Inventory Management with an RFID-equipped Mobile Robot

The use of RFID technology has increased in libraries where it is the centerpiece of emerging automated self-checkout, return, and theft detection systems. In this paper, we present LibBot, a robot equipped with an RFID reader, that automates the otherwise manual shelf-reading process and finds misplaced books autonomously. Our experiments with a single library shelf show that our robot-assisted approach to inventory management can not only detect misplaced books reliably, but also correctly determine the order of the books on the shelves and even localize each book with an accuracy of a few centimeters. Our work also shows to what extent RFID challenges such as metal shelves and thin books with RFID tags in close proximity affect the location accuracy.