International Journal of JOURNAL Electrical Engineering and Technology ENGINEERING (IJEET), ISSN 0976 & INTERNATIONAL OF ELECTRICAL 6545(Print),

, ISSN 0976 6553(Online) Volume 4, Issue 4, July-August (2013), IAEME TECHNOLOGY (IJEET)
ISSN 0976 6545(Print) ISSN 0976 6553(Online) Volume 4, Issue 4, July-August (2013), pp. 56-61 IAEME: www.iaeme.com/ijeet.asp Journal Impact Factor (2013): 5.5028 (Calculated by GISI) www.jifactor.com

IJEET
IAEME

RFID BASED AUTOMATED GUIDED VEHICLE SYSTEM FOR TRANSPORTATION

Amrita R.Palaskar (PG Scholar) Jawaharlal Nehru Engineering College, Aurangabad (M.S) Prof Aruna P.Phatale Asst.Prof Jawaharlal Nehru Engineering College, Aurangabad(M.S)

ABSTRACT An automated guided vehicle (AGV) is a material handling system that uses independently operated, self-propelled vehicles (Robots) that are guided along defined pathways. AGVS are simply robots that suit for automating material handling in batch and mixed model production system. The AGVs can be of different types and are used in hospitals, industries, warehouses, etc. The RFID technology in its enhanced form has brought advantages that are related to resource optimization, increased efficiency within business processes, and enhanced customer care, overall improvements in business operations and industries. Here an attempt is made to build a prototype of an AGV system, comprising of robot and numerous cheap RFID tags deployed on the ground to automate the training process and, more importantly, to frequently update radio maps. This not only significantly reduces human labors but also improves positioning accuracy and lead the material through the robot by following the proper path. The AGV works on mechanical, electrical and electronic components (sensors and circuit board). These sensors controls, co-ordinates and guide the vehicle in order to transfer material from one place to another. The present project deals with the design and manufacture of AGV which carries the desired load kept on it, using RFID Tags. Index Terms: RFID, robot. 1. INTRODUCTION Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) are computer-controlled systems; just another way to sort containers, move products from one location to another, manage short-term storage of items, and deliver them to assembly lines, shipping locations, and warehouses as needed. Automatic guided vehicle systems help automate material handling even if your throughput does not warrant fixed path
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International Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology (IJEET), ISSN 0976 6545(Print), ISSN 0976 6553(Online) Volume 4, Issue 4, July-August (2013), IAEME conveyors. Automatic guided vehicles can actually improve response time for material movement & capability of adopting variable routes to deliver loads among workstations. This capability is referred to as ``routing flexibility [1]. An AVG is appropriate where different materials are moved from various load points to various unload point.AGVs can carry loads or tow objects behind them in trailers, fork lifts. AGVs are employed in nearly every industry, including, paper, metals, newspaper and general manufacturing. Vehicle Guidance Technology (VGT) [4] shows the path ways and control vehicles to follow the pathway. Embedded wires being used more popularly. The only disadvantage being complexity, of wire installation, maintenance and replacement. The better alternative to guide the AGVs is using the RFID tags. AGVs are typically wire or rail guided often use encoders to determine position. Here the alternative of RFID in comparison to wired system is being considered. The RFID tags placed at different locations act as fixed zero points. When an AGV reaches a tag, the encoder-based location is reset. This eliminates cumulative errors due to encoder wheel slippage or missed pulses. And if the AGV completely loses track of where it is, it only needs to slowly move ahead until the next RFID tag is reached. This provides flexibility, time saving and redundancy and following the correct path to reach the desired correct destination. II. NAVIGATION MECHANISM FOR AGVs The Vehicle Guidance Technology defines the path ways and control vehicles to follow the pathway. Three methods widely used are: 1. Imbedded Guide wires 2. Paint strips 3.Self guided Wired Navigation:- The wire is embedded into the ground and so can not be easily damaged. The wired sensor [5] is placed on the bottom of the robot facing the ground. Then a slot is cut in the ground and a wire is placed an inch below the ground. The sensor on the AGV detects the radio frequency being transmitted from the wire and follows it. The wires in the floor are then energized from a frequency generator and a magnetic field is created around them. The automatic guided vehicle is equipped with antennas which 'search out' the embedded wires, following a given frequency until instructions are received to follow a different frequency. In this way automatic movement of the automatic guided vehicle is accomplished. Communication is used for various functions in an AGV system. It can be between vehicles, between vehicles and a central device or for local interfaces. AGVs receive destination information either locally (onboard the AGV) or remotely (via a central controller). Some AGV system technologies support both methods, others support only one method. The need for one or both dispatching capabilities depends on the system operation. Many times, especially in tow type AGV systems, operators will key in destinations directly onboard the AGV using the AGVs built-in keypad. This would be the preferred and less expensive method to use when operators (like forklift personnel) load or unload the AGVs and then desire to dispatch the AGV according to their needs. III. PROBLEM DEFINITION The installation of wire system and maintenance or replacement can be more difficult (costly).The reinstallation of wired AGV at a different location may be difficult and costly. So as to carry out communication between AGV systems and reduce the wired complexities RFID based system can be much better possible solution. Also the problem of changing the path/direction may arise, that may lead to the restructuring the building assets.

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International Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology (IJEET), ISSN 0976 6545(Print), ISSN 0976 6553(Online) Volume 4, Issue 4, July-August (2013), IAEME IV. SOLUTION: PROPOSED SYSTEM RFID techniques have been applied for navigation of robots in industries. Arrays of short range passive RFID tags are deployed on the entire work field. Each tag represents a unique location. On scanning these tags, the robot can calculate its location. Grid deployment or triangular deployment can be used to provide pathways for AGVs.Both above methods will need a large number of RFID tags. One may also use a rotatable RFID reader to guide a robot to a stationary target, which has an active tag as a location transponder. But, the cost of active tag may be too high. An AoA-like model is adopted to guide the robot. This solution is more costly and it is mainly for one single target. The work done in this project uses passive tags and it takes advantage of existing Wi-Fi networks for meter-level positioning. Unlike barcode, an RFID system is resistant to soiling and identifies without sight contact, besides offering much greater memory capacity on the data medium. Components of an RFID System mainly comprise of following five components 1. Tag (attached with an object, unique identification). 2. Antenna (tag detector, creates magnetic field). 3. Reader (receiver of tag information, manipulator). 4. Communication infrastructure (enable reader/RFID to work through IT infrastructure). 5. Application software (user database/application/ interface).

Fig 1. Block Diagram of Proposed AGV Vehicle V. PROTOTYPE CONSTRUCTION System Configuration Every container on the robot bears an RFID transponder for its unique identification. Vehicles and containers are located in stations at different points in the work area, from where the personnel send them on their way online. As soon as a vehicle arrives at a branch point, a reader installed there detects the transponder and sends its information to the management system. After comparison of the data, a message comes back indicating the next destination for the vehicle. The AGV starts moving again, and the identification process is repeated at all branch points on the way to its destination. In AGV systems there are different identification variants with different RFID hardware solutions: 1. Transponder attachment to the side of the Robot the RFID reader is installed at the same height at the identification points, and responds as soon as the container moves past or halts next to it. 2. Transponder attachment to the bottom of the container the reader and antenna are installed in the vehicle. Identification occurs when the container is positioned on the vehicle. 3. Transponder attachment to the bottom of the container this time the reader is installed in a control cabinet and the antenna in the floor of the building. The container is detected when it stops at an identification point.
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International Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology (IJEET), ISSN 0976 6545(Print), ISSN 0976 6553(Online) Volume 4, Issue 4, July-August (2013), IAEME Requirements of an RFID Reader RFID technology is sensitive to metal in its close surroundings. The fact that both vehicles and containers are made of metal is consequently a considerable challenge for RFID hardware in the first variant described above, which is the one most commonly used. In this case the reader is matched to its surroundings and shielded by a special rear wall against the metal. All necessary extra components such as power supply, antenna or sensor reading are integrated directly in the reader which minimizes installation costs enormously. A simple conducted test mode provides information regarding the operational readiness of the RFID device.We have adopted Microcontroller (Atmega32) based system (Robot) as the mobile platform and attach to it a RFID reader, an electronic compass.The testing set up contains eight WiFi APs and six RFID tag groups. Our experiments show that 5 to 10 seconds are needed for the robot to visit each tag group and totally 3 to 5 minutes to construct a new radio map in this environment. Results and Observations

Equipment used

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International Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology (IJEET), ISSN 0976 6545(Print), ISSN 0976 6553(Online) Volume 4, Issue 4, July-August (2013), IAEME

The Experiment was conducted in a space with a concrete roof an columns, surrounded with one concrete wall, two glass walls, and a open wall Eight passive tags with a separation of 1.2m were located at 20 different locations of the reader and the segment at which the tags are installed is 2m. VI. CONCLUSIONS 1. RFID will enable the identification of containers over long distances and in demanding environments such as the material receive/dispatch area. This will help in real-time identification and tracking of containers, reaching new levels of traceability and control. 2. RFID provides the ability to automatically collect real-time data without burdening employees. FID is one of the technologies that would dramatically change the capabilities of an organization to acquire a vast array of data about the location and properties of any entity that can be physically tagged and wirelessly scanned within certain technical limitations. 3. Tags can be buried at regular intervals in the passageways to serve as location markers. These tags can be read by readers and provide information on the exact location of the container and also capture the identification number of the container being transported. In spite of the potential advantages of RFID the capabilities this new technology has also engendered anxiety from certain segments of the society where concerns about personal privacy are significant. 4. The proposed system provides the industrial and manufacturing environment with automated operation. So that production can be increased with decreasing the time of selecting an appropriate material. Also the accuracy of the material and expensive damages can be avoided. Hence the system is expected to provide flexibility and secure environment. The usage of intensive cabling can be avoided. The system will increase the profit due to saving of more time. In future the system can be enhanced with complete centralization of control through GPS, so that there is no need of human operator. Hence all the operations can be performed by robots and after collecting the material they automatically load them in a vehicle and send them to appropriate place inside the industry.

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International Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology (IJEET), ISSN 0976 6545(Print), ISSN 0976 6553(Online) Volume 4, Issue 4, July-August (2013), IAEME REFERENCES [1] Arne Bosien* and Volker Turau,Institute of Telematics.Hamburg University of Technology, Hamburg, Germany. Approaches to fast sequential inventory and path following in RFIDenriched environments, Int. J. Radio Frequency Identification Technology and Applications, Vol. X, No. Y, XXXX. 1 2 3 1,2 [2] Kamran AHSAN , Hanifa SHAH and Paul KINGSTON Faculty of Computing, 1, 3 Engineering & Technology Staffordshire University, Stafford, ST18 0AD, UK Centre for Ageing & Mental Health. IJCSI International Journal of Computer Science Issues, Vol. 7, Issue 1, No. 3, January 2010 [3] Samer S. Saab, Senior Member, IEEE, and Zahi S. Nakad, Member, IEEE.IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, VOL. 58, NO. 5, MAY 2011 [4] K.Anitha1, R. Seethalakshmi2 1 M.Tech Embedded Systems, 2 professor School of Computing, SASTRA University, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, Intelligent Based Automated Store and Retrieval System with Radio Frequency for Industrial Applications, International Journal of Engineering and Technology (IJET) [5] S. P. Subramanian, J. Sommer, S. Schmitt, and W. Rosenstiel,RILReliable RFID based indoor localization for pedestrians, in Proc.16th Int. Conf. SoftCOM, Sep. 2008, pp. 218 222. [6] H. Tatsumi, Y. Murai, T. Araki, and M. Miyakawa, RFID localization for the visually impaired, Proc. WAC, pp. 16, Oct. 2008. [7] Gurudatt Kulkarni, Rani Waghmare, Nikita Chavan and Sandhya Mandhare, Security in RFID Technology, International Journal of Computer Engineering & Technology (IJCET), Volume 3, Issue 2, 2012, pp. 337 - 343, ISSN Print: 0976 6367, ISSN Online: 0976 6375. [8] Mala Mitra, A Random Number Generator for RFID Tags, International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET), Volume 1, Issue 1, 2010, pp. 71 - 87, ISSN Print: 0976- 6464, ISSN Online: 0976 6472. [9] Sakthivel P, Pooranakumari C and Franklin Telfer, Stacked Planar Antenna for Improving RFID Coverage, International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET), Volume 3, Issue 1, 2012, pp. 62 - 68, ISSN Print: 0976- 6464, ISSN Online: 0976 6472.

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