Surgical instrument comprising an rfid system for tracking a movable component

A surgical instrument comprising a controller, a staple firing system, and an RFID system is disclosed. The controller is in communication with a first RFID reader and a second RFID reader of the RFID system and the staple firing system. In various embodiments, the controller verifies the presence of the staple cartridge in the surgical instrument upon receiving the first signal from the first RFID tag. Also, in various embodiments, the controller verifies that the staple cartridge is an unfired staple cartridge upon receiving the second signal from the second RFID tag. The controller can also be configured to track the progress of the staple firing stroke through the RFID system.