Yabby WiFi for Indoor Tool Tracking

Digital Matter

Before one of our devices hits the road, it is rigorously inspected and tested using a variety of tools. Our test jigs, for example, used for testing some of the electronic components on the devices, are frequently on the move between offices.

Despite engineering award-winning tracking devices…sometimes we lose stuff. Like test jigs.

So, we attached a Yabby WiFi so we can quickly and easily identify the location of our tools via Telematics Guru.

Why Yabby Wifi?

Our test jigs are always hiding somewhere indoors or in our warehouse. And as we discussed in our article about WiFi Positioning Systems for Indoor Tracking, GPS/GLONASS signals have trouble penetrating buildings; and when the device does not have a direct line to these signals, it can malfunction.

The WiFi Sniffing module on the Yabby WiFi scans for all WiFi access points in the vicinity.
The device does not actually connect to the WiFi networks, it simply explores which networks (access points) are available around it, and measures signal intensity
We also send the Cell ID of the tower that the device is connected to assist in the position algorithm.
This information is then used to triangulate a position.

So, where are our Jigs?

The Yabby WiF on our production jigs is configured via our OEM Interface to send a location update once per day. (This configuration process takes under 30 seconds.)

When added to Telematics Guru, their location is available immediately.

Exceptional Battery Life

Great! Now we know where our jigs are, without bothering everyone in the office.

The Yabby Wifi’s incredible battery life then ensures we aren’t placing trackers on our tools, only to have to change out the batteries every week.

GPS fixes often take around 10-60 seconds to acquire, depending on signal conditions and frequency. (We use GPS aiding data to speed this up in our devices)!

Adversely, WiFi scans are completed in about 2 seconds. This means the device only spends 2 seconds powering the WiFi module, which keeps power consumption incredibly low. And low power consumption means an incredibly long battery life.

What’s even better is we can view Battery Voltages on our Battery Management Page in Telematics Guru, so we can see exactly how our Yabby WiFi is performing.

You can see here that this Yabby Wifi has been “jig tracking” for 34 weeks, and the battery voltage has hardly budged. Battery voltage doesn’t directly line up with remaining battery life percentage, but calculating the drain based on the shown values indicates only 8% of battery has been used so far.