×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

RF Tracking Application

RF Tracking Application

RF Tracking Application

(OP)
I am looking for an RF chipset that provides directional capability.  I am looking to detect when an item breaks a barrier and at what location, using only a base recieving station and a remote transmitter.  I have been looking at the development kit from Freescale using Zigbee technology.  They have an accelerometer attached to the one board, but this only give orientation of the boardset.  I need something that is going to give tracking capability.

Regards,

Rich.....

Richard Nornhold, PE
ampdesign@earthlink.net

RE: RF Tracking Application

Many of these projects would greatly benifit from GPS.  Then you have your global X and Y cordinates handed to you on a platter.

RE: RF Tracking Application

As Mr. Smoked posted, the only 'chipset' solution is probably GPS-based. With GPS it becomes a matter of scale. If your barrier is only 3cm from the base station, then GPS is not practical over such small distances.

You should post your numbers: distance, accuracy.

If you can't use GPS, then you have a range and bearing problem (single base station).

Range is simply timing (and has been discussed before).  It is dangerously close to trivial with only a few gotyas. Search the forums for 'range'.

Bearing - look up Doppler Arrays where there are four whip antennas in a circle. The receiver electrically 'spins' the four antennas to induce an FM Doppler tone. The receiver extracts the phase of the induced tone to calculate bearing. Usually good to several degrees.

Once you have range and bearing, then you know where it is.

Other solutions might use two base stations and triangulation (two bearings only).

DGPS is certainly the simplest approach, assuming that the scale matches the GPS scale.

This isn't really a 'chipset' problem. It is bigger than that. It is an entire system.

RE: RF Tracking Application

More info from nornrich would sure help. Is this a linear border? Circular? Is it humans or robots or protozoa? Can other methods do the job? IR or laser? Line of site?

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources