GPS with Bluetooth®: Award Winning BLE 5.0 Gateways and Tags
Digital Matter has included Bluetooth® as an important technology in its product range. We see Bluetooth® as an enabler for local communications between our devices and other tags, devices, sensors, or mobile phones.
Our first devices to feature this functionality are the Remora2 and the upcoming Guppy Bluetooth® Tag, G120, Eagle and SensorNode Bluetooth® will also be Bluetooth® enabled.
How Does it Work?
The Remora2, G120, and Eagle all have a Bluetooth® 5 module on board. These devices operate as ‘gateways,’ enabling them to scan for other Bluetooth® devices within range, like our Guppy Bluetooth® Tags, or other third-party Bluetooth® tags and mobile devices (contact us to discuss third-party device integrations).
If a gateway device detects a Guppy tag nearby, then we can report the approximate position of the tag. Battery-powered ‘gateways’ scan periodically, but powered devices can scan for other Bluetooth® signals constantly. Our Guppy tag transmits beacons approximately every 2 seconds.
Digital Matter gateway devices maintain a ‘tag list’ and report intelligently on a change in the information – uploading when:
- A new tag is found (comes within range)
- A tag is lost (goes out of range)
- Periodic update of the list
The gateway device reports a collection of information about the tag:
- Tag serial, type, battery level, temperature, transmit power level and signal strength
- The gateway device knows its GPS location and can infer an estimated position for the tag based on the data received.
Find out more about Asset Tracking with Bluetooth® here.
What are the Applications?
The applications are truly endless, but tracking with Bluetooth® is well suited for asset management and cold chain monitoring.
Asset Management
Automatic Inventory Management – If a Guppy Bluetooth® Low Energy is attached to each item of stock, the number of tags that report to a gateway device can be used to count the stock level at a location.
Monitoring equipment across multiple sites – If a gateway is placed at each site, the gateway to which a tag is reporting to indicates which site the tagged asset is located.
Hire Equipment – Monitoring equipment entering/leaving the yard based upon whether it is in range of a gateway or not.
Bin Location Tracking – Knowing where bins were dropped off and by which truck. The truck will contain a gateway device, and when the tag attached to the bin is ‘lost’ (out of range of the gateway) – the bin has been dropped off at this location.
Trailer Tracking – With automatic scanning of which pallets are on the trailer. A gateway device would be attached to the trailer and a Bluetooth® Low Energy tag on each pallet.
Temperature Monitoring with SensorNodes
The upcoming SensorNode Bluetooth® is Digital Matter’s Bluetooth® Low Energy version of our SensorNode Device. This allows a wireless link to the main tracking device from a variety of sensors, digital inputs, and analog inputs for remote input monitoring with no wiring.
The SensorNode can monitor the temperature in the back of a truck, for example, and transmit to the Bluetooth® enabled device (G120 for powered or Remora2 for battery-powered). Third-Party Bluetooth® sensors can also be supported.