Designing a robot that can fetch exactly what you want when you ask for it has been a problem that programmers have worked on long and hard. Now researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have created a new search algorithm that allows robots to find items with a tag more easily.

The radio-frequency identification tag can be stuck on to any object and the robot finds it easier to trace the object. These tags are self adhesive,  inexpensive and can be stuck on any surface of the object. The robot equipped with a radio frequency reader then simply scans the room for the tag and finds the object.

This method is a whole lot more reliable than the current visuals that a robot takes from cameras and lasers. By looking at a particular item the robot is not always able to identify it, but with the radio frequency identification tag, it will always know that it has got the right object.

The researchers have been working with a PR2 robot during the science project. The Robot has an articulated, directionally sensitive set of antennas and a new algorithm that allows the it to successfully find and navigate to the intended objects. The robot may be able to identify the object using this technique but it still needs to be able to pick it up and move.