RSS stabilization techniques for a real-time passive UHF RFID pipe monitoring system for smart shipyards

The pipes of a ship, which exist in heterogeneous typology and massive number, are one of the key elements in a shipyard, and their real-time monitoring constitutes a prospective Cyber-Physical System (CPS). Their improved location, from production and through their lifetime, can enhance shipyard productivity and safety. Navantia, one of the ten largest shipbuilders in the world, has improved its pipe workshop thanks to the concept of smart pipe, which is defined as an object able to transmit signals periodically that allows for providing added-value services in a shipyard. In this paper it is evaluated the use of passive UHF RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) for implementing the concept of smart pipe. Promising indoor positioning results obtained in a pipe workshop are presented, showing that multi-antenna algorithms and Kalman filtering can help to stabilize Received Signal Strength (RSS) and improve the overall accuracy of the pipe monitoring system in a real-world scenario.