Ultra Wide Band (UWB) provides active tags that can be read with an accuracy of typically 30cm in three dimensions. It is therefore the technology of choice for many Real Time Location Systems (RTLS). Thousands of tagged assets can be tracked simultaneously to give precise location within the area of coverage. But with the cost of an individual battery operated tag typically in the range £60 - £100 and infrastructure cost approximately £10 per square meter use cases need to be considered carefully to ensure there is a compelling return on investment. Use of UWB will become more prevalent as it becomes a standard integration in smart phones.
UWB offers high durability in harsh environments and is not susceptible to interference to other technologies such as WiFi and BLE, making it especially suitable for manufacturing and other industrial environments. Suitable applications include tracking of forklifts, delivery carts and other vehicles, tracking of cages, stillages and other returnable transport items, and tracking of people in dangerous locations. It works best when there is a clear line of sight between tags and readers ('anchors'), for example in large plants or warehouses. The case is less clear in buildings with large numbers of small rooms, or locations where the environment will change regularly, for example construction sites.
Integration with Lime
Codegate is collaborating two UWB providers to fully integrate their RTLS systems with our Lime middleware:
Anchors are mesh networked, eliminating cabling and reducing networking down to one connection point. Installation can be completed in a fraction of the time a typical fixed anchor-based infrastructure, software tools available for planning, remote management and maintenance. Very tolerant of metal storage racking, machinery and even partition walls - line of sight not essential.
Fully scalable to cover thousands of square meters, can track thousands of assets simultaneously, comprehensive software tools for planning, remote management and maintenance, 30cm accuracy with a confidence level better than 98% across all areas covered.
