Robot Localization via Passive UHF-RFID Technology: State-of-the-Art and Challenges

This paper presents a state-of-the-art analysis on the current methods for robot localization based on the passive UHF-RFID technology. The state-of-the-art analysis describes the main features and challenges of several localization methods. Then, a first experimental analysis related to a novel phase-based robot localization method is presented. The robot on-board reader collects phase data from a set of passive reference tags during its motion, so resembling to a synthetic array. Then, the phase data are combined with information acquired by low-cost kinematic sensors, through a Sensor Fusion approach. The experimental results show that centimetre order localization errors can be achieved in a typical office indoor scenario by employing a few reference tags.