BeagleBone Black RFID Adaptor Cape



The RFID adaptor cape is an interface between the Beaglebone Black (BBB) and Texas Instrument's TRF7970ATB, (Multi-Protocol Fully Integrated 13.56-MHz RFID and NFC Transceiver).

Our applications of the RFID Adaptor Cape are Cape2Login and Cape2Shop.

-- Cape2Login: Allows you to login your computer without a password using RFID tagged badge.

-- Cape2Shop: Eliminate checkout lanes and personalize shopping using this handheld device which scans RFID tagged items and catalogues your purchases.

Features of the RFID Adaptor Cape:
 * Fully functional RFID and NFC capabilities on the BBB
 * Three status LEDs, one power LED, Push button
 * Communication via SPI
 * Compatible with TRF7960/A and TRF7970/A Target Board (TB)
 * TB supports ISO15693, ISO18000-3, ISO14443A/B, and FeliCa

Source code available to demo:
 * Item identification
 * Live video stream to PC initiated with RFID

Sample Code
Source code: RFID Application on GitHub.

This C application will constantly scan for RFID tags within the vicinity of the reader. Once a tag is detected, its UID will be stored in uid.txt file.

SPI Device Tree Overlay Setup
Since SPI pins are not automatically enabled on BBB, a device tree overlay is used to configure the pins properly for SPI use.

The following information is slightly modified from BeagleBone Black Enable SPIDEV to suit for the cape.

NOTE: You MUST disable the HDMI interface to use SPI1 to talk to the adaptor cape. Create a file called BB-SPI1-01-00A0.dts Compile the dtc: dtc -O dtb -o BB-SPI1-01-00A0.dtbo -b 0 -@ BB-SPI1-01-00A0.dts

Then, copy the file into /lib/firmware/: cp BB-SPI1-01-00A0.dtbo /lib/firmware/

Then enable the device tree overlay: echo BB-SPI1-01 > /sys/devices/bone_capemgr.*/slots

Plug in your BBB to a host computer using the mini usb data cable.

Go to My Computer>BeagleBone Getting Started> and open uEnv.txt Copy and paste this command into the .txt file. Make sure to save your changes. (Ctrl+s)

optargs=quiet drm.debug=7 capemgr.disable_partno=BB-BONELT-HDMI,BB-BONELT-HDMIN capemgr.enable_partno=BB-SPI1-01 Save the changes, reboot Beaglebone Black. Make sure it is enabled You should now have two spidev-files in the folder /dev/ ls -al /dev/spidev1.0

If you don't see it, you can type the following to manually enable the device tree overlay. echo BB-SPI1-01 > /sys/devices/bone_capemgr.*/slots

Eagle Files
Eagle Schematic

Eagle Board Layout

Gerber Files

Team - About Us
Members: Sheng Zhao, Amulya Kattimani, Edwin Flores


 * Edwin Flores
 * Amulya Kattimani
 * Sheng Zhao