Virtual pheromone-based approach for objects searching in RFID-based cyber-physical robotic systems

Abstract

This paper describes the use of the Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) technology to search for objects (products) by a set of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) evolving inside a 2D grid workspace cluttered with static obstacles (warehouse, etc For this aim, a number of RFID tags are deployed in order to be exploited by the robots carrying out their tasks. In addition, an interaction mechanism based on virtual pheromones to control the robots is described. Furthermore, a stigmergic search for objects of interest is presented; this indirect interaction mechanism is used to control the robots moving inside their workspace while spreading and reading pheromones. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach and the minimization of the overall number of visited nodes.