This is the Marvelmind DSP Industrial IP67 Navigation Positioning System.  An IP67 version of Starter Set HW v4.9-IMU for outdoor and industrial applications. The set supports Non-Inverse Architecture (NIA). Mobile beacon is transmitting ultrasound and stationary beacons are receiving ultrasound. Note, that the same HW could be also used in Inverse Architecture after uploading Inverse Architecture SW to each of the network elements (modem, stationary and mobile beacons).

Key features

• Marvelmind DSP Industrial IP67 Navigation Positioning System (915MHz or 868 Mhz options available)
• Supports Non-Inverse Architecture (NIA)
• Offers an external antenna for larger radio coverage and support of 868 MHz band
• Features RS485 and UART
• Can receive several ultrasonic frequencies at once

The Marvelmind Indoor Navigation System is an off-the-shelf indoor navigation system designed to provide precise (±2 cm) location data to autonomous robots, vehicles (AGV), drones and forklifts. It can also be used to track other objects that the mobile beacon is installed upon, for example, virtual reality (VR) systems, helmets for construction workers or miners, jackets, etc.

The navigation system is based on stationary ultrasonic beacons that are united by radio interface in a license-free band (915- or 868MHz). The location of the mobile beacon is calculated based on the propagation delay of an ultrasonic signal (Time-Of-Flight or TOF) to a set of stationary ultrasonic beacons using trilateration.

The Industrial-TX beacons transmit in 25 kHz, while default frequency for HW v4.9 is 31 kHz. Note, that there are Beacons HW v4.9 with the following frequencies available: 19 kHz, 25 kHz, 31 kHz, 45 kHz. The Industrial-TX beacons can work with regular Beacons HW v4.9-25 in any combination as a part of a Starter Set or as a part of navigation systems and it is a superior RX-only replacement to HW v4.9. At the same time, since it is RX-only beacon, while the Beacons HW v4.9 is a universal dual-use beacon.

Kit Contents

• 4 x Beacons Industrial-RX as stationary beacons
• 1 x Beacon Industrial-TX-25 with 25 kHz-transducers as mobile beacon
• 1 x Modem HW v4.9-Outdoor

Specifications

Distance between beacons

• Reaches up to 50 meters in lab conditions
• Recommended distance is up to 30 meters
• Distance between modem and beacons can be up to a few hundred meters in open space and depends on external interference, antenna alignment, and chosen radio profile

Coverage area

• Reaches up to 1000 m2 with the Starter Set configurations
• Coverage for larger territories is provided similar to cellular networks – by adding more stationary beacons

Location precision

• Differential precision: ±2 cm
• Absolute: 1–3 % of the distance to the beacons. Can be further significantly minimized by calibration

Location update rate

• 0.05–25 Hz
• Can be set manually or in automatic mode
• Depends on the distance between the mobile and stationary beacons (shorter distance — higher update rate)
• Depends on the number of mobile beacons: for example, an update rate of 25 Hz for 1 mobile beacon will result in update rate of 25 Hz / 2 for 2 mobile beacons, and 25 Hz / 3 – for 3 mobile beacons, etc. – TDMA approach
• Depends on the radio interface profile (500 kbps vs. 38 kbps)

Radio connectivity

• ISM bands: either 915 MHz (US) or 868 MHz (EU)
• <10 mW (<10 dBm)
• Default 50 mm antennas. Optional full-size 165 mm antennas for 868 MHz band

Power supply

External:

• +5 V or +12 V – recommended for permanent use
• Optional ~110 / 220 V to +12 V IP67 converter
• External battery is possible and supported. The battery lifetime totally depends on the settings of the system and type of the beacon. For example, for Industrial-TX:
• Calculated expected: 15 Wh for 2y & 1/5 Hz, i.e. 1.25 Ah & 12 V battery
• Nearly directly depends on the update rate, i.e. for 1 Hz update rate, the battery lifetime will be 1/5 of that above