iBeacon, Eddystone, Bluetooth, IoT sensor beacons, apps, platforms
There’s been an update to TRBOnet to allow DIMETRA Express to use iBeacon-based Indoor Location.
TRBOnet is the system used by Motorola for managing 2-way radios and pinpoints handsets on maps:
The 2-way radios upload GPS data but this obviously doesn’t work indoors where iBeacons are used instead. TRBOnet works with any iBeacons.
Are you an established 2-way radio company?
Contact us for advice on which beacons we have supplied for use with TRBOnet.
There’s a video on Facebook where the Spencer Matthews from BBC’s Watchdog programme looks into beacons:
We were contacted by a researcher from BBC Watchdog as they wanted to understand the mechanism and were initially confused as to whether the devices in stores were receiving phone Bluetooth signals or the other way around, phones receiving Bluetooth signals.
What the video doesn’t say is apps are needed to see the beacons. In the case of Facebook this will be Facebook app. You can turn off Bluetooth for that app if you don’t want to be tracked. However, as the video explains, Bluetooth is only one mechanism. WiFi, GPS and cell tower data can also be used to determine location.
Getting back to beacons, Google has an under-promoted similar mechanism ‘Project Beacon’ tied to Adwords where you can work out if an ad caused a store visit.
As there’s no official web site or information, it’s unclear if ‘Project Beacon’ is still active.
The BBC Watchdog video shows how many consumers see such adverts as intrusive and creepy. As previously with Eddysone URL, marketers are being too blunt, alienating consumers and it’s a turn-off. Instead they need to provide useful information and tools, not adverts, then convert the consumer to a sale. Marketers need to put in place marketing that causes the consumer to say, “That’s cool, I must tell my friends” rather than “That’s creepy”.
We have a new range of Sato beacons in stock:
Most, except the sensor beacons, are waterproof to IP67. All the beacons can be configured to advertise multiple channels at the same time including iBeacon, Eddystone UID, Eddystone URL, Eddystone TLM, sensor (where available), acceleration (where available) and device info.
Sato beacons use the button in an innovative way. Instead of going OFF, the button long press is detected for SOS type scenarios. The beacon is instead turned off using the configuration app or programatically via your custom app.
We have been involved in writing some articles for a new magazine site Industry 4.0 SME.
The site is targeted at CEOs, COOs, CTOs and innovation managers in Small and Medium size Enterprises (SMEs). It provides high level articles on the opportunities, strategies and technologies involved in Industry 4.0. It’s updated daily with the latest Industry 4.0 news.
Nordic, the manufacturer of the System on a Chip (SoC) in many beacons, has the latest issue of Wireless Quarter Magazine. It showcases the many uses of Nordic SoCs.
News from the world of beacons includes:
As we have previously mentioned, nRF Connect is the the best app for detecting if a Bluetooth LE device such as a beacon is working. The Android version has always had more features than the iOS version but that is changing. nRF Connect for iOS has been completely re-written and now has a very pretty UI.
We still recommend using the Android rather than the iOS version because iOS apps can’t see Bluetooth MAC addresses due to some peculiar decisions made by people at Apple. Scanning also can’t see an iBeacon UUID, major and minor in the advertising. It’s more difficult to uniquely identify Bluetooth devices in apps such as nRF Connect on iOS than it is on Android.
We have previously mentioned that antenna design is a complex area that will slow the rollout of Bluetooth AoA direction finding solutions. What are the issues?
Theodoros Prokic of the KTH Royal Institute of Technology has a new paper on the Antenna Design for Angle of Arrival Measurement in Access Control Applications (pdf) that explores the antennas needed for two sides of an in an inside-outside scenario.
The paper provides an analysis of the challenges the antenna designer faces when creating an AoA solution. Issues include orientation and polarization, matching, coupling, reflections, phase center, and physical size. Designing and creating antennas can easily lead to inconsistent results due to the affects of hardware, cables and other testing equipment in the vicinity.
Gartner has a new report Hype Cycle for the Internet of Things 2019, in which they say:
“The Priority Matrix shows that many IoT technologies are 5 years from mainstream adoption. However only one innovation profile will reach maturity in 2 years, indoor location for assets.
So why is ‘indoor location for assets’ more likely to achieve mainstream adoption sooner than other technologies? It’s because there are clear benefits for most companies and off-the-shelf software such as our BeaconRTLS™ is already available.
Our work with companies shows they are nevertheless cautious. Companies are taking time to understand the competing asset tracking technologies and are performing, sometimes lengthy, trials to determine how new systems will integrate with existing systems. They are considering the implications of SAAS vs on-premise solutions, the availability of second-sourced beacon hardware and the compromises of accuracy vs system complexity and cost.
Simple In Out is an employee in/out board that works across multiple platforms:
As well as providing a useful visual display of who’s in and out it’s also possible to use the system for employee timekeeping, notifications when people come in/out and integration with Slack or other systems via web hooks or the API.
Simple in/out uses the employees’ phone’s operating system to detect the geographical area using cell towers or local WiFi Networks. It’s possible to use beacons to improve the accuracy. Beacons are better when you need to use Simple In Out with smaller areas (10-20 metres), moving areas or areas with poor cellular reception or no WiFi.
Kiosk Pro is an app for iOS that turns an iPad into a public kiosk.
The technical documentation shows how you can trigger the showing of specific information when in the vicinity of a particular beacon. For example, if the kiosk is static, people with different beacons might trigger the showing of different information. If the kiosk is moving, for example a tablet being held, it might trigger the showing of different information based on the location of, for example, different exhibits. The kiosk can also be set to advertise iBeacon that can be picked up in iOS and Android apps.