Indoor GPS: ±2cm Dual Beacon Tracking | Marvelmind

Product Demos

Indoor GPS: ±2cm Dual Beacon Tracking | Marvelmind

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📅 2016-01-23

Indoor GPS: ±2cm Dual Beacon Tracking | Marvelmind

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For more information, please contact: info@marvelmind.com

What This Video Covers

This 20-second demonstration showcases Marvelmind's ultrasonic indoor positioning system tracking two mobile beacons with ±2cm accuracy in real time. The system employs time division multiple access (TDMA) to manage simultaneous beacon updates at ~8Hz per beacon. Stationary wall-mounted beacons establish the indoor GPS reference grid, while location data streams directly to drones, robots, or PC via USB/UART/SPI/I2C interfaces—eliminating GPS drift in enclosed spaces.

Key Takeaways

  • ±2cm positioning accuracy enables autonomous robot navigation in GPS-denied indoor environments
  • TDMA multiplexing allows simultaneous tracking of multiple mobile beacons without interference
  • Multi-protocol connectivity (USB, UART, SPI, I2C) simplifies integration with flight controllers and robot platforms
  • Stationary beacons establish a persistent indoor coordinate system, eliminating odometry drift
  • Real-time location data supports collision avoidance and fleet coordination in warehouses and manufacturing

👥 Who Should Watch This

Robotics engineers, warehouse automation planners, and drone operators evaluating indoor positioning solutions. This demo addresses the critical need for centimeter-level accuracy in multi-robot environments where simultaneous tracking of multiple mobile agents is essential for autonomous navigation and collision avoidance.

? FAQ

Q: What update rate does each beacon achieve when tracking multiple beacons simultaneously?
Using time division multiple access (TDMA), each beacon achieves approximately 8Hz update rate per beacon. With 2 beacons, the system dedicates alternating time slots to each, maintaining real-time performance across the fleet.
Q: How is the location data transmitted to my robot or drone?
Marvelmind's system supports multiple communication protocols: USB virtual UART, native UART, SPI, and I2C. Data streams directly from mobile beacons to flight controllers or onboard computers, with the option to relay through a modem to a PC for centralized monitoring.
Q: How does this indoor GPS system differ from using GPS indoors?
GPS signals don't penetrate walls or buildings. Marvelmind's ultrasonic beacons provide ±2cm accuracy indoors by using stationary wall-mounted reference points, eliminating the signal loss and multi-path errors that make GPS unreliable inside structures.
Q: Can this system track more than 2 beacons?
Yes. The TDMA architecture scales to multiple beacons. Each additional beacon receives a dedicated time slot, though individual update rates decrease proportionally with fleet size.
Q: What's the practical range and coverage area?
Coverage depends on stationary beacon placement and spacing. Typical warehouse deployments use 8-16 stationary reference beacons to cover areas up to several thousand square meters with consistent ±2cm accuracy.

Detailed Overview

Marvelmind's indoor positioning system delivers centimeter-level accuracy for autonomous indoor robots, drones, and warehouse vehicles operating in GPS-denied environments. This video demonstrates real-time tracking of two mobile beacons held simultaneously, proving the system's capability to monitor multiple mobile assets without interference. The architecture uses time division multiple access (TDMA) multiplexing, enabling each beacon to achieve approximately 8Hz update rates while sharing the ultrasonic infrastructure. Stationary reference beacons mounted on walls create a precise indoor coordinate system, while mobile beacons transmit their calculated positions via multiple interfaces including USB virtual UART, native UART, SPI, and I2C protocols. This flexibility makes integration seamless with flight controllers on drones, onboard computers in autonomous forklifts, or centralized warehouse management systems. The ±2cm positioning accuracy eliminates dead reckoning errors that accumulate in odometry-only systems, enabling reliable autonomous navigation in complex indoor environments like warehouses, manufacturing facilities, and logistics centers.

# Topics

indoor positioning systemindoor GPSbeacon trackingreal-time positioningautonomous robotsindoor navigationRTLS demo

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For more information, please contact: info@marvelmind.com
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