Path following of autonomous mobile robot using passive RFID tags

Abstract

Autonomous mobile robots are capable of moving through an environment where human access is difficult or impossible. Due to the low cost and long life cycle of a passive RFID tag, the identification of an object by passive RFID tags is gaining its popularity. Path (e.g., road) following by mobile robots based on paint line detection has recently been implemented in many countries. This path following uses image processing techniques. Path line can not be detected in the environments with low light or obstacles in the path of detection. The paint line may be erased by raindrops or by some noisy substances. These problems can be overcome by placing RFID tags along the path. In this work, we propose a path following technique by a robot based on passive RFID tags which do not require any power source. We design a path following strategy for a mobile robot to reach the destination. We prove that the robot always reaches the destination as close as the distance measurement error even if the distance and angular measurements are not exact. It is also capable of choosing right path among multiple paths.