Asset tracking blog overview
The purpose of the asset tracking system is to improve workflows, reduce inventory loss, and introduce process optimisation to improve overall operational efficiency and productivity. In any asset tracking system, the real-time location information of steady/moving asset is sent to cloud via gateway/router over a secure communication channel, says Ankur Gohel, IoT expert, Volansys Technologies.
The article describes key considerations to implement accurate & low-cost asset tracking solution that best fit your industry requirements. This article is divided into two parts, first will give you the overview of the IoT based Asset Tracking Solution, High-level Architecture of the system, Important system component information, and Costing drivers to design system. The second article will give you the complete details of different types of protocol compressions and widely popular industry applications.
Advantage of IoT based asset tracking
Contrary to an age-old & passive asset tracking system, IoT based asset tracking is a smart, efficient and intelligent system IoT-enabled asset tracking solutions utilise IoT sensors-to remotely track application-specific details of the asset without any human intervention. These IoT sensors can be attached to assets along with the conventional tracking tags (e.g. QR codes, RFID Tag, Barcode). Depending on the industry needs, there can be multiple use cases based on IoT solution while considering the criticalness of the asset with respect to the overall solution cost. Traditional passive solutions are simple, low-cost and easy to implement. However, the costly and premium IoT enabled solutions are largely getting popular day by day in different industries.
Advantages of IoT enabled asset tracking system:
Automation of the tracking process
Real-time information
Live inventory management
Environmental and usage information
Automated reminders and alerts
Accurate device location
Ensure regulatory compliance
Quick asset Audits
Key components of asset tracking solution:
There are five major components Tags, Reader/Hub, Gateway, Cloud, and Mobile App that cover the entire solution as explained in the following section. Selection of each component will make a differentiate the solution, depending on the industry needs.
Tag: The tags are the most important unit identity for all the assets, which supports the wireless communication protocol to communicate with a reader for tagged information. The tags can be RFID, Barcode, Zigbee, Z-wave, thread, BLE/Bluetooth 5.1 supporting Angle of Arrival (AOA) and Angle of Departure (AoD) both active and passive nature.
Reader/Hub: This is a device that detects the tags available in the specific area and sends the same data to the Gateway or to the cloud acting as an aggregator of the data in that region. Nowadays some of the readers are capable enough to send the tag’s data directly to the cloud without the help of the gateway. Different reader’s types are – Passive Reader, Active Tag (PRAT), Active Reader Passive Tag (ARPT), and Active Reader Active Tag (ARAT).
Smart Gateway: The gateway is the heart of the system. Hence, it is smart enough to do multiple operations like maintaining the connectivity with the IoT Cloud-sending the tag’s data to the cloud real-time, saving the tag’s status/information when the internet connection is not available, analyse tag’s information and work smartly to save the [...]
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Anasia D'mello, Khareem Sudlow
