Published on: 2026-09-10
Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Scientists at the Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University have developed a protected container with a radio tag that is embedded directly into the asphalt and serves as a road marker for unmanned vehicles. Unlike cameras and satellite navigation, such a “beacon” is not afraid of fog, snowfall, or communication disruptions, and its own power source increases the reading range to several hundred meters. The technology is designed for mass and inexpensive equipping of roads throughout the country. The development has received patent Federal Service for Intellectual Property.
Unmanned transport in Russia is gradually moving from test grounds to real roads. Since 2023, driverless trucks have been transporting cargo along the M-11 “Neva” highway between Moscow and Saint Petersburg; later, the experiment was expanded to the Central Ring Road. As of spring 2026, these vehicles have traveled about six million kilometers without a single accident, and the experimental legal framework for them has been extended until 2028. For unmanned vehicles to confidently move not just on individual highways but across the entire road network, the vehicle needs to precisely know its location at every moment in time. Today, two main approaches are used for this: machine vision and satellite navigation. The former can err under poor visibility conditions (e.g., during fog or snowfall). Satellite navigation depends on signal stability.
Scientists at Polytech have proposed an improved method of placing a chain of radio tags along the route, embedded directly into the road surface. Each tag is a compact polymer container with an RFID chip. RFID (radio-frequency identification) is a method by which data from a miniature transponder tag is read via radio signal, without direct contact and without a line of sight. When passing over such tags, the drone reads them and determines its own position as well as the location of the dividing line based on the coordinates.
We wanted to give the drone support that does not depend on weather or satellite signal quality. The marker lies directly in the asphalt and responds to the car’s radio request — it won’t be covered by snow or confused by fog. The main difference of our design from analogs is that the marker has its own battery: it increases the reading range from a few meters to several hundred, so the car has time to receive data in advance. At the same time, the technology itself is simple and inexpensive; it can be applied on roads across the country without serious investments, — said Sergey Shevchenko, associate professor at the Higher School of Industrial-Civil and Road Construction of SPbPU.
The container is made of durable heat-resistant PEEK polymer, which withstands wheel pressure, vibration, temperature fluctuations, and aggressive liquids—from water to acids and alkalis. Its height of 40–60 mm is matched to the thickness of the top layer of asphalt concrete, and the conical bottom simplifies installation: a hole is drilled in the pavement, the container is inserted, and fixed with a special compound. Inside, an RFID tag is securely fixed and connected by wires to a high-capacity battery—the lithium batteries of this type operate for 5 to 12 years without maintenance and are frost-resistant. The container is closed on top with a threaded cap made of the same polymer. It is the threaded connection, rather than a sealed tight fit, that allows the container to be opened and components replaced if necessary. The reading range of the tag is over 300 meters, and its memory is protected by a password and a unique code that prevents cloning.
Similar capsules for radio tags already exist, but they were designed for different tasks. For example, a well-known foreign development uses a passive beacon without a power source — it “comes to life” only within the reader’s field, so the communication range is small, and it is impossible to service the tightly sealed casing. Another close analogue is a capsule for an RFID tag from the mining industry. It cannot withstand road loads and is read only at three meters. The use of its own battery, a sturdy PEEK case, and a detachable design precisely distinguishes the polytechnic solution: the tag works at a long distance, survives years under wheels, and remains repairable. A Polytechnic student also participated in the development.
For me, it was an opportunity to work on a task that could already be deployed on real tracks tomorrow. We designed the structure so that it would be easy and quick to install in the existing pavement — without re-laying the road or expensive equipment. It’s gratifying to understand that a student development becomes part of a real patent and can be useful for the advancement of autonomous transport in the country, shared Lev Dutchin, a student of the Engineering and Construction Institute of SPbPU.
The development is conceived as an inexpensive and scalable way to “digitize” routes: the tags complement cameras and satellite navigation and fit into already established roads, which is especially important given the extensive road network in the country. The authors plan to bring the design to prototype samples and test it directly in the road surface.
Please note; This information is raw content obtained directly from the information source. It represents an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.