Wuppertal, Germany, August 4--Vorwerk presented live demonstrations of a service robot moving along a carpet containing integrated RFID technology to provide intelligent navigation at this year's Techtextil.
The development is part of the carpet manufacturer's collaborative work with chipmaker Infineon Technologies and enables robots equipped with an RFID reader to automatically and intelligently navigate a floor space as, for example, transport units or self-propelling automated cleaners.
Vorwerk said it has achieved targeted navigation on nearly 100% of the surface area, with blocked areas being intelligently circumvented to be re-targeted later.
Externally, the wired carpet doesn't differ from any other. Invisible RFID tags are integrated into the carpet's basic backing construction from where they can be enscribed and electromagnetically read.
Information and control can be transferred to whatever crosses them.
An individual RFID tag consists of an ultra-thin sheet of PET which has been equipped with metal conductors, an antenna coil and a tiny silicon microchip. These flat units are integrated into the carpet to form a network across the entire carpet surface.
Each of the RFID tags has its own ID number which can be detected and identified by an RFID reader via wireless data transmission (13.56 MHz) across a distance of 10 centimetres. The power required for this process is supplied exclusively by the robot. The RFID tags themselves are completely passive, meaning that no electrical voltage whatsoever is laid down on the carpet.
The individual "signal transmitters" are linked by the robot into a virtual map by reading out the individual RFID tags in the carpet. The robot then moves precisely along the "routing network". Vorwerk suggests a bed transporter on pre-defined wards of a hospital with a reading memory to analyse which wards have already been driven to, or in the case of cleaning robots, which areas of a given surface have already been processed.
The robot can also store date and time information on the RFID tag opening up the possibility for a simple form of service control.
The Smart Carpet System can go further. It is possible, for instance, for a robot to be programmed go to different areas on a scheduled basis, e.g. when experience has shown that no one else will be moving around there at that time. In addition, information regarding the space itself (for example corridor or room numbers) or certain properties of the flooring underneath, can also be deposited on an RFID tag.
The power required for transferring information is supplied by the robot point-for-point when crossing over an RFID tag. The RFID tag itself is passive. The carpet can consequently be used and cleaned on an unrestricted basis, fully in alignment with its respective properties for usage. In addition, as the individual RFID tags integrated into the carpet backing are also protected against breakage, neither humidity nor wetness impairs their function. The lack of voltage means that short circuits are ruled out.
Robots using RFID technology are considerably less expensive to construct than conventional laser-radar-assisted or 3D-camera-supported devices.
The technology is scheduled to be ready for the market in 2006. Its area of use shall primarily be in the contract carpet sector.
