RFID assisted object tracking for automating manufacturing assembly lines

RFID technology provides a wireless means to detect and identify objects. In this paper, an RFID assisted object tracking system is developed to track the object movement and further predict object positions in the assembly lines. To overcome the problems of the object tracking accuracy with certain amount of readers with omni directional aerial, a convex model for range-free cooperative object tracking is proposed in the manufacturing assembly lines. Further to enhance the assembly line efficiency, a particle filter model is developed to further process the object tracking results to improve the tracking accuracy. The proposed tracking system can also forecast the movement state of objects in the assembly lines. © 2007 IEEE.link_to_subscribed_fulltex