this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2024
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Bluetooth tags are usually a lot cheaper than UWB for accurate tracking. But they do require special 'routers' for AoA and AoD support. This will supposedly make it cheaper to deploy indoor location applications.
The main use-case isn't Airtags. It's warehouse and large retail applications, where a roving scanner can store precise item locations and count inventory. That way, if you need a specific part, it would be easy and faster to find. And if running low on items, the inventory system could instantly order more, instead of catching it at the next weekly/monthly/quarterly inventory count. If the tags cost $ instead of $$$ for UWB, you slap one on every item that comes in the door.
NFC tags are also cheap, but you need to get within cm to pick up signal, or have a powerful, expensive scanner at a portal. Even then, it doesn't help telling you which shelf in the warehouse the item ended on. The BT ones will.
Gotta hand it to the Bluetooth SIG. They're rapidly pushing out useful features with each revision.
Didn't realize this was a more commercial use-case. It makes sense.
That being said, wouldn't this only be viable for high value items?
Depends on how cheap they get the tags. On AliExpress, you can get current ones for around $5 USD (https://www.aliexpress.us/w/wholesale-ibeacon.htm). Wiliot makes battery-free ones with a 10 meter range, but you have to use their service (https://www.wiliot.com/product/iot-pixels). By comparison, UWB runs $20-50 per tag and ~$0.50 for NFC.
If the new tags get down to the $5 range, you can attach them to individual items, crates, or palettes. The amount of time saved in locating and getting the items to a shipping or manufacturing line can be easily measured to see if worth the expense.
From crates or palettes I could see this working, for individual low cost items, the price seems way too high.
And it seems that the new spec is aimed at a more targeted level; closer to the item level.