Robot butlers with RFID scanners could be used as service animals

We already use dogs and monkeys as service animals to help people with disabilities, so why not use robots as well? Researchers at Georgia Tech have combined RFID tags, long-distance scanners, and a self-propelled robot to develop a method of reliably locating objects in a real-world setting. With this setup, people with reduced mobility or short-term memory can ask the robot for help finding important items like medicine or documents.

In their research paper, Travis Deyle, Matthew Reynolds, and Charles Kemp explain how they used ultra-high frequency RFID tags to help their custom PR2 robot locate specific items in a complex environment. Items of interest are fixed with unique RFID tags, and the robot has a long-distance RFID scanner mounted on either shoulder. From there, the robot moves about the living space — logging all of the tags it senses. After a lap or two around the house, it can then search out a specific tag, and move toward the item in question.