The Tag-Drone can be interpreted as a sensor with flying capability in order to highlight that only elementary UAV features are expected. The Tag-Drone may be used in standalone mode or according to the more fascinating swarm configuration (like bees) cooperatively collecting information within a same environment. Tag-drones should have small size so that they could be referred to the technology of micro-drones.

The Reader-Drone system consists of a suitable UAV hosting an autonomous RFID reader to act as mobile scanner of the environment. The drone can be manually or automatically remotely driven to approach tags displaced on a surface and retrieve sensed data. Sampled data may be stored on-board for a later-time recovery when the drone comes back, or may be instead transmitted in real time to a fixed base station placed in radio visibility with the drone itself.

The Reader-Drone technology involves specific features, with respect to standard ground-level inventory and sensing, such as:

i)               the very limited power budget, allowing for only short reading sessions,

ii)             tags placed at a very close distance from a large surface, or directly attached over it,

iii)            a moving agent

iv)            the need to quickly approach the tags from a remote distance.