Wireless navigation using RFID

• Main Author: Kwan, Jeng Wai.
• Other Authors: Shen Zhiqi
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering::Antennas, wave guides, microwaves, radar, radio
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/15768
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Wireless technologies are being embraced by people all around the world due to its convenience and flexibility. Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID), a type of wireless communication technology, has been gaining popularity fast recently. Due to its relatively cheap and hassle-free implementation, RFID has also been greatly employed in various applications in our daily life, such as in public transports and libraries. Here, in bid to explore the limitless possibilities of applying RFID, this project serves to implement RFID as a navigation tool. A mobile robot mounted with RFID reader and antenna is programmed to navigate autonomously in a controlled environment. The area is marked as grid cells with RFID tags placed in the centre to act as navigation guide. The objective for the robot is to travel from any start point to a predetermined end point based on the positioning of the RFID tags. This project consists of both hardware and software portions. The hardware components comprised of the microcontroller chip, PIC16F886, RFID reader and antenna, stripboard circuit with the necessary components and a 2-wheeled robot chassis. The programming language used for the development is C language. The software IDE used is MPLAB. Experiments are conducted to test and evaluate the navigation capability. RFID can be employed as a simple navigation tool which offers localization to robot. However, the DC motors used are not suitable and thus hinder the navigation process. Overall, the objectives stated are achieved. This report documents the design and development process of this project. It contains the relevant information such as circuit schematic and program algorithms. The problems encountered are also described in details. In addition, the report also covers on recommendations to further improve the completed project.