Novel modular smart management devices in the form of drop safes include the modular components of a chassis, door and technology cabinet. The drop safes enable retailers to make cash deposits quickly and safely within or near their own facilities. Various technology, including RFID readers, RFID tags, and other equipment allow the drop safes to identify each deposited bag. Employees utilize specialized apps on their mobile devices to facilitate deposit creation and other tasks. Novel methodologies for accessing the drop safes for emptying employ single-use, time-expiration type authorization codes along with other security measures to minimize risk and to provide other benefits. Novel structures along with methodologies for replacing, on-site, modular components with auto-detection of functionality during initialization and re-initialization enables for efficient replacement and upgrading of components, including the upgrading of safes to provide additional functionality.

Novel modular smart management devices in the form of drop safes include the modular components of a chassis, door and technology cabinet. The drop safes enable retailers to make cash deposits quickly and safely within or near their own facilities. Various technology, including RFID readers, RFID tags, and other equipment allow the drop safes to identify each deposited bag. Employees utilize specialized apps on their mobile devices to facilitate deposit creation and other tasks. Novel methodologies for accessing the drop safes for emptying employ single-use, time-expiration type authorization codes along with other security measures to minimize risk and to provide other benefits. Novel structures along with methodologies for replacing, on-site, modular components with auto-detection of functionality during initialization and re-initialization enables for efficient replacement and upgrading of components, including the upgrading of safes to provide additional functionality.

A card is provided, such as a credit card or security card, that may transmit information to a magnetic stripe reader via a magnetic emulator. The emulator may transmit the information serially in order to reduce the amount of circuitry needed to emulate a particular block of information. Additionally, for example, a serial encoder may send any amount of information through a single emulation segment. Such a magnetic emulator may be provided on a credit card. A dynamic credit card number may be provided by, for example, coding a number with a different coding scheme for different periods of time. The magnetic emulator may be utilized to transmit a particular coded number for a particular period of time. In this manner, a dynamic credit card number may be provided such that to help secure, and progress, a payment transaction.

A payment card (e.g., credit and/or debit card) is provided with a magnetic emulator operable of communicating information to a magnetic stripe reader. Information used in validating a financial transaction is encrypted based on time such that a validating server requires receipt of the appropriate encrypted information for a period of time to validate a transaction for that period of time. Such dynamic information may be communicated using such an emulator such that a card may be swiped through a magnetic stripe reader—yet communicate different information based on time. An emulator may receive information as well as communicate information to a variety of receivers (e.g., an RFID receiver).

A blending method is described for preparing a blended mixture. The blending method for preparing a blended mixture, the method includes: providing a control system having at least a processor, a computer-readable memory, and a display, wherein the memory contains software configured to receive a formula defining instructions for preparing a blended mixture using one or more blending materials and amounts for producing a batch size of the blended mixture on a scale; monitoring a weight on the scale as blending materials are added to a receptacle on the scale, both individually and in total; indicating on the display the amounts of the blending materials that have been added to the scale, both individually and in total, to prepare an amount of a custom blended mixture based upon the selected blending materials; determining an end weight of the custom blended mixture after a user has used the custom blended mixture; and recalculating a needed amount of the custom blended mixture by subtracting the end weight of the custom blended mixture from the prepared amount of the custom blended mixture.

Provided is a farm work support device including a reception unit configured to receive designation of plants to be cultivated, a retrieval unit configured to retrieve a vegetation design which is a vegetation combination proper for construction of a mixed and dense growth state of the designated plants, and an output unit configured to output the retrieved vegetation design.

A system and method are disclosed for tracking animals, which may include production animals as well as pets. The system and method may comprise a tag system that is attached to an animal that generally has at least a near-field-communication (NFC) tag. The tag system comprises at least an NFC tag and a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag. For NFC tags, such tags may be read with a portable computing device, such as a mobile telephone running NFC reader application software. The phone may communicate with a communications network and ultimately a computer server in order to relay information received from a respective electronic tag. The electronic tags may be fastened, embedded, or ingested by an animal. The electronic tags may be part of a mechanical coupling. Each mechanical coupling may comprise a different structure depending on the whether the tags are fastened to, embedded in, or ingested by the animal.

A RFID tag (501), reader (502) and protocol allow a protected read operation in a two-step tag authentication with cipher-block cryptography. A challenge-response mechanism using a shared secret symmetric key (638) for tag authentication includes a challenge and information to read data from a tag's memory (637). Tag's response to the challenge-response mechanism includes the response to the reader's challenge and data from the tag's memory. A method embeds a protected write operation in a four-step reader authentication with cipher-block cryptography. The protocol allows a challenge-response mechanism using the shared secret symmetric key for reader authentication including a challenge and information to write data to the tag's memory. Reader's response to the challenge-response mechanism includes a response to the tag's challenge and data for writing to the tag's memory. Authenticated read and write data may be in plaintext, message authentication code (MAC)-protected, encrypted, or both encrypted and MAC protected.

The proposed invention discloses an automatic search method for a structural mode signal of a chipless RFID tag. A reference plane, a target to be tested, a reader antenna and a reader are set in space. The target to be tested is located within the reading range of the reader antenna. The distance difference between the tag and the reference plane, to the antenna, is measured by using the phenomenon of the backscattered signals of the tag and the reference plane interfering in space, to obtain the distance between the tag and the antenna. The time period for extracting the antenna mode of the tag may maximize the use of the antenna mode signal, thereby enhancing the accuracy of reading the tag.

Provided herein is an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle fleet comprising a plurality of autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles for delivering a food or beverage item to a customer. The autonomous vehicle herein may comprise of storage units that are easily configured to effectively and efficiently carry different types of food or beverage items, including a temperature control system configured to maintain a target unit temperature for different types of food or beverage items.