International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 16 Number 3 – Oct 2014
Location Spotting System for Forest Rummage
and Rescue Mission Using RFID
N.Upender1, B.Santhosh Kumar2
1
pursuing M.Tech (ES) , 2Assistant Professor & HOD (ECE Department)
1,2
Visvesvaraya College of Engineering and Technology (VCET), M.P.Patelguda, Ibrahimpatnam, RangaReddy, Telangana,
INDIA
Abstract — this paper describes the structure of
an rescue robot using RFID for missing people in forest
environment. The main design aspects include the cost,
reliability and the sustainable to environment. To
accomplish these factors the paper used the three wireless
technologies GSM, GPS and RFID. The researches took
place earlier on mobile robots using GSM, GPS, WiMax
are very expensive and here in this paper using RFID
along with GSM and GPS for cost effective but
performance oriented robot. The main focus of this article
is to develop a less expensive mobile robot using RFID.
Additionally IR sensor circuitry is used to overwhelm the
problem of human identification with the traditional
robots. At last, the considerable issue is battery source for
robot, which was achieved by using solar energy as power
source.
Keywords— RFID, GSM, GPS, Robot, Solar Energy, IR
sensors
I. INTRODUCTION
The omnidirectional mapping and computing
technologies have considerable prospective to enhance the
quality of people’s life. RFID technology, in particular,
provides us with an economically feasible means for building
a ubiquitous computing infrastructure at scale, which can be
used to implement varieties of application services.
Due to abundant improvement in the field of
engineering especially Robotics, various robotic systems have
been developing for different applications. There are certain
systems which will be useful for disabled persons such as
automatic wheel chairs and automatic motion of vehicles on
roads. There are also some robotic systems developed for use
in defence applications. In addition to rapid growth in robotics
there are mobile robots also for rescue applications. Since
ancient days the human and sniffer dogs are the main sources
for rescue the injured persons in emergency situations such as
kidnap or missing cases. In case of trekking trips, adventure
tours or any research oriented trips the campers may become
helpless in dangerous forests. In that situations rescue teams
use human resources and trained sniffer dogs to get the
victims safety at their own risk. However, in case of victims
ISSN: 2231-5381
trapped in small holes or somewhere else, these tools will not
be useful. After doing a research on available outdoor wireless
technologies for location identification, RFID was suggested
and proposed in this paper to use in rescue robots. To improve
the ability to detect the human being the RFIF wireless
module and IR sensor circuitry is added to the existed rescue
robot. The task of human detection is the major enhancement
with this paper and it will be accomplished by using PIR
sensor along with RFID, GSM and GPS modules as
information exchanging section.
II. STATE OF THE ART
A. Background Research on Rescue Robots
In order to improve the efficiency of life saving operations
in the field of rescue robots, so many researches have been
made. Over past 22 years, different kinds of rescue robots
have been implemented for different applications intended to
work in specific situations like natural catastrophes and
collapsing buildings etc.
The Australian researchers made Redback robot based on
a toy called Tarantula, it can able to overcome stairs and
terrains. This is having a disadvantage to be delicate which
prevents it from outside operation of laboratory context. One
more rescue robot developed at the IT institute of the
University of Freiburg, and it solved the problem of the
Simultaneous Localization and Mapping using RFID. In fact,
In order to coordinate the exploration of multiple robots
deployed in tough environments, RFID is used. The victim
will be very easily caught by the user and thanks to the user
[2]. Another team from Kobe University in Japan: the utility
vehicle for search (UVS) is focusing its research on the
coordination of small robots to form a large robot able to
climb large obstacles in the case of earthquake aftermaths [5].
The Kohga University of Tokyo is currently developing snake
robots for exploration of small spaces in disaster sites. Rescue
robotics is also investigated in industry [6].
The US government financed to iRobot project; which are
equipped with cameras, microphones, laser range finders, and
IR sensors to explore urban and outside places [7]. Inuktun
designs robots to be used inside tubes and in wet
environments [8]. The major problem occurring while
developing all these robots is power supply. The proposed
rescue robot’s battery autonomy is improved by adding a solar
power charger.
http://www.ijettjournal.org
Page 139
International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 16 Number 3 – Oct 2014
B. Location-based Wireless Technologies
The choice of location identification technology should be
suitable for range, environment and we need to consider the
factors like accuracy, reliability and range. And also power
consumption also a main factor in case of robotic systems.
The most popular outdoor location technologies consider:
GPS, WiMAX and RFID [9].
GPS is a location technology which receives the orbital
data from 24 satellites. In case of GPS, a drawback is there:
The signal becomes week where the flore is too wild and trees
opposes the signals. [9].
Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access
(WiMAX) is a wireless technology which can be used for
indoor and outdoor long range positioning applications. Its
data rate is nearly 70 Mbps, range up to 50 Km and typically
operates at 2.5 and 5.4 GHz. The WiMAX technology is also
having the drawback of decreasing service quality in the rainy
season and also it is expensive to use.
RFID technology works as storing information onto tags
which are tied up with devices. The advantageous things in
RFID technology includes that they can read multiple tags
simultaneously, it can work in any kind of weather conditions
and allows to read even while metals surrounding. This is also
less expensive compared to all other wireless outdoor
technologies.
C. Radio Frequency Identification Technology
RFID system consists of mainly three components reader,
tag and antenna. The tag consists of stored information which
can be accessible by electromagnetic waves. The reader is to
read the stored information using antenna even though the tag
is not in line of sight. RFID have the frequency range of
100KHz – 500KHz in low range applications while in the
intermediate range the frequency becomes 10MHz – 15MHz it
is applied for 10cm-4m distance, and the high range (between
0. and 5.8 GHz) is for 2 m-3 m.
III. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
In this paper, the proposed rescue robot based on RFID
considers the vision guided mobile robot.
The vision guided mobile robot with RFID reader
and IR camera explores the forest.
IR cameras/sensors detects the hot temperature
of victim’s body
RFID reader reads the victim’s information and
location will be traced by GPS connected to Robot.
The information will be sent to the user using GSM
is localized
Fig 1: Block Missing
diagram victim
of Rescue
operation
ISSN: 2231-5381
A. Wireless Module
The rescue operation includes individuals for different tasks
like running, climbing, searching, etc. RFID tags are used to
retrieve the information and are placed in where they needed.
In this case, the tags are maintained with victims. The
information stored in the tags is the person name and other
particulars. The robot which contains the RFID reader reads
the details from the tag and uses it for sending it to rescue
team. From the forest’s entrance, the robot starts its inspection,
following a path defined by the command center [1]. In order
to find the body of the victim and its exact location, the robot
will rely on a camera and a sensor (discussed later in this
section). Whenever the body is detected, the robot reads the
RFID details and location details from the GPS module
connected to it. The information about victim details and
location of the found place in forest will be sent via GSM
module installed to the robot.
B. Sensory System
The rescue robot contains a wireless camera which is used
to monitor the motion of the robot movement and that will be
controlled by sending message from to the GSM module.
However the camera doesn’t have any image recognition
capability to detect the face of the victim’s body, so to
accomplish that we have an IR sensor circuitry which will
recognizes the human body temperature and wavelength. The
IR sensor circuitry includes the Passive IR sensor for human
detection.
IV. THE POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM
The design of rescue robot puts challenges ahead to the
designer such as environmental issues which need to be
consider in the design of robot. One more challenge is the
continuous power supply to make it work nonstop in rescue
operations. The proposed robot is holding a recharge Ni-MH
battery. The wireless modules and sensor circuitry utilizes the
battery power as well. In case of emergency rescue operations,
the robot shouldn’t come back if it running out of the power
source. That means the power supply should allow the robot
to work without interruption. To overcome this power
problem the solar power is preferable. The solar power supply
would make the autonomous robot to work uninterruptedly by
grasping maximum power from the environmental resources
and also reduces the cost of the rescue operations.
A. Energy Storage Device (Battery)
The rechargeable battery is used as power source in case
of the intensity of the sunshine is lost or in night times. Again
the battery will be charged when the sun is brighten back. So
many kinds of batteries available in the market and it is very
important to choose the suitable one according to our
application. Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH), Nickel-Cadmium
(NiCd), Sealed Lead Acid (SLA), Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) and
http://www.ijettjournal.org
Page 140
International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 16 Number 3 – Oct 2014
Lithium Polymers (Li-Po) are examples of batteries that are
commonly used for storing solar charge [20]. While choosing
a suitable battery type, we need to consider the parameters
like cost, efficiency, environmental issues and lifetime. If we
take lead acid batteries, they are poor in environmental
conditions because this batteries lead to leakage sulfuric acid
which causes to acid rains [21]. Li-poly and Li- Ion batteries
are very similar in size, light weight, etc. They gives us more
energy compared to nickel type of batteries. However,
compared lithium ion batteries, Li-poly type of batteries
provide more energy and moreover they are easily fit into
robot design. Therefore, this paper considered the
rechargeable 7.4 V, 1345 mAh Lithium polymer battery as a
power source. After that this battery will be regulated to 5v to
be useful in robot as well wireless modules and sensor
circuitry.
B. Solar Cell Technology
Based on the long life cycle and high reliability the
photovoltaic technology is characterized. The PV cells
generates the energy based on the cell dimensions. Here is a
considerable issue while designing the robot is we need to
maintain the size As a result, the surface area of the robot will
be reduced and
In addition, the choice of the solar cells technology
depends on the energy consumption of the robot as well. In
this case, the Li-Po battery is regulated to 5 V to power supply
the wireless module and the robot sensory system. The latter
includes sensors and infrared distance. Experiments,
concerning a solar charging system for a mobile robot
application, were conducted in [22]. The power consumption
of wireless module and sensor circuitry due to continuous
exchange of information produces the results and are
classified as
 In case of sensors are activated, on an average
power consumption is around 3.5 W.
 In case of sensors are not activated, the average
power consumption is around 2W.
By considering the desired rescue robot size is small and
the solar cells power consumption, there are two considerable
technologies: crystalline Silicon cells (c-Si) and thin film
technology. The c-Si solar cells are the most common solar
cells using currently in energy systems, because of mainly
cost and more stability [22]. The efficiency of this batteries is
around 12% to 17%. Whereas the thin film cells have only 7%
of efficiency.
C. MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking)
Compared to other harvesting methods such as
Pyroelectric harvesting, biomechanical harvesting, etc, the
most efficient method is photovoltaic harvesting. The MPPT
(Maximum Power Point Tracking) technique applies the
sufficient resistance and samples the output of the cells (load)
to get maximum power under different temperature and light
irradiance condition. In this paper we adopted this method for
energy harvesting.
ISSN: 2231-5381
Ni – MH Battery
Actuators
Control Board
(a)
(b)PV
DC/DC
Li – Poly Battery
Wireless Modules
IR sensor
circuitry
RFID
GSM
GPS
Figure 2. Flow chart of the robot’s overall power system.
a) Power system of the mobile robot in [1].
b) The suggested solar power system in this paper.
When the robot is used in the rescue operation in the day
time the robot will harvest the energy from the sunlight and if
the rescue operation takes place in the night times then the
stored energy will be consumed to accomplish the rescue.
V. DESCRIPTION
The proposed system mainly aimed and designed to
accomplish the task of search and rescue missions in forests.
The rescue robot was designed to perform the search for the
missing victims in the forest. The basic robot movement will
be worked with the help DC motors connected to the robot
wheels. The wireless modules RFID, GPS and GSM are
connected to the robot. An IR sensor circuitry is also
connected to the robot. Coming to the working of the robot,
whenever the victim’s body is detected by the sensor circuitry
which consists of the Passive IR sensor (works based on the
wavelength and temperature of the human body), the RFID
will activate and reads the information from the RFID tag
having with victim and the location details will be obtained
using GPS module and the information about the victim
details and location details will be sent to the user by using
GSM module. The power supply to robot and wireless
modules given by a 12v recharge battery which is connected
http://www.ijettjournal.org
Page 141
International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 16 Number 3 – Oct 2014
to a solar panel to charge while sunshine intensity is more.
Then it will make the robot to work uninterruptedly.
[12]
VI. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
This paper dealt with the low cost rescue robot which is
more efficient in rescue operations for detecting victims. The
location identification was the main aim of this paper and for
that we are using a GPS module which gives the all-round
surveillance of the earth. GSM module was used for
information exchange. Due to rapid growth in tele
communication, it will be more efficient and inexpensive to
exchange the information using GSM.
The power supply is the major concern everywhere in
electronics. So in our rescue robot, the power source was
provided by using a battery and it is again connected to the
solar panel which gives us continuous power source and also
ecofriendly.
VII.
[13]
[14]
[15]
Next Generation Mobile Applications, Services and
Technologies, 2012.
H. D Chon, S. Jun, H. Jung and S. W. An, “Using RFID for
accurate positioning,” in Journal of Global Positioning
Systems, Vol. 3, No. 1–2, 2004, pp. 32–39.
S. Burion, R. Clavel and I. Nourbakhsh, “Human detection
for robotic urban search and rescue,” in EPFL University
press, Report No. LSRO2, 2004.
J.M. Rendon-Mancha, A. Cardenas, M.A. Garcia and B.
Lara, “ Robot positioning using camera-space manipulation
with a linear camera model,” in IEEE Transactions on
Robotics, Vol. 26, Issue 4, Aug. 2010, pp. 726–733.
J. Haverinen, M. Parpala and J. Roning, “A miniature
mobile robot with a color stereo camera system for swarm
robotics research,” in IEEE Robotics and Automation, Apr.
2005, pp. 2483–2486.
VIII.
REFERENCES
[1] M. Faisal and J. B. Alam, “Low-Cost rescue robot for
disaster management in a developing country: development
of a prototype using locally available technology,” NASA
Langley
Research
Publications,
Document
ID:
20100012838, Apr. 2010.
[2] R. Sheh, “The Redback: a low cost advanced mobility
robot for education and research,” in the proceedings of
IEEE International Workshop on Safety, Security and
Rescue Robotics, 2006.
[3] R. R. Murphy, “Trial by fire [rescue robots],” in IEEE
Robotics & Automation Magazine, Vol. 11, Issue 3, Sept.
2004, pp. 50–61.
[4] O. Unver, “Tankbot: A miniature, peeling based climber on
rough and smooth surfaces,” in ICRA IEEE Robotics and
Automation, May 2009, pp. 2282–2287.
[5] T. Kamegawa, T. Yamasaki and F. Matsuno, “Evaluation
of snake- like rescue robot KOHGA for usability of remote
control,” in IEEE Safety, Security and Rescue Robotics,
Jun. 2005, pp. 25–30.
[6] C.C. Kessens, D.C. Smith and P.R. Osteen, “A framework
for autonomous self-righting of a generic robot on sloped
planar surfaces,” in IEEE Robotics and Automation, May
2012, pp. 4724– 4729.
[7] [7] T. Fincannon, L.E. Barnes, R.R. Murphy and D.L.
Riddle, “Evidence of the need for social intelligence in
rescue robots,” in IEEE Intelligent Robots and Systems,
Vol. 2, Oct. 2004, pp. 1089–1095.
[8] S. Selevan and R. Kwok, “Use of sensors and radio
frequency ID for the national children’s study,” Research
Triangle Institute Publications, Report No. 08601.001.006,
Aug. 2004.
[9] C. Benavente-Peces, V. M. Moracho-Olivia, A.
Dominguez-Garcia and M. Lugilde-Rodriguez, “Global
system for location and guidance of disabled people :
indoor and outdoor technologies integration,” in IEEE 5th
Int. conference on networking and services, 2009.
[10] A. Lhafi, “Haut Commissariat aux Eaux et Forêts et à la
Lutte Contre La Désertification,” [On-line] Available :
www.eauxetforets.gov.ma/fr/index.aspx [Oct. 10, 2012].
[11] M. Nassih, I. Cherradi, Y. Maghous, B. Ouriaghli and Y. S.
Alj, “Obstacles recognition system for the blind people
using RFID,” in IEEE 6th International Conference on
ISSN: 2231-5381
http://www.ijettjournal.org
AUTHOR DETAILS
N.Upender, pursuing M.Tech
(ES) from Visvesvaraya College
of Engineering and Technology
(VCET),
M.P.Patelguda,Ibrahimpatnam,
RangaReddy, Telangana, INDIA
B.Santhosh Kumar,working as
Assistant Professor & HOD
(ECE
Department)
from
Visvesvaraya
College
of
Engineering and Technology
(VCET),
M.P.Patelguda,Ibrahimpatnam,
RangaReddy. He obtained Ph.D
in Wireless Communications
.He has morethan nine years of
Experience in Teaching Field.
Page 142