A model for RFID-based 3D location of buried assets

In many developed urban areas the buried assets and services are becoming antiquated and reaching the end of their practical life. There is a need to manage these assets and replace or repair them with the minimum disruption to consumers. At the same time, new underground infrastructure continues to be installed as urban areas expand and diversify. In the 'information age' of rapid expansion and technology driven solutions, the management of these assets should not be a problem in terms of locating the assets and services, under the ground. However, during the last 150 years of social change and underground infrastructure progress, accurate data and relevant records may well have slipped from the control of those responsible thus making the precise location of buried assets very difficult. These factors suggest that there is a pressing need for improvement in the method used to record and store data relating to buried assets and services. This paper details the problem and discusses the reasons for, and drivers of, improvements in the current unsatisfactory approach to locating buried assets and services. The development of an RFID based model for the 3D Location of Buried Assets is presented. The main scope of this research was to examine the behaviour of RFID performance in a utility environment by conducting an appropriate series of tests. A real-life experiment was used to validate the performance of the proposed model for effectiveness and accuracy. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.