This story was delivered to Business Insider Intelligence IoT Briefing subscribers hours before it appeared on Business Insider. To be the first to know, please click here.Robotics could become cheaper and easier in the near future: A new object tracking system for robots from researchers at MIT enables these units to employ radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to orient themselves, according toEngadget.Using this technique, companies could create robots that are better able to find and grasp objects near them, which can have major cost savings and create more efficient operations in manufacturing as well as logistics and warehouse management.The new, RFID-based technique could provide a cheap and effective alternative to the computer vision model currently in use.Most existing robotic systems use computer vision to track where moving objects are located at any given point.This requires them to use capable ' and thus expensive ' cameras paired with powerful computer hardware that can interpret video data in real time, allowing the robot's AI to make decisions around the movement of its arms or graspers.The new system does away with expensive cameras, using relatively cheap RFID tags to communicate with a sensor built into the robot, which then determines the location of the item affixed with that tag. In addition to being inexpensive, the system is also accurate and quick: According to the researchers, it has an error range of about one centimeter and can locate an object in 7.5 milliseconds.Using RFID rather than computer vision is a novel approach that takes advantage of a technology that is already used for a number of enterprise applications. RFID is commonly used throughout the supply chain; it's how a company such asCitizens Reserve is implementing its blockchain-based logistics tracking solution, for instance. That would make it relatively easy for a company that's also interested in using robotics in distribution centers and warehouses, for instance, to tap into the same hardware that's already included in goods moving through the facility in that robotic solution while also using less expensive hardware. The downside is that most of the commonly used types of RFID tags have a very low range ' around three feet ' meaning that a robots' sensor would need to be close to the object they're working with in order to use this method. But there are sufficient use cases in fields such as manufacturing and logistics that fit the bill. This RFID-based system, once further developed and commercialized, could help boost the number of enterprise robots in use, which Business Insider Intelligence forecasts will approach 6 million by 2023. Subscribe to an All-Access pass to Business Insider Intelligence and gain immediate access to: Content like this delivered straight to your inbox daily Access to 250+ expertly researched reports plus all future reports Forecasts of new and emerging technologies in your industry And more! Learn More SEE ALSO:IoT Report: How Internet of Things technology growth is reaching mainstream companies and consumersJoin the conversation about this story
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