Localization of RFID-equipped assets during the operation phase of facilities

Indoor localization has gained importance as it has the potential to improve various processes related to the lifecycle management of facilities and to deliver personalized and location-based services (LBSs). Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) based systems, on the other hand, have been widely used in different applications in construction and maintenance. This paper investigates the usage of RFID technology for indoor localization of RFID equipped assets during the operation phase of facilities. The location-related data on RFID tags attached to assets are extracted from a Building Information Model (BIM) and can provide context-aware information inside the building which can improve Facilities Management (FM) processes. First, using the current location of the assets saved on the tags attached to fixed assets, an FM personnel is able to read tags from a distance and locate them on a floor plan. Fixed tags with known positions act as reference tags for RFID reader localization techniques. In this scenario, the user can also estimate his/her location by scanning the surrounding reference tags. Furthermore, the paper investigates an approach to locate moveable assets using received signals from available reference tags in the building based on pattern matching and clustering algorithms. As a result, a user equipped with an RFID reader is able to estimate his/her location, as well as the location of target assets, without having access to any Real-Time Location System (RTLS) infrastructure. Several case studies are used to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed methods.

[1]  Amin Hammad,et al.  Lifecycle management of facilities components using radio frequency identification and building information model , 2009, J. Inf. Technol. Constr..

[2]  Tao Chen,et al.  Model-based multidimensional clustering of categorical data , 2012, Artif. Intell..

[3]  Edward J. Jaselskis,et al.  Implementing Radio Frequency Identification in the Construction Process , 2003 .

[4]  Gaetano Borriello,et al.  SpotON: An Indoor 3D Location Sensing Technology Based on RF Signal Strength , 2000 .

[5]  Jongchul Song.  Tracking the location of materials on construction projects , 2005 .

[6]  Kaveh Pahlavan,et al.  Wireless Information Networks , 1995 .

[7]  Chimay J. Anumba,et al.  Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) applications: A brief introduction , 2007, Adv. Eng. Informatics.

[8]  MotamediAli,et al.  Localization of RFID-equipped assets during the operation phase of facilities , 2013 .

[9]  M. Matsumoto,et al.  RFID Indoor Positioning Based on Probabilistic RFID Map and Kalman Filtering , 2007 .

[10]  Fred Spiring,et al.  Introduction to Statistical Quality Control , 2007, Technometrics.

[11]  Duncan McFarlane,et al.  Determining the value of asset location information systems in a manufacturing environment , 2010 .

[12]  Burcin Becerik-Gerber,et al.  Performance-based evaluation of RFID-based indoor location sensing solutions for the built environment , 2011, Adv. Eng. Informatics.

[13]  Yoshihiko Kimuro,et al.  Self-localization of mobile robots with RFID system by using support vector machine , 2004, 2004 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) (IEEE Cat. No.04CH37566).

[14]  T. Sanpechuda,et al.  A review of RFID localization: Applications and techniques , 2008, 2008 5th International Conference on Electrical Engineering/Electronics, Computer, Telecommunications and Information Technology.

[15]  Bo Zhu,et al.  Role-based access to facilities lifecycle information on RFID tags , 2011, Adv. Eng. Informatics.

[16]  D.M. Mount,et al.  An Efficient k-Means Clustering Algorithm: Analysis and Implementation , 2002, IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Mach. Intell..

[17]  Chong Wang,et al.  RFID-Based 3-D Positioning Schemes , 2007, IEEE INFOCOM 2007 - 26th IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications.

[18]  Burcu Akinci,et al.  Tracking Components and Maintenance History within a Facility Utilizing Radio Frequency Identification Technology , 2007 .

[19]  Burcu Akinci,et al.  Technological assessment and process implications of field data capture technologies for construction and facility/infrastructure management , 2008, J. Inf. Technol. Constr..

[20]  Vineet R. Kamat,et al.  Evaluation of position tracking technologies for user localization in indoor construction environments , 2009 .

[21]  Amin Hammad,et al.  Location Information Management of RFID-Equipped Building Components , 2011 .

[22]  Yunhao Liu,et al.  VIRE: Active RFID-based Localization Using Virtual Reference Elimination , 2007, 2007 International Conference on Parallel Processing (ICPP 2007).

[23]  Jing Liu,et al.  Survey of Wireless Indoor Positioning Techniques and Systems , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part C (Applications and Reviews).

[24]  Jing Shi,et al.  RFID localization algorithms and applications—a review , 2009, J. Intell. Manuf..

[25]  Peter Martini,et al.  Indoor tracking for mission critical scenarios: A survey , 2011, Pervasive Mob. Comput..

[26]  Kevin Curran,et al.  A survey of active and passive indoor localisation systems , 2012, Comput. Commun..

[27]  Yunhao Liu,et al.  LANDMARC: Indoor Location Sensing Using Active RFID , 2004, Proceedings of the First IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications, 2003. (PerCom 2003)..

[28]  Ghassan Aouad,et al.  An investigation into the applicability of building information models in geospatial environment in support of site selection and fire response management processes , 2008, Adv. Eng. Informatics.

[29]  ChiaCheng Chao,et al.  Determining technology trends and forecasts of RFID by a historical review and bibliometric analysis from 1991 to 2005 , 2007 .

[30]  Chimay J. Anumba,et al.  Context Aware Information Delivery for On-Site Construction Operations , 2005 .

[31]  Hakima Chaouchi,et al.  RFID-assisted indoor localization and the impact of interference on its performance , 2011, J. Netw. Comput. Appl..

[32]  Min Cheol Lee,et al.  Localization of Mobile Robot Based on Radio Frequency Identification Devices , 2006, 2006 SICE-ICASE International Joint Conference.