Passive 13.56 MHz RFID Transponders for Vehicle Navigation and Lane Guidance

The varied technologies for trajectory control used in todays automatic vehicle navigation and positioning systems reveal several disadvantages. Low frequency (LF) transponders are used as lane in-ground marks for Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGV). Those in-ground transponders operate with inductive coupling. Measured transponder positions are compared with map based data which contain reference transponder positions and serial numbers for transponder identification. To increase achievable vehicle speed and to minimize infrastructure costs, a new system is developed within the project “TagDrive”. It is a highly innovative system to use RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) transponders operating at the international widespread frequency of 13.56 MHz for High Frequency (HF) systems. Higher transfer rates open up new application areas like the automotive sector. AGVs also benefit from the solution because more data can be transferred during vehicle movement. Now navigation data can be stored directly to the transponder memory. Therefore, a map is no longer needed. For the transponder’s protection and its fixation on the floor, a flat PMMA (polymethylmetacrylate) casing is developed. The casing has a height of about 3 mm. Finally, speed, range, mechanical and climatic tests are performed successfully with existing and new test facilities.