

Well you can offer services to "disable" RFID" chips on Paranoid American's. I got a couple RFid reader/writers because you really need to make sure you have one with the right freq. And to disable those implant ones, you can simply spam/write it with random generated numbers, which in effect makes them useless.. Other than that,, not much use.. I made a backup "entry" card to my local university onto a RFID "sticker" which i glued to my cell-phone ;)

[@aiotattoostudio6748]

You could use it for gift cards, membership cards, ID cards, access cards, employee time sheet cards..

[@fernandoluis53]

So a code comes in default for the RFID? beats the whole purpose of engineering.

[@deanc2006]

this could be to id and grant access like to TV by using relays and timing there usage. just a thought for a different use

[@SproutyPottedPlant]

I wonder what data is on my NFC bus pass. What's the difference between RFID and NFC. Gotta check it out!

[@JulianIlett]

Knuckles the Echidna RFID and NFC are related - One is a subset of the other (or something like that).

[@YeOldeSpellbooke]

I had the same thought (but for the commute here in sweden), but i think they use a custom fequency and an advanced cryption system... But it would be fun to just read a card to see :)

[@SproutyPottedPlant]

Björn Camitz Oyster cards used in London once used the chips mentioned, they had to change them quick I think!! I guess the magic really is in the encryption as you can still buy the chips the new cards use or so I understood although it is hard for me to figure out.

[@sivalley]

Knuckles the Echidna The difference has become a sort of segregation of what operating frequency the card uses. 125kHz is used in older RFID/HID cards whereas the 13.56MHz MFC/MIFARE cards are the standard being used for NFC/Google Wallet/Apple Pay/Eurocards. Otherwise they are one and the same; contactless card reading/writing systems.

[@mmehdijamali]

Hi Julian, First thank you for the video, the explenations are great. I'm currently doing a small project on RFID but I'm a beginner in electronic stuffs, I would like to try this so I was wondering if you could give me the references of the components you use, for example I heard you use a "pro mini" I search for it but I don't know exactly which one to take.

[@jbswoodfiredpizzas]

OMG you just made my day, have been looking for an option for my garage...

[@Ncky]

i have this for good 40 days and i cant learn how to write id but i know to read and that is something :D

[@nxvasix8696]

Alice likes to feature in Julian’s videos... this is about the tenth one I’ve seen her in

[@thegreatxyz]

maybe you can use it to set/load some data to a device to change it's behaviour?

[@triforcelink]

I can actually read and write to those tags using NFC on my Nokia Lumia 925. Just go to the app store and get an app that can read/write NFC tags.

[@bringithard6721]

18:18 That's what I was looking for the entire time! Great video though, I love tinkering with Tech. You did a much better job than I could have a very matter of fact kept me from getting frustrated as to what on earth could that then be use for. Keep the videos rolling.

[@MonacoMonuments]

Criminals would probably say credit card theft

[@tubeDude48]

It would have been nice if you had supplied the USB Interface device link for this project!

[@marinehm]

You seem to know quite a bit about RFID and such. At work we have an door with a key pad. I'm pretty sure it reads RFID as well. I think my question is about the frequency of these things. They are not al on the same RF freq. Will these readers be able to get the frequency from the door and be able to write the access pin onto the card? do they make separate cards for each frequency? I don't know enough to even formulate the proper question. I would probably need to have the frequency the door keypads receives before I would go out and purchase a reader/writer, cards/chips?

[@sunhuatom]

Those RFID tags/readers as in this video all work at the same frequency(13.56MHz). Older RFID keypads(like 10 years ago) might use 125khz systems.

[@fate2022]

ou could use the cards, or the fobs as a computer access key, instead of a traditional password. Just a thought.

[@peysopeysoo1408]

Hi,Thanks for your video , I have a question about tags! does each RFID system has own tags I mean every company writes own data to tags and it can not be understand by others?

[@ethanjohnston8194]

the cards that where not working probably had a different default key

[@TheEPROM9]

One is thinking on the subject of this system could be used to clone RFID cards. Might have a look for programmers.

[@TKomoski]

Just read the other posts and they have the same idea, well I shall continue on with the project.

[@KennethTanFotografie]

You could use the keys as a wireless backup for data?! (Now thats another use for it!)

[@kirkdehaan5422]

Are there any routines for the Raspberry Pi and this module? Want to put together the RFID, camera and put it on a MESH system for local events where our ARES group is supporting them.

[@damianfixel2479]

Hello! Do you need the keys to read/write the cards or the tags?? or you can just override any data between sector 1 and sector 15?? thank you from Argentina!!

[@jamesbiecher3302]

At the hospital we use those to get in and out of doors but we also use those for single sign-on to PCs. It will bring your virtual laptop using VMware to any computer that you scan your tag on. The slaves valuable time tour clinicians!

[@Hanky03]

Next time can you please post links of where you found everything (and possibly a tutorial)

[@user-ym9wb2mk5e]

I am thinking it would be great to marry the rfid to a home alarm system instead of having to punch in an alarm digit code on a keypad. For instance, on a system that uses a commercial badge system, like Honeywell. It unlocks the maglock on the door, but not to disarm the alarm on entry points if the keypad is at a different location. Would be nice to marry the alarm and badge together. I mean, you have to unlock the door at home, your hands are full anyways, so why not have the rfid card turn off the alarm when coming in. I know there are many other uses for arduino in sensors for home alarm systems, but it sure would be great to not have the keyboard. The rfid card itself doesn't need batteries, so on the walls, you really would only need the rfid and a way to extend the power to doors. That way, you could have your main panel in a different location so that if someone broke in, they don't yank the whole box off the wall. I am looking into this whole arduino concept. They make POE converters also for IP cameras, so you could tie all of it into an small package.... Thoughts?

[@fearlessmangoose3118]

Great video Julian ! However, it would be more enjoyable to watch if you would capture your screen with a appropriate software instead of using your camera.

[@1stPCFerret]

+Julian Ilett Have you married this reader to the ESP8266 so that the appearance of an RFID tag would trigger sending a message over the Internet?

[@SadiqueKhan449]

1stPCFerret you can use nodeMCU for that purpose as it have may io pins

[@GaNgStAlBeRt]

can you actually Write on cards that have a RFID code on it? example: i have a RFID card with a LOGIN NUMBER on it, and you hold it to a machine and then you need to give the password. but the problem is i lost a card which i know the LOGIN NUMBER, but if i wanna get a new card, because i lost my old one, i need to pay 30$...so i wanna know CAN I TAKE A RFID CARD, delete the internal LOGIN NUMBER and PUT a other one on it with this device? thx

[@glennarens81]

yes

[@sunhuatom]

that's totally depends. you also need to know where to store your data, and the original data might be encrypted in some form. And for some applications, people dont really write the actual data to the cards. Instead, they only use the tag id(UID), and then link the tag id to the data which has been placed in a more secured database.

[@christopherhumphrey]

Fantastic! Very in depth. Thx for your time..

[@jomomackie]

Thanks for this great video - concise, and very useful I particularly appreciate your approach to the problem using online ressources. Thanks!

[@reikenzan1916]

The software didnt talk to me when I opened the serial monitor. Its just blank what do I do?

[@Jenko022]

Thanks for sharing this. Just wondered would you be able to read data from any RFID tag?

[@KaiCheetah]

Tought Mifare was used in bus smartcards?

[@shreyasmahangade3774]

Hi Julian, This was a great video and very informative. Thank you for it. Just want to ask how to make this reader to read more than one tag. If i stacked more than one cards within the range of reader reader won't detect any of those. Any solution?

[@mnelson10000]

I wonder if the communication problem has something do with the clock mismatch between the Arduino and the tags...?

[@vladimir0700]

Thinking of getting a receiver module for GM keyless entry (like my Cadillac CTS uses) then , when I sit down at my computer it will unlock automatically using my car’s keyfob without having to remove my car keys from my pocket-get tired of typing in passwords

[@muhammadprawirayuda3510]

may i ask , did you ever use pn7150 for testing nfc type a / b and other else

[@shyblondebbw]

I just purchased this identical unit because I believe that I have been chipped without my consent while under anesthesia. I won't go into more detail here, but i clicked over to ebay and purchased it without watching the entire video.... now I see you have all this other gear hooked up to it and I've no idea what it all is, where I get it or even if this thing will tell me if I have a chip.. HELP!!

[@elginsteve124]

Any chance you can lets us know how many volts are generated in the tag coil when its put close to the reader please?