Development of a low-cost tag-mapping robot

Automatic identification and localisation of objects, such as parts, products, tools, machines, logistics equipment and even people, often based on QR or RFID tags, is key to analyse, visualise and optimise production in manufacturing. It also allows to detect errors in an early stage or even prevent errors, and to reduce search times. Usually, tag readers are not installed at every machine, production cell and storage location at (SME) manufacturing companies, and the installation of real-time localisation systems (RTLS) often involves the use of battery-powered tags, and both come with high investments. To be able to still identify and locate low-cost tags at all places on the shop floor, tag-mapping robots, sometimes also called warehouse inventory robots, have been developed recently, that become affordable because of rapid developments in autonomous mobile robots (AMR) and RFID-UHF technology. This paper presents the design of a low-cost autonomous tag-mapping robot and a tag localisation method that exploits the notion of the detection reach of the antenna. Intended application is at manufacturing shop floors, where robustness of detection and localisation is important, because of the presence of metal parts, racks and (CNC) machines, that affect radio wave propagation.