Bluetooth Low Energy technology offers Real Time Localization Services (RTLS) that is suitable for industrial applications
Battery life has been a major obstacle with respect to asset tracking tag development and adoption, particularly within industrial sectors where reducing maintenance efforts and associated costs are a primary concern. To overcome this challenge, onsemi has unveiled a new system solution, the RSL10 Asset Tag that offers an unprecedented, industry-leading battery life of up to five years instead of just a year or even months, as seen in existing asset tracking tags or beacons. Bringing about this change is the low-power consuming RSL10 Bluetooth 5 radio SoC and other firmware level enhancements. Alongside the RSL10, the platform features a 3-axis accelerometer and environmental sensors (motion, pressure and temperature) to provide valuable data and insights into an asset’s environment, condition and orientation.
Each sensor is powered through a dedicated MOSFET load switch, which is operated by the RSL10, thus controlling the overall system power consumption based on a per-sensor usage. Additional platform features include a low-cost antenna, matching circuit optimised for Bluetooth Low Energy transmissions, a multi-purpose dome switch and a removal 10-pin debugger depending on the application needs.
The RSL10 was recently selected for use in an indoor localisation beacon designed to track and monitor hospital equipment and provide actionable insight to healthcare providers. Blyott, an IoT solution provider, and Tatwah, a provider of Bluetooth LE tags and beacons, developed the device. Blyott selected Tatwah’s RSL10-based beacons because of their small form-factor, ultra-low-power capabilities and the ability of the IP67 tags to meet the stringent sterilisation requirements.
“onsemi provided us with an ideal hardware platform to develop Bluetooth-based RTLS solutions,” said Gery Pollett, CEO and co-founder of Blyott, “The RSL10 allowed us to meet the challenging needs of the healthcare industry. We were particularly impressed by the energy efficiency of the RSL10 radio.”
“The next generation of RSL10-powered Bluetooth LE tags will allow Quuppa partners to leverage highly accurate, sensor-enriched positioning data with unprecedented battery lifetime. This enables use-cases that haven’t been possible before due to the high cost of ownership,” said Santtu Pulli, Senior Customer Manager at Quuppa. “Real-time asset visibility and related productivity optimisation will become a key competitive advantage for companies in manufacturing, warehousing and logistics domains. This is just the beginning – the possibilities are endless!”
The RSL10 Asset Tag comes with a comprehensive suite of development tools that include multi-protocol wireless support for Bluetooth Low-Energy connectivity and the Quuppa Intelligent Locating System Real-Time Localization Services (RTLS). Within the CMSIS-Pack, included with the evaluation board, onsemi has developed a custom application that demonstrates the ultra-low-power features and capabilities of the platform in an asset tracking use-case. The RSL10 Asset Tag is available now through local onsemi sales support.
