Estimote Location Beacons power the equivalent of the GPS for indoors - Estimote Indoor Location. They are used to map indoor spaces to later enable position and navigation integration into apps. To learn more about Indoor Location, check out this article.
Beacon placement and orientation
In a typical room with a door and four walls, place the first beacon next to the door, preferably on the right side (looking from inside the location), and the others at the center of each wall in the room.
All the beacons should be placed vertically. If you’re using Location Beacons, place them at eye-level or a little bit higher over the crowd. If you’re using Location Beacons with the UWB module, you have to place them at chest-height.
For more detailed info, check out the article: How to set up a location in Estimote Indoor Location?
Obstacles and interference
Bluetooth signal, used by both Location Beacons and Location Beacons with UWB, is a 2.4 GHz radio wave, which makes it susceptible to external factors, like multipath propagation, diffraction, absorption, and interference.
Below are some common material types and their interference potential.
- Low interference potential: wood, synthetic materials, and glass
- Medium interference potential: bricks and marble
- High interference potential: plaster, concrete, and bulletproof glass
- Very high interference potential: metal, water
These interference types can be minimized while using Location Beacon, by placing your beacons above crowds and objects (2 m- 2,5 m). Beacons with UWB should stay at chest-height.
For more info, visit our Community Portal: What are potential sources of wireless interference?