Indoor Positioning System Based on Bluetooth Low Energy Technology and a Nature-Inspired Optimization Algorithm

Abstract

Warehousing is one of the most important activities in the supply chain, enabling competitive advantage. Effective management of warehousing processes is, therefore, crucial for achieving minimal costs, maximum efficiency, and overall customer satisfaction. Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) are the first steps towards organizing these processes; however, due to the human factor involved, information on products, vehicles and workers may be missing, corrupt, or misleading. In this paper, a cost-effective Indoor Positioning System (IPS) based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology is presented for use in Intralogistics that works automatically, and therefore minimizes the possibility of acquiring incorrect data. The proposed IPS solution is intended to be used for supervising order-picker movements, movement of packages between workstations, and tracking other mobile devices in a manually operated warehouse. Only data that are accurate, reliable and represent the actual state of the system, are useful for detailed material flow analysis and optimization in Intralogistics. Using the developed solution, IPS technology is leveraged to enhance the manually operated warehouse operational efficiency in Intralogistics. Due to the hardware independence, the developed software solution can be used with virtually any BLE supported beacons and receivers. The results of IPS testing in laboratory/office settings show that up to 98% of passings are detected successfully with time delays between approach and detection of less than 0.5 s.

Fast 50 Hz Updated Static Infrared Positioning System Based on Triangulation Method

“…However, materials or objects in front of the receiver may scatter GNSS signals, making them unsuitable for indoor positioning. Scattering can also be an obstacle when using Bluetooth [ 2 ], Wi-Fi [ 3 ], RFID [ 4 ] and ultra-wideband (UWB) [ 5 ] technologies, which are also used for positioning. The availability of positioning solutions is expected to increase interest in this technology, which can be used for navigation, tracking, marketing, entertainment, safety, and security.…”

Fast 50 Hz Updated Static Infrared Positioning System Based on Triangulation Method

“…However, materials or objects in front of the receiver may scatter GNSS signals, making them unsuitable for indoor positioning. Scattering can also be an obstacle when using Bluetooth [2], Wi-Fi [3], RFID [4] and ultrawideband (UWB) [5] technologies, which are also used for positioning. The availability of positioning solutions is expected to increase interest in this technology, which can be used for navigation, tracking, marketing, entertainment, safety, and security.…”

A low-cost indoor positioning system based on data-driven modeling for robotics research and education

“…Furthermore, the GPS accuracy (namely, the distance error between the ground truth and the reported position) of low-cost sensors is at the level of ∼meters, and therefore, it cannot satisfy the requirements of many indoor applications. Existing indoor positioning methods can be classified into three categories, including pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR) [3][4][5], communication technology [6][7][8], and computer vision [9][10][11][12], and each has its advantages and drawbacks.…”