Target Localization by Mobile Handheld UHF RFID Reader

In this paper we design and implement a mobile handheld human operated device used to guide the user towards the desired RFID target, and at the same time provide estimations of the distance and the angle from the user to the target. The main components of the device are a UHF RFID reader operating with one antenna, and an IMU used to measure rotation angles. The user is instructed by the device to perform one of three different actions: SCAN, TURN and MOVE. During these actions phase of arrival and rotation angle data are collected by the RFID reader and the IMU respectively. A particle filter algorithm leverages the collected data to estimate the distance and angle of the target, with respect to the user's current pose. Experimental results show a mean angle estimation error of ~4
^o
, and distance estimation error less than
$0.5 m$
when the user approaches the target.