2014 7th International Conference on BioMedical Engineering and Informatics (BMEI 2014)
Using Radio frequency Identify (RFID) Radar to
Detect Overhead High Voltage Power Line Position
Shengzhi Du
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa 0001
Abstract—In this paper a triangulation method applying RFID
radar to detect high voltage conductor position is addressed. Only
one sending and one receiving antennas are needed in the mobile
RFID radar system. By moving the receiver, the proposed method
imitates multi-radar station system to measure the distances from
the tags to the ground. Because of the simple design, the proposed
system is very economical. Experiments demonstrate that the
proposed method is effective to measure the position of tags stick
on the conductor with relevant high accuracy.
Keywords: High Voltage Conductor Sag Detection, RFID
Radar, multi-station radar system.
I. I NTRODUCTION
The overhead high voltage power lines as reliable power
carriers are critical for the security and reliability of the
transmission of electricity. Sagging is the length extension of
power lines due to overheating, gravity, and environmental
factors (such as snow/ice load and wind force). Oscillation
due to wind and sag of overhead transmission lines can reduce
the height of conductor to an unsafe level and infringe line-
to-line clearances. Timely power line position monitoring is
an important strategy to maintain the line-to-line and line-to-
environment clearances.
Various techniques are employed in power line inspec-
tion, such as Magnetoresistive Sensors [1], GPS [2], Power
donut[3], and image processing [4]. Radio frequency Identify
(RFID)[5] radar is a new attempt.
Based on the modulated backscatter, RFID system transfers
the data between tags to reader. The stored data in the internal
memory of tags is read and/or changed through the tag
antenna. Because the tag has the ability to store and report
individual identity information by backscattering, RFID tech-
niques are widely used in various applications, such as access
control, shopping, toll station, etc. Although RFID was mainly
designed for identifying tags in its reading range, applications
are also developed for location[6] and tracking[7], including
speed measurement[8], and indoor location awareness[9][10],
etc.
In RFID radar system, tags are battery powered or rectifi-
cates the radio signal received. The latter is called passive tag
which makes RFID techniques widely used in objects identify-
ing and tracking due to the convenience of sticking these cheap
tags to any surfaces of objects to be monitored. In this research
we address the inspection of overhead power lines using RFID
radar by detecting the passive tags stick on the conductors.
The distances between the tags to the ground are measured
as the indication of power line sag. Based on the accuracy
978-1-4799-5838-2/14/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE
features of the RFID radar system, i.e. low absolute accuracy
but high relative accuracy, triangulation method is proposed
making use of multi-station measurements. To reduce the cost,
only a pair of receiving and sending antennas are needed.
The receiver is moved to imitate multi-station radar system.
Four measurements are made for positioning a tag. Complete
3D coordinates are calculated which high accuracy, which are
valuable to evaluate the line-to-line and line-to-environment
clearances.
II. F ROM RFID R EADER TO RFID R ADAR
A. RFID technology
Radio-frequency electromagnetic fields are used in RFID
systems to transfer data for the aim of wireless non-contact
communication. The RFID system usually contains tags,
sender(s) and reader(s). The tags have the capacity to store
some information such as identification. Antenna is equipped
to a tag to send back answering packages. Commands pack-
aged in electromagnetic signal are broadcast to the space via
antenna of the sender(s), then the tags receive the signal
and respond according to the pre-defined commands. The
commands may be read, recorded or rewritten. The antenna
of the receiver then obtain the response to identify the tags.
Fig. 1 demonstrates the principle of an RFID system.
According to the power sources, RFID tags can be cat-
egorised to passive, active or battery assisted passive tags.
Passive tags get electricity from the electromagnetic energy
from the signals sent by senders (shown in Fig. 2), therefore,
it is cheap but the detection range is limited. Active and battery
assisted passive tags are limited by wiring and the life of
battery. Passive tags can be made to various size and shape
according to the needs of applications. They can be attached to
various materials and objects, such as paper, wood, even metal
objects. By reading the information stored in these tags, the
RFID system can quickly identify the objects such as everyday
possessions, children, pets etc.
RFID technology is widely used in goods tracking and
access control, such as in supermarkets, automatic toll stations,
logistics, etc.
B. Localisation based on RFID
Since the electromagnetic fields travels in the air with ap-
proximately constant speed (about 300000km/s), the distance
between the RFID sender/receiver and tag can be calculated
by the time of arrival (TOA). Therefore, provided multiple
antennas are correctly located then the system has the capacity
833
 Magnetic alternating field

Energy

fG Generator coil Sensor coil UHF

Transmitter EAS label Receiver

(optional)
Feedback Feedback

Fig. 1. The principle of RFID system[12]

Magnetic field H

~ Cr C1 C2
Chip

Ri
Transponder
Reader

Fig. 2. Power supply of passive tag[12]

to localise the tags. These RFID systems are actually operating
as radar systems. This localisation technology greatly widen
the applications of RFID.
Fig. 3 depicts an RFID radar system equipped with multiple
antennas.
Because RFID radar system can localise the tags and hence
the objects they attached, it can be used in many applications
[11], such as military, farm, warehouse, public transport,
schools, logistics, supermarkets, etc.
III. A DVANTAGES AND D ISADVANTAGES OF RFID R ADAR
W HEN U SED IN OVERHEAD P OWER L INE I NSPECTION
RFID has been widely used in various environments. When
it is considered in overhead power line inspection, the follow-
ing advantages motivate the application:
∙ RFID does not require line-of-sight and can be read as
long as the item is within range of the reader. So the tags
are not supposed to be visible to the inspector.
∙ RFID tags can store a lot of information, and follow
instructions. This feature enables the identification of
individual power line infringing clearances.
∙ Has the ability to pinpoint location. This is why this
application was motivated.
∙ Technology is versatile: tags can be smaller than a thumb
tack or can be the size of a tablet. It can be designed easy
to install to power lines.
∙ Reliability. Correctly operated RFID systems can have
near 100% detection rates.
∙ Tag life. 100,000 transactions( or more than 10 years).

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 z
T1
y
r4
P3
b r1 r2 r3

­
E

®
D

¯
O

­
®
¯
­
®
¯
a1 P1 a2 P2 x
Fig. 3. RFID kit supplied by Trolley Scan[11]
Fig. 4. Triangulation of the proposed method

Tags are cheap.

∙
The main disadvantage is the reading range of RFID. The Similarly consider triangle △𝑇1 𝑂𝑃2
reading range depends on the frequency of waves for tag-
2𝑟1 (𝑎1 + 𝑎2 ) cos 𝛼 = 𝑟12 + (𝑎1 + 𝑎2 )2 − 𝑟32 (3)
reader communication, the size of antennas of tag and reader,
the power output of the reader, and the environment factors. so
Typically passive tags can be read from 1 millimeter to more 𝑟12 + (𝑎1 + 𝑎2 )2 − 𝑟32
cos 𝛼 = . (4)
than 300 feet away. Because of the limitation of reading range, 2𝑟1 (𝑎1 + 𝑎2 )
the application needs to be carried by inspector or by a vehicle. To be noted that the absolute values of 𝑟1 , 𝑟2 , 𝑟3 , and 𝑟4
IV. T HE P ROPOSED M ETHOD cannot be accurately measured. Fortunately the differences
By detecting time-of-flight (eg. time of arrival (TOA)) and between them are much more reliable. The differences are:
attenuation (wave strength), RFID radar has the ability to Δ𝑟1 = 𝑟2 − 𝑟1 , (5)
calculate the distance between the station and tags. For multi-
station system the location of tags can be calculated by trian- Δ𝑟2 = 𝑟3 − 𝑟2 , (6)
gulation method. In fact, it is difficult for current technology
to measure tiny time unit, such as picoseconds that the signal Δ𝑟4 = 𝑟4 − 𝑟1 , (7)
travelled between a station and a tag with tens meters distance. and
The time spent by individual tag to react the reader instruction 𝑟3 = 𝑟1 + Δ𝑟1 + Δ𝑟2 . (8)
is also different. So the range measurement is not accurate. The
methods rely on the signal strength has the similar problem Substitute eq.(6) to eq.(4), one gets
because the environment factors may affect the attenuation.
𝑟12 + (𝑎1 + 𝑎2 )2 − (𝑟1 + Δ𝑟1 + Δ𝑟2 )2
Generally, RFID systems have significant errors when measure cos 𝛼 = . (9)
2𝑟1 (𝑎1 + 𝑎2 )
absolute distances (about half meter), however, may have much
better accuracy (millimeter errors) for relative distance (i.e. the From eq.(2) and eq.(12),
difference of distances). According to this feature of RFID
𝑟12 + 𝑎21 − 𝑟22 𝑟2 + (𝑎1 + 𝑎2 )2 − (𝑟1 + Δ𝑟1 + Δ𝑟2 )2
system, this research detects the tag position by moving the = 1 ,
2𝑟1 𝑎1 2𝑟1 (𝑎1 + 𝑎2 )
reader for relative distance measurement and then triangulation (10)
method is employed to calculate tag position. 𝑟1 can be derived as the follows
Figure 4 depicts the principle of the proposed method. Tag
𝑇1 is stuck on a power line, the receiving antenna moves on 𝑎1 𝑎2 (𝑎1 + 𝑎2 ) + 𝑎2 Δ𝑟12 − 𝑎1 Δ𝑟1 (2Δ𝑟1 + Δ𝑟2 )
𝑟ˆ1 = ?
ground points 𝑂, 𝑃1 , 𝑃2 and 𝑃3 . If assume 𝑂 is the origin, then 2(𝑎1 Δ𝑟2 − 𝑎2 Δ𝑟1 )
𝑃1 and 𝑃2 are located on 𝑥-axis, 𝑃3 is on 𝑦-axis. The positions ( 2 )(11)
𝑟ˆ1 + (𝑎1 + 𝑎2 )2 − (ˆ𝑟1 + Δ𝑟1 + Δ𝑟2 )2
of 𝑃1 , 𝑃2 and 𝑃3 can be exactly measured. The distances 𝛼
ˆ = arccos .
between 𝑇1 and these measures points (absolute distances) 2ˆ𝑟1 (𝑎1 + 𝑎2 )
(12)
are measured. According to the cosine theorem of triangles,
From Eq.(7) we have
in △𝑇1 𝑂𝑃1 , we have
2𝑟1 𝑎1 cos 𝛼 = 𝑟12 + 𝑎21 − 𝑟22 (1) 𝑟ˆ4 = 𝑟ˆ1 + Δ𝑟4 . (13)

so In △𝑇1 𝑂𝑃3 ,
𝑟2 + 𝑎21 − 𝑟22 𝑟12 + 𝑏2 − 𝑟42
cos 𝛼 = 1 . (2) cos 𝛽 = . (14)
2𝑟1 𝑎1 2𝑟1 𝑏

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 0.7
we have ( ) The Proposed method
𝑟ˆ12 2
+𝑏 − 𝑟ˆ42
𝛽ˆ = arccos . (15) Original measurements
2ˆ
𝑟1 𝑏 0.6

Since the Cartesian coordinates are convenient to calculate the

0.5
distance to ground and the distances between power lines, the

Detection error (m)

derived position is converted to 𝑇1 (ˆ𝑥, 𝑦ˆ, 𝑧ˆ) by the following
0.4
equations.
𝑥ˆ = 𝑟ˆ1 cos 𝛼
ˆ (16)
0.3
𝑦ˆ = 𝑟ˆ1 cos 𝛽ˆ (17)
√ 0.2
𝑧ˆ = 𝑟ˆ12 − 𝑥 ˆ2 − 𝑦ˆ2 (18)
𝑧ˆ is the distance from the power line to the ground. The 0.1

tag stores the information of which phase power line it is

sticking, so by the coordinates of tags it is easy to calculate 0
0 5 10 15 20
the distances between power lines. a1=a2 (m)

V. T HE S OFTWARE S IMULATION S YSTEM Fig. 5. Detection errors comparison

The proposed method considers the main error sources, that
is, unknown response time of tags, inaccuracy in tiny time
measurement, and the uncertainty of information channel(the
conductive property of transmission medium). The unknown The proposed method got much better performance when 𝑎1 =
response time is the main error source for absolute range 𝑎2 ≥ 2 meters. It should be noted that 𝑎1 and 𝑎2 are taken the
measurement. Fortunately, for a specific tag, the response same value for convenience. In fact, they will not have large
time is mostly fixed. When relative range (the change of impact as long as both of them are big enough.
range) is considered, the error is minimised by cancelling the
main component of two range measurements. So a software 0.35
simulation program is implemented by randomise the absolute The proposed method
Original measurements
range measurement errors in the scope around half meter, and 0.3
the relative measurement errors of millimeters.
The position of a tag is randomly given at the beginning, 0.25
then a random value is given to represent the absolute mea-
(m)

surement error. Smaller random values are used to simulate

0.2
Detection error

the relative range measurement errors. Therefore, the measured

absolute ranges from the tag to different stations (𝑟1 , 𝑟2 , 𝑟3 and
0.15
𝑟4 ) are known. The relative position of measuring stations can
be known in physical systems (for example by using global
0.1
positioning system(GPS)), so in the simulation program the
values of 𝑎1 , 𝑎2 and 𝑏 are given. From eqs. (16)-(18), the
0.05
position of the tag is estimated.
VI. S IMULATION R ESULTS 0
0 5 10 15 20
To validate the proposed method, a tag is simulated sticking b (m)
on a power line. The position of tag is initialized. The time of
arrival (TOA) is used to detect the tag. Due to the uncertainties Fig. 6. The impact of 𝑏 on detection errors
of environment factors and the time spend by the tag to
response the reader instructions, the measured ranges contains
significant errors. Therefore, the distance from the tag to The impact of 𝑏 on the detection error is also check by
ground calculated from the measured ranges has big errors. experiments where the value of 𝑎1 and 𝑎2 are fixed. As
In experiments, the values of 𝑎1 and 𝑎2 appears impact on shown in Fig.6, the value of 𝑏 does not significantly affect
the detection error. So in the experiments, different values of the detection error.
𝑎1 and 𝑎2 are tried to shown the impact. 100 measurements In the last experiment, the value of 𝑏 = 1 and 𝑎1 = 2 are
are made for each experiment. The average errors are shown fixed but 𝑎2 increases from 𝑎1 to 20𝑎1 . The ratios of 𝑡 = 𝑎𝑎21 are
in Figure 5, where the blue stared curve denoted the detection 1, 2, 3, ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ , 20. Fig. 7 shows that the detection error decreases
error without using the proposed method, and the measurement with the increasing of 𝑡. This verifies the conclusion of the
errors of the proposed method is denoted as circled red curve. first experiment.

836
 0.4
The proposed method [11] RFID-radar - A new identification technology - Introduction.
Original measurements http://www.rfid-radar.com/introduc.html, 2014.
0.35 [12] Klaus Finkenzeller. RFID Handbook: Fundamentals and Applications in
Contactless Smart Cards and Identification. 2003 John Wiley & Sons,
Ltd ISBN: 0-470-84402-7. p. 31.
0.3
(m)

0.25
Detection error

0.2

0.15

0.1

0.05
0 5 10 15 20
t=a /a
2 1

Fig. 7. The impact of 𝑡 = 𝑎2 /𝑎1 on detection errors

VII. C ONCLUSION AND F UTURE W ORKS

This paper proposed a economical method for high voltage
conductor detection. Only one receiving antenna and one
sender are needed. The moving strategy to imitate multi-station
radar system for locating the tags stick on the conductor is
proposed. The tag position is derived via geometry analysis.
The simulation results support the expectations on the high
measuring accuracy. The validation of the proposed method
based on hardware system is our future focus.

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