Always losing stuff? If you carry an assortment of expensive gear around, here’s a great idea that will assure you you’ll never again leave anything behind. DeWalt teamed up with Ford Trucks to create Tool Link, a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag reader that electronically accounts for each item on which you place a small transmitting tag. Using two RFID antennas in the truck bed, when you press a button on the in-dash computer screen it does an electronic roll call, showing you if any of those valuable tools are missing.

This is a great idea. It would be useful beyond just accounting for tools in the back of a pickup truck. I could have used one of these when I was shooting video for a TV newscast, where we were responsible for dozens of different pieces of unbelievably expensive equipment. A tiny RFID tag on each item and this electronic accounting system would have saved us a lot of time and heartache.

If the RFID tags are small enough, this could even be useful for frequent travelers who would never have to worry about leaving something in a hotel room again. With enough transmission power, it might even be able to help you quickly locate lost items around the house. For now, this is a $1,500 option for Ford trucks, but maybe someday small RFID tags will be readable and accounted for on cellphones. Useful, unless, of course, you’ve lost your cellphone.

Via Gearlog