National University

of Computer and Emerging Sciences

Chiniot-Faisalabad Campus

EL3002 µP Interfacing and Programming - Lab

Project Report on
RFID Based Attendance System
Using Arduino Uno

Fall 2024

Submitted By
Roll no Name Section

22F-3458 Abdullah Zahid EE-5(A)

22F-3791 Faiz Rasool EE-5(A)

22F-3506 Muhammad Saleem EE-5(A)

Submitted To

Instructor:
Engineer Mam Ayesha

Submission Date
2 December 2024

1
 ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter No. Title Page No.

Introduction………………………………………………………………1

1.1 RFID Technology 2

1.2 RFID Tag 2
1.3 RFID Reader 2
1.4 IOT (Internet of Things) 2
1.5 Arduino

Chapter 2 Literature Review………………………………………………………..3

2.1 Attendance and Information System using RFID and Web-Based 3

Application for Academic Sector 4
2.2 Fully Automated Classroom Attendance System 4
2.3 Problem Statement 6
2.4 Objectives 6

Chapter 3 Methodology……………………………………………………………...7

3.1 Block Diagram 7

3.2 Flow Chart 8

3.3 Data Flow Diagram 9
3.4 Pin Diagram 10

Chapter 4 System Overview…………………………………………………………24

4.1 Components and Supplies 24

4.2 Arduino Uno 24

4.3 RFID Reader MFRC522 Module 25

4.4 SD Card Module 26

4.5 RTC Module 26

2
 4.6 RFID Cards 27
4.7 LCD Display 27
4.8 Breadboard 28
4.9 Jumper Wires 29
4.10 Potentiometer & Resistor 29
4.11 Software Implementation 30
4.11.1 Arduino IDE 30
4.11.2 Working 30

Chapter 5 Outcome & Result…………………………………………………………31

Chapter 6 Conclusion & Overview…………………………………………………...33

Appendix References
34

3
 Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

Information Technology (IT) has played a significant role in developing several aspects
in academic sectors and domains such as student monitoring and management systems.

Attendance or daily register of understudies has turned into a vital assessment perspective
in the current instructive framework in both universities and schools. The conventional
attendance monitoring framework has a few impediments with the trend and the
technology gap. For instance, passing the everyday attendance sheet to a huge number of
students in a class is extremely risky and it hampers the consideration of the students in
the class. It is waste of time as well as a student can deliberately enlist counterfeit
attendance record in the day-by-day attendance sheet. On the off chance, if the teacher
loses these documents, all the significant attendance records are lost without doubt.

Therefore, it is a critical subject to tracking and manages student’s attendance in school,

college, and university environment. Since it can be helped to urge students to attend on
time, amend the efficiency of the learning, increase learning grade, and finally boosting
and improving the education level. So, there is a need to manage the student attendance
records automatically by using information technology management system in a faculty
to assist the maintaining attendance. Biometrics techniques are used to verify
identification through their characteristics like face recognition, signatures, fingerprint,
voice recognition, irises, barcode, Bluetooth, Near-Field Communication (NFC), RFID
and so on.

RFID innovation has a tremendous task to carry out in the completion of the vision of
associating objects around us to the internet. These items extend from huge structures,
modern plants, planes, vehicles, machineries, any sort of merchandise, and explicit pieces
of a bigger framework to people, animals and plants and even explicit body portions of
them. The idea driving this is called Internet of Things (IoT).

1.1 RFID Technology: RFID is standard for Radio Frequency Identification which is the
very latest concept of Internet of Things (IoT) and it is very similar technology of

4
 barcode system but with some higher advanced concept. It works by using
transferring and receiving signal using Antenna and Integrated Circuit. It has two
parts namely, RFID Tag and RFID Reader.

1.2 RFID Tag: A RFID Tag is an electronic tag that exchanges information with a RFID
reader through radio waves. Almost every RFID Tags have two parts namely,
Antenna and Integrated Circuit (IC). Antenna used for receives radio frequency waves
and IC used for processing and store data.

1.3 RFID Reader: RFID reader is a device which used to gather information from RFID
tag which used to track individual. RFID uses radio waves to transfer the data from
tag to reader

1.4 IOT (Internet of Things): The Internet of things (IoT) describes physical objects (or
groups of such objects) with sensors, processing ability, software and other
technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the
Internet or other communications networks. Internet of things has been considered a
misnomer because devices do not need to be connected to the public internet, they
only need to be connected to a network and be individually addressable.

1.5 Arduino: Arduino is an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use

hardware and software. Arduino boards can read inputs - light on a sensor, a finger on
a button, or a Twitter message - and turn it into an output - activating a motor, turning
on an LED, publishing something online. You can tell your board what to do by
sending a set of instructions to the microcontroller on the board. To do so you use the
Arduino programming language (based on Wiring), and the Arduino Software (IDE),
based on Processing.

5
 Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

In this project, I did a literature review and took some paper for the reference as follows:

2.1 Attendance and Information System using RFID and Web-Based Application for
Academic Sector.

By: Hasanein D. Rjeib. Nabeel Salih Ali, Ali Al Farawn, Basheer Al-Sadawi., Haider
Alsharqi.
Journal & Published: Article in International Journal of Advanced Computer Science
and Applications & January 2018

Findings: A student attendance and information system are designed and implemented to
manage student’s data and provide capabilities for tracking student attendance, grading
student marks, giving information about timetable, lecture time, room number, and other
student-related information. Also, the proposed system provides easiness for the staff
where there is no need for extra paper works and additional lockers for saving data.

Research Gap: Much complicated being web-based application. Only students’ data is
involved, can be used for other staffs and faculties.

2.2 Fully Automated Classroom Attendance System.

By: Eid Al Hajri, Farrukh Hafeez, Ameer Azhar N V.

Journal & Published: International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies, &

August 2019

Findings: The implemented system offers number of befits over traditional system
includes freedom of delivering lecture with full focus without notifying student timing.
As it is fully automated, the chance of error in the attendance entry is NIL. Fully
Automated Classroom Attendance System metric identification make system invincible.

Research Gap: Biometric identification can be installed; RFID reader range can be
increased by replacing high range RFID reader.

2.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT

6
Problem Definition
Passing the everyday attendance sheet to a huge number of students in a class is risky as
students can miss their attendance call and it can hamper students’ attendance percentage.
It is waste of time as well as a student can give a false attendance and cheat on the record
in the day-by-day attendance sheet. If the teacher loses these documents, all the
significant attendance records are lost without doubt.

2.4 OBJECTIVE
• To provide very higher accuracy and speed than a traditional paper-based system.
• To provide security and easy tracking of data.
• Implement fully automatic process.

Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY

The research methodology used is as follows:

3.1 BLOCK DIAGRAM
A block diagram is used to represent a control system in diagram form. In other words,
the practical representation of a control system is its block diagram. Each element of the
control system is represented with a block and the block is the symbolic representation of
the transfer function of that element.

Figure3.1: Block Diagramof the whole system

This is the block diagram of the project RFID based Attendance System using Arduino,
RTC. Here Arduino UNO acts as a central processor for controlling all other components
as input/output unit.
The function of each block in the block diagram above is as follows:

7
• RFID Reader: the input block consists of an RFID reader, the tag data card that the
reader detects will be sent to the microcontroller.
• Block microcontroller, data processor and central controller of the system.
• Once it is verified by the microcontroller, data is stored in the memory unit.
3.2 FLOW CHART

A flowchart is a picture of the separate steps of a process in sequential order. It is a

generic tool that can be adapted for a wide variety of purposes, and can be used to
describe various processes, such as a manufacturing process, an administrative or service
process, or a project plan.

Figure 3.2: Flowchart of the system

Each student is issued an RFID card as their id card and their attendance is marked when
they touch their card to RFID reader.
3.3 DATA FLOW DIAGRAM

A data-flow diagram is a way of representing a flow of data through a process or a system

(usually an information system). The DFD also provides information about the outputs
and inputs of each entity and the process itself. A data-flow diagram has no control flow
— there are no decision rules and no loops.

8
3.4 PIN DIAGRAM

A pin out is a reference to the pins or contacts that connect an electrical device or
connector. It describes the functions of transmitted signals and the circuit input/output
(I/O) requirements. Each individual pin in a chip, connector or singular wire is defined in
text, a table or a diagram.

Pin Out

A pin out is a reference to the pins or contacts that connect an electrical device or
connector. It describes the functions of transmitted signals and the circuit input/output
(I/O) requirements. Each individual pin in a chip, connector or singular wire is defined in
text, a table or a diagram

PIN Out of different modules:

Figure3.4: Pin Out of Arduino Uno Board

Arduino Uno:

9
Arduino Uno is based on the ATmega328P by Atmel. The Arduino Uno pin out consists
of 14 digital pins, 6 analog inputs, a power jack, USB connection and ICSP header

Arduino Uno pin out – Power Supply

There are three ways to power the Arduino Uno:

Barrel Jack: The Barrel Jack or DC Power Jack can be used to power the Arduino board.
The barrel jack is usually connected to a wall adapter. The board can be powered by 5-20
volts, but the manufacturer recommends to keep it between 7-12 volts. Above 12 volts,
the regulators might overheat, and below 7 volts, might not suffice.

VIN Pin: This pin is used to power the Arduino Uno board using an external power
source.
The voltage should be within the range mentioned above.
USB cable: when connected to the computer, provides 5 volts at 500mA.
5v and 3v3: They provide regulated 5 and 3.3v to power external components according
to manufacturer specifications.
GND: In the Arduino Uno pin out, you can find 5 GND pins, which are all
interconnected. The GND pins are used to close the electrical circuit and provide a
common logic reference level throughout your circuit. Always make sure that all GNDs
(of the Arduino, peripherals and components) are connected to one another and have a
common ground.
RESET: Resets the Arduino.
IOREF: This pin is the input/output reference. It provides the voltage reference with
which the microcontroller operates.
Arduino Uno Pin out - Analog IN

The Arduino Uno has 6 analog pins, which utilize ADC (Analog to Digital converter).
These pins serve as analogy inputs but can also function as digital inputs or digital
outputs.

Arduino Uno Pinout - Digital Pins

Pins 0-13 of the Arduino Uno serve as digital input/output pins.

Pin 13 of the Arduino Uno is connected to the built-in LED.

10
In the Arduino Uno - pins 3, 5,6,9,10,11 have PWM capability.

Digital: Digital is a way of representing voltage in 1 bit: either 0 or 1. Digital pins on the
Arduino are pins designed to be configured as inputs or outputs according to the needs of
the user. Digital pins are either on or off. When ON they are in a HIGH voltage state of
5V and when OFF they are in a LOW voltage state of 0V. On the Arduino, when the
digital pins are configured as output, they are set to 0 or 5 volts.

When the digital pins are configured as input, the voltage is supplied from an external
device. This voltage can vary between 0-5 volts which is converted into digital
representation (0 or 1).

When connecting a component to a digital pin, make sure that the logic levels match. If
the voltage is in between the thresholds, the returning value will be undefined.

PWM: In general, Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) is a modulation technique used to

encode a message into a pulsing signal. A PWM is comprised of two key components:
frequency and duty cycle. The PWM frequency dictates how long it takes to complete a
single cycle (period) and how quickly the signal fluctuates from high to low. The duty
cycle determines how long a signal stays high out of the total period. Duty cycle is
represented in percentage.

Communication Protocols: Serial (TTL) - Digital pins 0 and 1 are the serial pins of the
Arduino Uno. They are used by the on-board USB module.

Serial Communication: Serial communication is used to exchange data between the

Arduino board and another serial device such as computers, displays, sensors and more.
Each Arduino board has at least one serial port. Serial communication occurs on digital
pins 0 (RX) and 1 (TX) as well as via USB. Arduino supports serial communication
through digital pins with the Software Serial Library as well. This allows the user to
connect multiple serial-enabled devices and leave the main serial port available for the
USB.

Software serial and hardware serial - Most microcontrollers have hardware designed to
communicate with other serial devices. Software serial ports use a pin-change interrupt
system to communicate. There is a built-in library for Software Serial communication.

11
Software serial is used by the processor to simulate extra serial ports. The only drawback
with software serial is that it requires more processing and cannot support the same high
speeds as hardware serial.

SPI - SS/SCK/MISO/MOSI pins are the dedicated pins for SPI communication. They can
be found on digital pins 10-13 of the Arduino Uno and on the ICSP headers.

SPI: Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) is a serial data protocol used by microcontrollers to
communicate with one or more external devices in a bus like connection. The SPI can
also be used to connect 2 microcontrollers. On the SPI bus, there is always one device
that is denoted as a Master device and all the rest as Slaves. In most cases, the
microcontroller is the Master device. The SS (Slave Select) pin determines which device
the Master is currently communicating with.

SPI enabled devices always have the following pins:

MISO (Master In Slave Out) - A line for sending data to the Master device.

MOSI (Master Out Slave In) - The Master line for sending data to peripheral devices.

SCK (Serial Clock) - A clock signal generated by the Master device to synchronize data
transmission.

I2C - SCL/SDA pins are the dedicated pins for I2C communication. On the Arduino Uno
they are found on Analog pins A4 and A5.

I2C: is a communication protocol commonly referred to as the “I2C bus”. The I2C
protocol was designed to enable communication between components on a single circuit
board.
With I2C there are 2 wires referred to as SCL and SDA.

SCL is the clock line which is designed to synchronize data transfers.

SDA is the line used to transmit data. Each device on the I2C bus has a unique address,
up to 255 devices can be connected on the same bus.

Aref - Reference voltage for the analog inputs.

Interrupt - INT0 and INT1. Arduino Uno has two external interrupt pins.

12
External Interrupt - An external interrupt is a system interrupt that occurs when outside
interference is present. Interference can come from the user or other hardware devices in
the network. Common uses for these interrupts in Arduino are reading the frequency a
square wave generated by encoders or waking up the processor upon an external event.

Arduino has two forms of interrupt:

External, Pin Change: There are two external interrupt pins on the ATmega168/328
called INT0 and INT1. Both INT0 and INT1 are mapped to pins 2 and 3. In contrast, Pin
Change interrupts can be activated on any of the pins.

Arduino Uno Pin out - ICSP Header

ICSP stands for In-Circuit Serial Programming. The name originated from In-System
Programming headers (ISP). Manufacturers like Atmel who work with Arduino have
developed their own in-circuit serial programming headers. These pins enable the user to
program the Arduino boards’ firmware. There are six ICSP pins available on the Arduino
board that can be hooked to a programmer device via a programming cable.

RFID-RC522:

The RC522 is a 13.56MHz RFID module that is based on the MFRC522 controller from
NXP semiconductors. The module can support I2C, SPI and UART and normally is
shipped with a RFID card and key fob. It is commonly used in attendance systems and
other person/object identification applications.

13
 Figure 3.5: Pin Out of RFID-RC522

RC522 Pin Configuration:

Pin Pin Name Description

Number

1 Vcc Used to Power the module, typically 3.3V is used

2 RST Reset pin – used to reset or power down the module

3 Ground Connected to Ground of system

4 IRQ Interrupt pin – used to wake up the module when a device
comes into range

5 MISO/SCL/TX MISO pin when used for SPI communication, acts as SCL
for I2c and TX for UART.

6 MOSI Master out slave in pin for SPI communication

7 SCK Serial Clock pin – used to provide clock source

8 SS/SDA/Rx Acts as Serial input (SS) for SPI communication, SDA for
IIC and Rx during UART

Table 3.5: RFID-RC522 Pin Configuration

16x2 LCD Module:

14
16x2 LCD modules are very commonly used in most embedded projects, the reason being
its cheap price, availability, programmer friendly and available educational resources.

Figure 3.6: Pin Out of 16x2 LCD Display Module

16x2 LCD Pinout Configuration:

Pin No: Pin Name: Description

1 Vss (Ground) Ground pin connected to system ground

2 Vdd (+5 Volt) Powers the LCD with +5V (4.7V – 5.3V)
3 VE (Contrast V) Decides the contrast level of display. Grounded to get maximum
contrast.

4 Register Connected to Microcontroller to shift between command/data register

Select

5 Read/Write Used to read or write data. Normally grounded to write data to LCD
6 Enable Connected to Microcontroller Pin and toggled between 1 and
0 for data acknowledgement
7 Data Pin 0 Data pins 0 to 7 forms a 8-bit data line. They can be connected to
Microcontroller to send 8-bit data.
These LCD’s can also operate on 4-bit mode in such case Data pin 4,5,6
and 7 will be left free.

8 Data Pin 1

15
9 Data Pin 2

10 Data Pin 3

11 Data Pin 4

12 Data Pin 5

13 Data Pin 6

14 Data Pin 7

15 LED Positive Backlight LED pin positive terminal

16 LED Negative Backlight LED pin negative terminal
Table 3.7: 16x2 LCD Pin Configuration
Chapter 4 SYSTEM OVERVIEW

4.1 COMPONENTS AND SUPPLIES

• Arduino Uno Board

• RFID MFRC522 Module
• SD card module
• 12C Module
• RFID Card/Tag
• LCD display
• Breadboard
• Jumper wires
• Buzzer & Resistor

4.2 Arduino Uno board

Arduino UNO Microcontroller stores the attendance of the student in the microcontroller
memory. Main goal of RFID based attendance system is to record the attendance of the
student. In this project, Arduino UNO microcontroller is used which is based on 8-bit
ATmega328P Microcontroller. It is the main component of project.

Microcontroller does the following functions:

1. Displaying on LCD.

16
2. Input is read from RFID reader.

3. The data or RFID card ID is compared with the data stored in microcontroller memory.

4. If the tag does not match, the buzzer or the led gives signal.

5. If the tag is available in the memory, in time of the student is stored.

6. The data is sent to the memory unit and the attendance of the student is marked

Figure 4.2: Arduino UNO Board

4.3 RFID Reader MFRC522 Module

Full form of RFID is Radio Frequency Identification. RFID tags and RFID reader use
wireless communication between them. In this kind of communication RFID Reader does
not need any line of sight with the tags. The reader can find the RFID tag even if there is
an obstacle between them. RFID Reader is shown in figure

Figure 4.3: RFID MFRC522 Module

4.4 SD Card Module
It is used to transfer data to and from SD card. Used to fulfil the data logging part.

17
Uses SPI communication to transfer data between the microcontroller and SD card .

Figure 4.4: SD card module

4.5 I2C Module

I2C stands for Inter-Integrated Circuit. This is powered by a battery. Therefore, even when the
whole device is switched off, we can still get the accurate time from the I2C module.

Figure 4.5: 12C Modul e

4.6 RFID Card & Tag

There are two main kinds of RFID cards, Passive and Active. Passive RFID tags are used
in this system.

We can use normal RFID cards which are of the size of credit card. These cards are like

credit or debit cards which are white in color that can be used as ID card also.

18
 Figure 4.6 : RFID Tag & Card

4.7 LCD Display

Liquid crystal display is also used to display the Name, Time in and Time out of the
authorized students and to display error message for unauthorized access

Figure 4.7: LCD Display

4.8 Breadboard

A breadboard is a rectangular plastic board with a bunch of tiny holes in it. Most
electronic components in electronic circuits can be interconnected by inserting their leads
or terminals into the holes and then making connections through wires where appropriate.

19
The breadboard has strips of metal underneath the board and connects the holes on the
top of the board.

Figure 4.8: Breadboard

4.9 Jumper Wire

Jumper wires are used to connect two points in a circuit. All Electronics stocks jumper
wire in a variety of lengths and assortments. Frequently used with breadboards and other
prototyping tools to make it easy to change a circuit as needed. Male jumpers are
designed to plug securely into the holes in a breadboard. Female jumpers are useful for
connecting male header posts and pin terminals on components. Jumpers are available in

femalefemale, male-male and male-female configurations.

Figure 4.9: Jumper Wires

20
4.10 Buzzer & Resistor

A buzzer is an audio signaling device, which may be mechanical, electromechanical, or

piezoelectric. It emits sound in response to an electrical input, often used for alarms, timers, and
user notifications.

The resistor is a passive electrical component that creates resistance in the flow of electric current.
In almost all electrical networks and electronic circuits they can be found.

Figure 4.10: Buzzer & Resistor

4.11 SOFTWARE IMPLEMETATION

4.11.1 Arduino IDE

The open-source Arduino Software (IDE) makes it easy to write code and upload
it to the board. It runs on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The environment is
written in Java and based on Processing and other open-source software. This
software can be used with any Arduino board. The Arduino development
environment contains a text editor for writing code, a message area, a text
console, a toolbar with buttons for common functions, and a series of menus. It
has features for cutting/pasting and for searching/replacing text. The message area
gives feedback while saving and exporting and displays errors. The console
displays text output by the Arduino environment including complete error
messages and other information.
Code:

21
4.11.2 Working of the system
Student Attendance system is used to mark the attendance of students by
recording the in time and out time of the students. It is included in colleges,
school for students to get their attendance. RFID cards come in the size of credit
card which is in white color. A student will be given RFID card and RFID reader
will be placed on the door or the entry gate of school or college. Whenever
students want to enter in the school/college, he/she must show the RFID card to
the reader, student has to take the RFID card near to the RFID reader. RFID
Reader will mark the attendance by fetching the RFID card number and swiped in
time.
Chapter 5 OUTCOME/RESULT

The attendance of the students is stored in the memory unit i.e., SD Card. Attendance is
stored in numerical format with different unique ID. Date & Time along with RFID
unique ID is stored.

Figure 5.1 : Result 1

Chapter 6 CONCLUSION AND OVERVIEW

In this project attempt has been made to mark the attendance of the students using RFID
technology. It has been up to mark, the use of RFID is a success, it is storing up data
much faster than traditional method and with much higher accuracy. Just swiping the
RFID tags attendance is being stored and time saving for the student and the teacher.

22
It is obvious that the use of biometrics could improve some aspects of using this kind of
system. High security level can be increased, much wider range of RFID can be set to
capture the data over from distance. This system can be further improved by storing the
attendance in the cloud or in much bigger database, even data can be sent to the parents
about the presence and absence of the student, cards can be misused by the student’s,
proxy attendance can be given, where fingerprint can be a essential as well as
implementing NFC Near field communication and improve and be much more secure to
use.

Appendix:

Working of the system

Student Attendance system is used to mark the attendance of students by recording the
in time and out time of the students. It is included in colleges, school for students to get
their attendance. RFID cards come in the size of credit card which is in white color. A
student will be given RFID card and RFID reader will be placed on the door or the entry
gate of school or college. Whenever students want to enter in the school/college, he/she
must show the RFID card to the reader, student has to take the RFID card near to the
RFID reader. RFID Reader will mark the attendance by fetching the RFID card number
and swiped in time.

23
REFERENCES:

[1] Ula, Mutammimul, et al. "A New Model of The Student Attendance Monitoring
System Using RFID Technology." Journal of Physics: Conference Series. Vol.
1807. No. 1. IOP Publishing, 2021.
[2] Nivetha, R., et al. "Student Attendance System Using RFID." International
Journal of Research in Engineering, Science and Management 3.10 (2020): 16-19.
[3] Al Hajri, Eid, Farrukh Hafeez, and Ameer Azhar NV. "Fully Automated
Classroom Attendance System." Int. J. Interact. Mob. Technol. 13.8 (2019): 95-
106.
[4] Kariapper, R. K. A. R., and Suhail Razeeth. "RFID Based (IoT) Automatic
Attendance System: A Survey Analysis." Available at SSRN 3372734 (2019).
[5] Rjeib, Hasanein D., et al. "Attendance and information system using RFID and
web-based application for academic sector." International Journal of Advanced
Computer Science and Applications 9.1 (2018).

24
25