IndoTraq® supplies both HSKT™ and HSVT™ technologies for autonomous tracking. The HSKT™ works well in both LOS (line of sight) and NLOS (non line of sight) conditions because it uses ultra wide band frequencies. This wide band of frequencies is sent out in the form of a Gaussian pulse. The anchor on the other end can easily discriminate which frequency penetrated the obstacles in between and thus determine which path is the direct one and hence the accurate distance between the tag and anchor. Typical precision in a production environment is ±5 mm. HSVT™ technology combines the HSKT™ technology with a vision module to get sub mm tracking. The choice of which technology to use depends on the precision required.
Determining the location at high speed (up to 200 Hz) allows the robot to move quickly and still get constant location updates in order to follow the path accurately.
One other feature is that the anchors only need power either from the included battery or any other power supply. They can be powered from any available power source such as an existing Ethernet cable or any other power source with at least 5V available. Also the anchors can be placed either temporarily or permanently and as soon as they are turned on, they join the existing network of anchors and auto locate themselves.
In order for the HSKT™ tracking tag to determine its absolute location, it has to communicate with at least three multilateration anchors. These anchors can be placed either temporarily or permanently. Once each one is powered up, it looks for other anchors in the vicinity and each anchor determines its location automatically. The anchor locations are then communicated to the HSKT™ tag of the robot or drone so that it can calculate its own absolute position. A vision module used by itself can only calculate a relative position. That’s why the HSVT™ technology combines the vision module and the HSKT™ tag to get an absolute location with sub mm precision.
If more than three anchors are available, then a multilateration algorithm will decide which anchors to use for the location calculation at any given point in time. This is done automatically based on the uncertainty of each distance to anchor measurement.
Autonomous Vehicles
In GPS denied environments such as under bridges or inside parking garages, either HSKT™ or HSVT™ technology can be used to guide the vehicle.
Autonomous Forklift
A lot of man hours are saved if a forklift can operate with no human intervention. They can pickup loads and deliver supplies all throughout the facility as needed.
Autonomous Fighting Robots
A new form of competition is to design a fighting robot that is autonomous or can conquer its opponent without human intervention.
Autonomous Drones
Autonomous drones can use either HSKT™ or HSVT™ tracking tags for precise indoor positioning at up to 200Hz.