Introduction

In this how-to, you will learn how to get started with Wirepas Positioning Evaluation Kit.

What you’ll learn

• Discover and set up the Wirepas positioning evaluation kit
• Configure Anchors and Tags
• Configure Wirepas Network Tool (WNT) with the WNT Client PC software
• See Tags being positioned on WNT client

What you’ll need

• A Wirepas positioning evaluation kit based on ELA devices available from Wirepas or ELA Innovation
• A PC with Windows 10
• Access to Wirepas Developer Portal
• An internet connection preferably over Ethernet for the Gateway and with the following TCP ports opened:

• An understanding of the Wirepas Positioning system available from the ‘Wirepas Positioning system Overview’ [1].

Smart Tracking Evaluation Kit introduction

The Smart Tracking Wirepas Evaluation kit consists of a pre-configured ready to be installed setup including both the hardware components and the software to evaluate Wirepas Positioning technology.

The kit allows to install a real setup in a real environment and allows to cover up to 2500m² and localize 10 mobile tags. It includes a configuration tool used to load floorplan, configure the system and see mobile tags positions on a map.

Here is an overview of the different components and the operation principle:

Hardware components

The kits contains the following elements delivered from ELA Innovation.

1 x Gateway:

The gateway is the bridge between the Wirepas Mesh network and the cloud server. The gateway shall be connected to internet.
 The following gateways are delivered depending on the ordered kit:

Option1: A Raspberry Pi (RPi) and a Wirepas USB Dongle (to be connected to the RPi) 

Option2: A SolidRun SolidSense N6 Gateway

10 Mobile Tags and 15 Anchors

10 ELA Innovation Blue Puck ID+ Mobile tags. Those tags are used for the mobile asset and embeds an accelerometer and a NFC configuration.

By default the tags are doing localization measurement:

• Every 300 seconds when in movement (Dynamic)
• Every 3600 seconds when static

Update interval can be configured via the NFC configuration tool, see: Changing tags localization interval and configuration)

15 ELA Innovation Blue Puck ID+ Anchors points. Used as fixed references for the tag positioning - they are also Wirepas Mesh routers.

Even if Tags and Anchors devices are physically the same they have been configured with different parameters.

Tags and Anchors are delivered in 2 different bags with labels indicating the bag with Tags and the one with Anchors.

1 USB NFC Programmer

Please note that even if the kit is provided with ELA Innovation products, a wide range of Tags, Anchors and Gateways are available from Wirepas Ecosystem partners. Please refer to Wirepas Partners website for the list of products.

Wirepas Software components

Wirepas Positioning Solution is delivered together with the evaluation kit and consist of 2 elements:

• Wirepas Backend: Provided as an hosed evaluation backend in Wirepas cloud infrastructure for the duration of the evaluation
• Wirepas Network Tool (WNT) client : A PC application used to configure the positioning system and see position of the tags on a map.

Wirepas Backend

The Wirepas Backend is provided as a cloud component for the duration of the evaluation. The backend is the central server where all the gateways are connected to.

Note: The Wirepas Backend is provided as a cloud component hosted in Wirepas Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud for the duration of the evaluation. Please note that for commercial projects, the Wirepas Backend is delivered as instances to be self-installed by customers in their cloud infrastructure.

The backend is built around 3 main components:

• A Central MQTT Broker where all Gateways are connected.
• Wirepas Positioning Engine: The positioning solver
• Wirepas Network Tool Backend: To manage the configuration, monitoring and scheduling of the different dataflow in the server.

Wirepas Network Tool Client

The Wirepas Network Tool Client is a Windows 10 tool allowing to visualize the network topology, nodes diagnostics and position. Wirepas Network Tool client can be used also for the installation phase to input floor plans and set the position of anchors on the floor plans.

In scope of the Evaluation Kit this tool is used to configure and monitor the positioning system. It also allows to visualize the position of the mobile tags on a map.

For more details about the backend architecture please refer to the document ‘Wirepas Positioning system Overview’ [1]

Getting started

In the next section you will learn how to start your Wirepas Positioning Evaluation kit. 5 steps are proposed to setup both the hardware and the software components.

• Step 1: Install and connect WNT Client
• Step 2: Connect the Gateway
• Step 3: Turn ON and configure Tags and Anchors
• Step 4: Create a floorplan in WNT
• Step 5: Place Anchors and Tags and configure the Positioning Engine

Step 1: Install and connect WNT Client

In this section we will install and configure WNT Client to point to your evaluation instance. A dedicated instance hosted in Wirepas evaluation cloud is provided together with the kit.

Here are the steps to follow to install and configure WNT Client

1. Download Wirepas Network Tool Client version v4.4.2.4 from the ‘Wirepas Developer Portal’ [2]
2. Open the welcome ticket you received with your kit from the Wirepas Developer Portal.
3. Download and open, with a text editor, the .rst file attached to the welcome ticket and containing the server credential
4. Install the tool following the installation instructions from the ‘Wirepas Network Tool Client User Guide’ [3] chapters Client Installation, Configuring the client and then Setting Credentials and using the admin account credentials from the .rst file.

Once the installation is complete, you will see the following WNT Client main screen

Step 2: Connect the Gateway

Now that WNT Client is up and running; the next step is to connect the Gateway to the cloud backend server. The gateway has been preconfigured for your kit. As a consequence the gateway automatically connects to the Wirepas Mesh and the Wirepas Backend if you ensure the following:

• Gateway is connected via Ethernet
• Network has a DHCP server and the TCP port 8883 opened to allow the gateway to connect to the cloud server (via MQTT)
• In case of the Raspberry Pi, please make sure you have the USB dongle connected to any of the Raspberry Pi USB connector prior powering up the gateway.

After a few minutes, you should see the gateway coming to the node list in Wirepas Network Tool client as displayed in the picture below (Sink role represents the Gateway):

In case you want to use another connectivity like Wi-Fi or LTE(with SolidSense):

For SolidSense Gateway: please follow the instruction from SolidRun website to configure the Gateway with Kura

For the Raspberry Pi 2 options are available:

• Either via the Raspberry desktop if you connect a screen and a keyboard to the Raspberry Pi and configure either the Ethernet or the Wi-Fi parameters from the Raspberry desktop
• Or via command line over SSH. Please refer to the official tutorial for detailed instructions https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/wireless/

Shall you need static IP or a more complex IT setup, please refer to the Raspberry documentation.

Step 3: Turn ON and configure Tags and Anchors

Now that the Wirepas Network Tool is up and running and that the Gateway is connected to the cloud it is time to turn on and configure the tags.

 ELA tags are switched on / configured through NFC as follows:

• Install the ELA device manager https://elainnovation.com/en/device-manager-suite/
• Use the NFC programmer to switch-on the Tags “Tag Enable State → True” as shown in the picture below :

• You can also configure the reporting period (Period Min and Period Max).
• Do not change the Network Address, Network Channel or Tag Class

You can follow the Tutorials video to Install device manager and activate tags available from ELA website.

Each time a Mobile tag or an Anchor is activated you should see it to appear after one minute in the Nodes menu in WNT Client as shown in picture below:

Here are more details about the different parameters:

• Network is the identifier of the Wirepas Mesh network where all devices have been preconfigured to operate in.
• Address is the Tag or Anchor address and should correspond to the address visible on the Tag or Anchor Sticker.
• Role depends on each device role in the network and is: Sink for the Gateway, Router for Anchors and Non-Router for Tags.

Mode details about the meaning of the different icons in WNT Client is available from the 'Wirepas Network Tool Client User Guide' [3]

When all your Tags and Anchors are activated we can move to the next Step to create your floorplan in WNT Client.

Step 4: Create a floorplan in WNT

Now that you have few Tags and Anchors able to connect to the server and visible to WNT, let’s configure a floorplan to test the Tracking system.

For this please follow the How To tutorial: ‘How to create and configure a building floorplan in WNT client’ [4] available from Wirepas Developer Portal.

At the end of this step you have all device connected and sending data to WNT and a floorplan configured.

Step 5: Place Anchors and Tags and configure the Positioning Engine

At this step we will start to physically install the Anchors in your building.

For this step please follow the How To Tutorial: ‘How to place anchors and tags on a building floorplan in WNT client’ [5] available from Wirepas Developer Portal.

Here are a few guidelines for the Anchors physical placement:

• Anchors shall be placed ideally on a wall at an altitude similar to the Tag altitude. e.g: between 2m and 2.5m in a building.
• Anchors shall not be placed on the floor as it badly impact the RSSI signals measurements.
• Anchors shall be placed every 150m²-250m². A good rule on thumb for the accuracy is: Distance between Anchors divided by a factor 2 to 3. e.g: 3-5m accuracy with Anchors every 10m
• In case a ‘per room’ accuracy is required, the recommendation is to place one Anchor per room, ideally on the ceiling at the center of the room.
• A minimum of 3 Anchors shall be placed in the radio range of the gateway (e.g: in a 200m² area around the gateway)

Going further

Changing tags localization interval and configuration

Tags localization interval can be tuned via 2 methods: via ELA device manager software by changing the NFC configuration or via Wirepas Network Tool Client using Application Data.

• Please refer to document “MESH Location - User Guide” available from ELA website for more details on those parameters and how to change them 
• Please note that the Mobile Tag Autonomy will vary depending on the measurement interval. Please refer to the document “Blue PUCK MESH - Battery lifecycle” available from ELA website for more details.

Evaluate the Wirepas Positioning system performance

Wirepas provides the Wirepas WPE APT tool to help you assess the tracking system performance in term of location accuracy.
Please refer to [6] to learn how to install, configure and use it.

FAQ

I have a problem, how can I get support?

Support is provided for the duration of the evaluation.

For support related to Wirepas deliverables you can contact Wirepas by logging a ticket from the Wirepas Developer Portal.

For support related to ELA Products and feature, you can contact ELA support from the following email address: [email protected]

I can’t login to WNT Client

In most of the case this issue will be linked to firewall blocking access to some TCP Port to the Wirepas Backend. Please make sure the following ports are opened:

You can check that your TCP ports are properly opened by doing a connection test in the Setting menu of the tools:

• Go to Settings menu on the left banner
• Then General Settings and Check connection
• A popup window will appear and should show all ports connected.

Another case could be that your instance has expired. Your instance has a time limit of 90 days and is automatically stopped after some time. Please contact your sales representative or support if you face this issues for commercial elements related to extension.

The Gateway does not come to WNT Client

Similarly to the WNT Client issues, in most of the cases this can be related to internet connectivity problems.

Please make sure your gateway has an internet connectivity and has the following port opened:

I can’t see my nodes in WNT client

This issue is in most cases related to the filters applied in the overview window :

These filters are applied by clicking on the percentages of “sink Online” or “Nodes Online” to show statistics for only one of the types.

They can be disabled by clicking on the cross for each filter on the “Filters” top line.

References

[1] Wirepas Positioning system Overview
[2] Wirepas Network Tool v4.4 Client Setup (4.4.2.4)
[3] Wirepas Network Tool Client User Guide
[4] How to create and configure a building floorplan in WNT client
[5] How to place anchors and tags on a building floorplan in WNT client
[6] Wirepas WPE Analysis and Playback Tool user guide

Revision History

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