3 points by eeemmmooo 6 months ago | 6 comments
hiAndrewQuinn 6 months ago
Bluetooth triangulation is very hard (don't ask me how I know) and won't get you that kind of resolution. Apple's AirTags won't either. Dots painted on the floor at regular 1 yard or 10 foot intervals, in view of the cameras so that calculations can be inferred? Now we're getting somewhere.
The good news is security cameras have existed for a long time, and you can almost certainly find someone to bulk purchase from on the cheap.
If you insist upon using a wearable you may be able to get a light source on everyone you can calibrate towards. I'm not sure whether that's very helpful in practice.
eeemmmooo 6 months ago
runjake 6 months ago
With that caveat, to answer your question, you'd probably use Bluetooth LE devices that everyone carries. If everyone had wi-fi devices, you could use wi-fi triangulation software. This is usually an add-on package to existing enterprise wireless solution.
You could also do active NFC tags and have choke-points with scanners everywhere.
I have my own Python script at work, appropriately named creep.py, that locates people by wi-fi by logging into our enterprise wireless system, checking what AP their MAC/DHCP client ID/username combo is connected to, gets the RSSI, then runs that through some if/else statements to determine what room they're in to a high degree of accuracy. The script also gets readings off the adjacent APs, as well, for better triangulation. I keep quiet about this script, lest it be used for police state purposes.
The above is a simplification of the script, but if RSSI is approx <=55 or so, then the person is likely in the same room as the WAP, given normal US construction practices. ~65 or so, there's probably a drywall wall between the person and WAP, etc etc. This is an extreme oversimplification, but gives you an idea.
tl;dr:
Your tracking options are:
- Bluetooth LE
- Wi-Fi
- NFC
- GPS devices
None of these will get you to a couple inches of accuracy. Think more like "room-level accuracy".
markus_zhang 6 months ago
sloaken 6 months ago
eeemmmooo 6 months ago