iBeacon, Eddystone, Bluetooth, IoT sensor beacons, apps, platforms
Feasycom have a new video showing how to set up the FSC-BP103:
The FSC-BP103 is popular for use on a key ring or lanyard due to its small size (37.8mm x 33.8mm x 7.9 mm).
It’s also relatively inexpensive allowing it to be rolled out to a large number of people. For example, we have London Queen Mary University Barts Cancer Institute using this beacon with BeaconRTLS to audit room occupancy for Covid. The button is also used as an SOS in the case of lone working.
Many of our suppliers have notified us the current global shortage of chips is starting to hit the Beacon ecosystem. While there isn’t currently a shortage of beacons, semiconductor prices are causing Bluetooth beacon prices to increase.
Factories are having to plan the purchase of components 6-12 months ahead rather than buy just in time. If components don’t arrive in time, they have to be purchased last minute on the more expensive spot market.
Stocks we already have in the UK won’t increase in price until we re-stock. We are experiencing special and custom orders being higher in price and/or having longer lead times, depending on the manufacturer. This is a short term problem for 2021 and 2022. Some in the industry predict it could be two years before new manufacturing facilities can ease supply concerns.
Bloomberg has a great in-depth article The Chip Shortage Keeps Getting Worse. Why Can’t We Just Make More? if you wish to learn more.
Flutter is a UI software development platform created by Google used to develop cross platform applications for Android and iOS.
There’s a recent plugin flutter_beacon that scans for beacons and can also act as a transmitter. It supports Android API 18+ and iOS 8+. Features include permission management, iBeacon ranging, iBeacon monitoring and transmitting as iBeacon. This plugin is open source on Github.
Nordic Semiconductor, the manufacturer of the System on a Chip (SoC) used in many beacons, has published the latest online issue of Wireless Quarter Magazine. It showcases the many uses of Nordic SoCs.
The pandemic has increased the use of Nordic Semiconductor chips in health oriented devices such as the Warmie continuous infection monitoring device, the AppSens 7 Smart Heart Sensor and the Ellume COVID-19 home testing kit.
Asset tracking market will double from $17 billion in 2020 to $34 billion by 2026
Research&Markets quote in Wireless Quarter Magazine
Tracking highlights include:
ESP32 are small, low cost Bluetooth/WiFi boards that can be programmed using Arduino IDE. Shogunxam has a project, ESP32 BLETracker that detects Bluetooth LE devices and sends the information to a MQTT server.
The software provides a web interface that allows setting of the devices to be tracked, the scan period, MQTT parameters and viewing of the logs.
The project is open source on GitHub.
View Bluetooth Gateways
WhosOnLocation is a system that monitors the movement of people through buildings and work sites. It allows you to track visitors, contractors and employees providing for the security and safety of sites.
The system can use Bluetooth iBeacons to automatically sign people in and out:
View the WhosOnLocation help desk article for more information how to set up beacons.
Moko has a new video showing the W2 wearable beacon being placed in water:
The W2 advertises iBeacon, Eddystone and acceleration. It’s rechargeable via USB and can be configured to provide continuous, button triggered or motion triggered advertising.
The acceleration sensor is the STMicroelectronics LIS3DH that’s configurable for scales of up to ±2g/±4g/±8g/±16g.
Occasionally, our customers ask for things we didn’t expect, contradictory requirements or requests that require unusual solutions. Here are some examples:
These examples demonstrate what’s right for one project isn’t necessarily right for others. This is why we stock the widest beacon range in the World.
We often get asked the question which beacons are compatible with iOS and Android. All beacons, whether iBeacon, Eddystone or sensor beacons can be used with iOS and Android. The compatibility is achieved through the implementation of common Bluetooth standards on these mobile platforms.
However, there are some caveats:
Rather than beacons being compatible with iOS/Android, we find that there are more problems with particular Android devices not seeing beacons, when in background, due to some manufacturers killing background services.
You can find the processor chip in the specification section of our beacon descriptions. Most people don’t know what this means or implies. This article will help you make a more informed choice.
There are currently three main chip families from Texas Instruments (CC25xx, CC26xx), Dialog Semiconductor (DAxxxx) and Nordic Semiconductor (nRF51xxx and nRF52xxx). These chip manufacturers publish standard electronic circuits and software SDKs that beacon OEMs use for their beacons. Hence, most beacons, within a chip family, have very similar designs. Small differences in implementation of board layout in areas such as the power supply, grounding, terminations, connectors and the antenna can cause electrical differences that can cause loss of power.
The strength of the beacon radio signal is affected more by the quality of the beacon implementation, particularly the antenna, rather than the choice of chip. This is also evident in real world tests. We have performed RSSI strength and stability tests on the beacons we sell and haven’t yet found any correlation between signal strength and chip family.
The choice of SoC affects battery use. Newer chip families such as the Nordic nRF52 (as opposed to nRF51) and Texas Instruments CC2640 (as opposed to CC2541) are more power efficient.
Most beacon SoCs transmit up to +4dBm output power for a longer range. A few such as the nRF52840 and CC2640RF can be set to higher output power of +8dBm and +5dBM respectively, with a consequent reduction of battery life. If you are looking for longer range, it’s more usual to use a long range beacon with an additional output amplifier chip.
The newer SoCs have much more memory. This isn’t used for most beacons except for those that store data.
The use of standard SoC manufacturer designs and software means that all beacons work well, adhere to Bluetooth standards and compatibility is never a problem.