Goermicro
Real-time location systems (RTLS) enable you to digitally track the real-time location and movements of physical things throughout large indoor facilities. As a type of indoor positioning system, RTLS primarily leverage radio-frequency (RF) technologies like UWB, BLE and Chirp, as well as wireless devices, such as tracking tags and smartphones, alongside other integrated components, to continuously determine the position of people and objects in areas GPS is not able to reach. This delivers actionable location data that can be used to visualize the location of key personnel, assets, vital equipment and more on a live, indoor map or integrated into automated workflows and systems such as IoT-enabled safety applications, asset & supply chain management solutions and more.
In addition to real-time location tracking applications, RTLS components can also enable ranging applications in which communication between two devices, such as two transceiver tags that can be used to determine the relative distance between them, enabling proximity-based applications.
Accuracy and range of RTLS
The accuracy of real-time location systems differ greatly depending on the underlying RF technology and positioning techniques each individual system uses. The level of accuracy required for a RTLS varies based on individual customers’ needs and desired use cases – some users require high accuracy to instantly pinpoint a piece of critical equipment in a large industrial environment, while others may only need to know the general location of an asset. Accuracy requirements can also be determined based on the number of deployed RTLS reference points.The range of real-time location systems greatly differ depending on the underlying RF technology, like: Chirp, WiFi, UWB and BLE. One is more limited in the range they can provide than other. The range required for a RTLS also strongly varies based on the deployment environment and individual customers’ needs and desired use cases.
Some users require a high degree of range to track assets like containers, pallets, equipment, or personnel across large facilities, between indoor and outdoor areas, or in hard-to-reach places likes mines, while others may be more concerned with ensuring a high degree of accuracy within a more confined area like the exact location of a part as it moves through an assembly line.