In today’s fast-changing technological landscape, businesses constantly seek more efficient and cost-effective solutions for tracking and managing assets. A powerful solution is created by combining MOKOSmart technology with Traxmate. This allows customers to seamlessly incorporate MOKOSmart’s affordable and scalable BLE beacon technology with Traxmate’s platform, which supports various other positioning technologies. This integration provides customers with an easy way to monitor assets and ensures compatibility across different tracking devices, making it easier to deploy and manage diverse tracking ecosystems.
The combined solution, which seamlessly integrates MOKOSmart technology with Traxmate’s robust positioning infrastructure, is designed for ease of deployment. This means that customers can easily incorporate MOKOSmart’s Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices, benefiting from a system that is simple to deploy at scale. The integrated solution opens up various possibilities, enabling efficient tracking across different settings, from construction sites to retail environments. With Traxmate’s platform at the core, customers can easily customize their tracking setup, integrating MOKOSmart technology alongside other positioning systems as needed to meet specific operational requirements, providing a seamless and stress-free integration process.
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Who is MOKOSmart?
MOKOSmart, a subsidiary of Shenzhen Moko Technology Ltd. and a partner of Traxmate, is a leading provider of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. They specialize in Bluetooth technology, WiFi, and LoRa connectivity. MOKOSmart offers a strong product lineup that includes BLE beacons, sensors, and gateway devices, enabling seamless wireless communication across various applications. Their innovative hardware solutions are cost-effective and easy to deploy, serving a range of sectors, including retail, healthcare, and industrial sectors. MOKOSmart focuses on scalability and affordability, making it a trusted partner for businesses looking to integrate IoT technology into their operations.
Understanding MOKOSmart Technology
MOKOSmart Technology, particularly MOKOSmart’s BLE Gateways, provides a novel approach to tracking. These devices use Bluetooth technology to scan for nearby BLE beacons, which send out signals that the gateways can detect. This beacon-centric method offers significant advantages to client-centric WiFi or BLE-based tracking systems, particularly in use cases where accuracy requirements are flexible and cost and scalability are critical considerations.
The MOKOSmart gateway, with its small and energy-efficient design, can scan up to 300 BLE devices per second. This high throughput makes it suitable for various purposes, such as tracking assets on large construction sites or managing inventory in retail environments. The BLE beacons used by MOKOSmart are more affordable and accessible to deploy than traditional tracking devices. They also ensure the solution’s scalability, providing an ideal solution for businesses that need to monitor numerous assets or people without incurring high costs. This guarantees the solution can grow with your business needs.
Understanding the differences Between BLE Client-Centric and Beacon-Centric Positioning
BLE Client-Centric Positioning
In a BLE client-centric positioning system, the BLE device (client) actively scans for signals from fixed BLE beacons placed in the environment. The device, a smartphone, tablet, or other BLE-enabled device, determines its position based on the signals received from nearby beacons. This approach typically relies on a method called trilateration, where the device calculates its location by measuring the signal strength from multiple beacons and estimating the distance from each beacon.
Use Cases for BLE Client-Centric Positioning:
- Indoor Navigation: Client-centric positioning is commonly used for indoor navigation in large venues like shopping malls, airports, and museums, where individuals with a BLE-enabled device can access location-based services.
- Personal Tracking: This system works well for scenarios where the end-user has a mobile device and must navigate or locate specific areas, such as healthcare facilities or large offices.
This approach is beneficial in cases where precise, individual-level location tracking is required, particularly for services and applications that rely on end-user interaction with the BLE client device.
BLE Beacon-Centric Positioning
In contrast, beacon-centric positioning utilizes fixed BLE gateways (like MOKOSmart gateways) to scan for BLE beacons placed on assets or personnel. The gateways, which remain stationary, detect signals these BLE beacons broadcast, allowing for asset tracking based on the beacon’s proximity to the gateways. Positioning can be determined by one gateway or improved through multiple overlapping gateways using RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) measurements to calculate location.
Use Cases for Beacon-Centric Positioning:
- Asset Tracking: This method is ideal for tracking valuable assets within a defined area, such as tools in construction sites or equipment in industrial settings. The BLE beacons are placed on the assets, and stationary gateways capture their movement and location.
- Employee Monitoring in Industrial Environments: For safety and operational efficiency, companies can monitor employee movement within a facility, such as on a factory floor or in a warehouse, without requiring employees to carry devices.
- Inventory Management: In retail or warehousing, items with BLE beacons can be tracked as they move through different areas, allowing for real-time inventory updates without requiring handheld devices.
Beacon-centric positioning is typically better suited for large-scale, cost-effective deployment where assets, rather than individual end-users, are tracked passively. It offers simplicity and scalability, as multiple assets can be tracked using stationary gateways without requiring a tracking device for each item or person being monitored.
Choosing Between BLE Client-centric and Beacon-centric Positioning
The decision between BLE client-centric and beacon-centric positioning depends on the specific requirements of the use case:
Client-centric BLE Positioning is more effective when interaction with end-user devices is required for navigation, personal tracking, or proximity-based services, where the user is actively involved in the positioning process. It performs well in environments where individuals need to establish their location or receive location-based information.
Beacon-centric positioning is advantageous for asset tracking, equipment monitoring, or scenarios where numerous items must be tracked simultaneously and passively. This approach is ideal for environments where precision is secondary to scalability and cost-effectiveness, mainly when the tracked objects don’t require end-user devices to participate actively.
Ultimately, choosing these two positioning systems should align with the application’s goals, considering factors like user interaction, scalability, deployment cost, and required precision.
Incorporating MOKOSmart Technology into Traxmate
MOKOSmart’s beacon-centric BLE technology has now been integrated into Traxmate’s platform to offer customers more tracking options. This collaboration makes it simple for Traxmate users to incorporate MOKOSmart gateways and BLE beacons into their current infrastructure, providing a more comprehensive tracking solution. The integration enables users to handle data through Traxmate’s MQTT server, which processes messages and uses rule chains for real-time decision-making and positioning requests.
Traxmates MQTT server → Message Processing (Rule Chains) → Traxmate
The implementation leverages Traxmate’s message processing system to manage data from MOKOSmart gateways. For instance, when multiple gateways detect the same device, Traxmate combines these messages over a specific period (usually four seconds) before processing them to create a single, more accurate positioning request. This capability enables Traxmate to handle large amounts of data from various sources while maintaining efficiency and precision. This is especially valuable in environments where quick tracking is crucial, such as active construction sites or busy retail spaces.
However, as pointed out above, it is essential to understand that all customer situations are unique and that no single solution fulfills all customer needs. Every case needs its cost estimate and requirement analysis to select the most appropriate solution. Still, with this integration, Traxmate can now offer this extra possibility of targeting tracking of high-volume, low-value assets.
Real-World Applications of MOKOSmart and Traxmate Integration
Construction Site Asset Management
A Traxmate customer in the construction industry will now use MOKOSmart technology to track equipment and personnel across various building sites. Traditional tracking systems can be costly and complex, but MOKOSmart’s BLE beacons provide a straightforward alternative. Gateways positioned at strategic points throughout the site can monitor equipment movements and ensure that tools and assets remain on-site. This helps reduce losses and provides real-time visibility, allowing project managers to make informed decisions about resource allocation and asset utilization.
Retail Environment Optimization
MOKOSmart technology, when integrated with Traxmate, offers a scalable solution for monitoring retail shopping carts and customer behavior. BLE beacons placed on shopping carts transmit data to gateways located throughout the store. This enables managers to analyze traffic patterns and identify popular store areas. Unlike camera-based systems, this approach provides detailed information on individual customer journeys without infringing on privacy. By identifying hotspots and areas that could benefit from reorganization, retailers can optimize store layouts and enhance the shopping experience.
Asset Tracking in Car Rental Services
Car rental companies can benefit from integrating MOKOSmart with Traxmate for cost-effective vehicle tracking. The solution involves placing BLE beacons in each vehicle and installing gateways at entry and exit points to record vehicle movements. This setup ensures accurate monitoring of cars entering or leaving the premises. The system’s flexibility allows for adding more gateways as the fleet grows, ensuring the system can scale alongside the business.
Tool and Equipment Monitoring
In situations where companies need to monitor expensive tools, MOKOSmart’s BLE beacons offer a cost-effective and scalable solution. By placing beacons on large, high-value tools and machinery, companies can establish alerts for when equipment leaves designated areas, helping to prevent theft and enhance accountability. The one-time installation cost is minimized, as companies can easily add more beacons as necessary without the expense of purchasing new gateways. This cost-effective approach ensures companies can enhance their monitoring capabilities without breaking the bank, making you a smart investor in your company’s security.
Conclusion
Integrating MOKOSmart technology with Traxmate’s platform provides businesses with a powerful, flexible, and scalable tracking solution that is easy to deploy and cost-effective. By leveraging MOKOSmart’s BLE gateways and beacons, companies can track various assets and personnel across multiple environments, from construction sites to retail stores. Traxmate’s robust infrastructure ensures seamless data processing and real-time positioning capabilities, empowering businesses to make informed decisions based on accurate and timely information.
This partnership expands Traxmate’s capabilities and allows customers to create customized tracking solutions tailored to their specific needs. The combination of MOKOSmart’s affordable BLE technology and Traxmate’s versatile platform provides a comprehensive solution for businesses looking to enhance their tracking and monitoring capabilities.