Description

The Mini-RX Beacon can be used in both the Non-Inverse Architecture (NIA) and the Inverse Architecture (IA):

Supports license-free 915MHz ISM band (US) and license-free SRD band 868MHz (EU). All Mini-RX beacons have 6D IMU (3D gyro + 3D accelerometer) onboard. The Mini-RX beacon differs from regular Beacon HW v4.9 in several ways:

  • The Mini-RX is an RX-only beacon, i.e. it can receive, but it cannot transmit ultrasonic signal
  • The fact that it is RX-only makes it far more sensitive, i.e. you will get a longer range between Beacon HW v4.9 and the Mini-RX than between Beacon HW v4.9 and Beacon HW v4.9
  • The Mini-RX beacon can receive any ultrasonic frequency from the bands: 19kHz, 25kHz, 31kHz, 37kHz, 45kHz. The filter can be simply selected in the Dashboard. At the same time, the ultrasonic frequency of Beacon HW v4.9 is HW-defined by ultrasonic sensors and can’t be changed
  • The Mini-RX beacon can receive several ultrasonic frequencies at once. That is used in Inverse Architecture. See the comparison
  • The Mini-RX Beacon is significantly smaller, than Beacon HW v4.9 in volume and weight. See the Beacons Comparison table
  • The Mini-RX Beacon can work with regular Beacons HW v4.9 in any combination as a part of a Starter Set or as a part of navigation systems and it is a superior RX-only replacement to HW v4.9. At the same time, since it is RX-only beacon, the Beacons HW v4.9 are here to stay as universal dual-use beacons. In all cases, beacons shall use the same radio band

Distance between beacons

  • Reaches up to 50 meters in lab conditions
  • Recommended distance is up to 30 meters (Transducer4 of Beacon HW v4.9 looking straight at Mini-RX)
  • Range of stable tracking of Mini-RX + Beacon HW v4.9 is 20-50% bigger, than the range of Beacon HW v4.9 + Beacon HW v4.9 in the same conditions

Coverage area

  • Reaches up to 1000 m2 with the Starter Set configurations
  • Coverage for larger territories is similar to cellular networks

Location precision

  • Absolute: 1–3% of the distance to the beacons
  • Differential precision: ±2 cm
  • Differential precision is on par or better than in the Beacon HW v4.9, partially, because the sensor is a point – not as spread sensors of HW v4.9; and, partially, because of higher processing power and more advanced algorithms of the DSP beacon

Location update rate

Non-Inverse Architecture:

  • 0.05–25Hz
  • Can be set manually or in automatic mode
  • Depends on the distance between the mobile and stationary beacons (shorter distance — higher update rate)
  • Depends on the number of mobile beacons: for example, update rate of 25Hz for 1 mobile beacon will result in update rate of 25Hz/2 for 2 mobile beacons, and 25Hz/3 – for 3 mobile beacons, etc. – TDMA approach
  • Depends on the radio interface profile (500kbps vs. 38kbps)

  Inverse Architecture:

  • 0.05–25Hz. Future SW releases are planned to support IMU fusion that will  enabled update rate of up to 100Hz
  • Can be set manually or in automatic mode
  • Depends on the distance between the mobile and stationary beacons (shorter distance — higher update rate)
  • Doesn’t directly depend on the number of mobile beacons – all of them are receiving
  • Depends on the radio interface profile (500kbps vs. 38kbps)

Power supply and battery lifetime

Internal:

  • LiPol battery 750mAh
  • Battery lifetime totally depends on usage
  • Stationary beacon with 8Hz update rate => up to 30h
  • Stationary beacon with 1Hz update rate => 1 week
  • Future power saving features may increase battery life to 1year and more (with very slow update rate or location update on demand)

External:

  • microUSB – recommended for permanent use

Weight

  • 25g (board + battery + plastic housing)
  • 9g (board only)

Size

47x42x15mm

Description

The Mini-RX Beacon can be used in both the Non-Inverse Architecture (NIA) and the Inverse Architecture (IA):

Supports license-free 915MHz ISM band (US) and license-free SRD band 868MHz (EU). All Mini-RX beacons have 6D IMU (3D gyro + 3D accelerometer) onboard. The Mini-RX beacon differs from regular Beacon HW v4.9 in several ways:

  • The Mini-RX is an RX-only beacon, i.e. it can receive, but it cannot transmit ultrasonic signal
  • The fact that it is RX-only makes it far more sensitive, i.e. you will get a longer range between Beacon HW v4.9 and the Mini-RX than between Beacon HW v4.9 and Beacon HW v4.9
  • The Mini-RX beacon can receive any ultrasonic frequency from the bands: 19kHz, 25kHz, 31kHz, 37kHz, 45kHz. The filter can be simply selected in the Dashboard. At the same time, the ultrasonic frequency of Beacon HW v4.9 is HW-defined by ultrasonic sensors and can’t be changed
  • The Mini-RX beacon can receive several ultrasonic frequencies at once. That is used in Inverse Architecture. See the comparison
  • The Mini-RX Beacon is significantly smaller, than Beacon HW v4.9 in volume and weight. See the Beacons Comparison table
  • The Mini-RX Beacon can work with regular Beacons HW v4.9 in any combination as a part of a Starter Set or as a part of navigation systems and it is a superior RX-only replacement to HW v4.9. At the same time, since it is RX-only beacon, the Beacons HW v4.9 are here to stay as universal dual-use beacons. In all cases, beacons shall use the same radio band

Additional information

Weight 0.025 kg
Dimensions 4.7 × 4.2 × 1.5 cm

Questions and Answers


Abraham Reichert
4 years 3 months ago

Hi
Dose it also can give except the XYZ position, also rotation data?

4 years 3 months ago

It gives raw 3D gyro + 3D accel + 3D compass data.
Additionally, with IMU fusion enabled, quaternion is streamed out.
Even more, with Paired Beacon feature, you will have location + direction without any IMU drift: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBWUALT3WTQ

Leandro Zimmer
4 years 11 days ago

What’s the battery lifetime of Mobile Beacon Mini-RX at 1Hz in Inverse Architecture?
“Future power saving features may increase battery life to 1year and more”. Do you have more information about this feature?

4 years 6 days ago

We haven’t done yet detailed tests and focus in others things in SW development than power savings … There are really many parameters affecting the battery lifetime, most of all, size of the submap. Larger submap – shorter battery lifetime.

Now, we would suggest using these figures for the budgetary estimation:
Stationary beacon with 8Hz update rate => up to 30h
Stationary beacon with 1Hz update rate => 1 week

Lars Neuser
3 years 1 month ago

Is it possible to attach external microphones to the beacon so that the beacon itself can be covered / hidden and only the microphones are showing?

Vyacheslav
2 years 11 months ago

Dear Admin,

Previously, we purchased the starter Set SuperNOVA-3D, now we are considering purchasing a set with Beacon Mini-RX.
Could you send me a CAD-3D model of the Beacon Mini-RX? We need the model to develop a mechanical model.
I hope for a quick response from you.

2 years 11 months ago

Please, notice that Mini-RX has more inside that is visible from the outside:
– Optionally, it is possible to have a special connector installed and to have UART 3.3V out via the connector: UART Cable for Mini-RX

Here are links to the Mini-RX dimensions:
Beacon_Mini-RX_body.STL
Beacon_Mini-RX_body.STEP

Mike
2 years 4 months ago

Is it possible to utilize the microphone on your smartphone as an alternative to this device? Essentially, could you use the modem + super beacon setup to track phones within a space?

2 years 3 months ago

In a very distant theory, yes. Constrains:
1) The microphone in the phone is not an ultrasonic microphone. It is ability to receive ultrasonic is very limited
2) Most likely, internal digital filters cut the band sharply after 20kHz. With very low level access to the phone’s SW that could be re-done, but that is pretty low lowel
3) Microphones are physically designed to get the sound from mouth – not from the outside
4) Precise clock synchronization is difficult… Required to microseconds. Doable over WiFi or BT or cellular, but with special tricks

So, yes, it is a good option to consider in theory, but have many serious external restrictions.

One could take an existing phone and heavily modify it, including HW and DSP SW. Then, yes, thing would work. With an external headset – very possible option.

Mayue
1 year 11 months ago

Could you please make customization? We would like to integrate it into our AR glass.

1 year 11 months ago

Yes, we do customizations.
Please, send a more detailed request to info@marvelmind.com.

Julio Artica
1 year 11 months ago

Hi, I am trying to modify the device address parameter, but when I check the value, it doesn’t save. One more thing, sometimes, not all the Mini-RX Beacon parameters are displayed on the dashboard. Why does that happen?

1 year 11 months ago

There could be several reasons:
– The SW mismatch – please, always use the SW for modem, beacons, Dashboard from the same SW pack only
– Some settings in the Dashboard – like saved map, etc.

Please, send us an email to info@marvelmind.com with more details and screen/video capture and we will help.

T. Sakanashi
1 year 9 months ago

HI,
The above description shows “Supports license-free 915MHz ISM band (US) and license-free SRD band 868MHz (EU).”
Please advise certification number of ISM band and SRD band.

1 year 9 months ago

We have the HW and SW support for those bands and used the same radio modules as used in the certified Super-Beacons and Modem HW v5.1. But we haven’t applied and haven’t received any certifications for this item yet. As soon as there is sufficiently large business case, we will do the certification in ~1.5 months.