Smart Attendance System using RFID and IoT

Automates classroom attendance using RFID tags and a cloud-connected microcontroller.

Calling out names takes several minutes of every class, and a called name can be answered by anyone in the room, so proxy attendance is common. Attendance records are also usually compiled by hand at the end of the term, which is slow and error-prone. This project automates attendance with RFID cards and a cloud dashboard.

Each student carries a passive RFID card. A reader mounted near the door is connected to an Arduino-class microcontroller, which reads the card's unique ID, checks it against a cached roster and gives instant feedback with a beep and an LED. Each tap is sent over MQTT to a broker together with the classroom ID and time, and can be queued if the network is briefly down so that no record is lost. A Node.js back end subscribes to the broker, matches each tap to a student and a scheduled class period, and stores a clean attendance record. Teachers see a live roster while students tap in, and a defaulters view shows those below the required percentage. Reports can be exported for the administration. The project compares the time taken with roll call and barcode scanning.

You will learn RFID and microcontroller programming, the MQTT protocol and how to build a small IoT back end and dashboard. The Project Reference Guide explains the hardware wiring and software design, and the Reference Implementation includes the firmware, server and dashboard.