Background

Traceability and localization of assets and vehicles are now strategic elements for many companies, especially in intralogistics contexts. The management of these environments requires innovative solutions to monitor and optimize workflows, reducing inefficiencies and improving overall efficiency.

Challenge

A customer active in the intralogistics sector approached BlueUp with the need to develop a system capable of continuously and accurately locating forklifts within their warehouses. The objectives of this project were ambitious and well-defined: eliminating operational inefficiencies, reducing working times and simplifying the coordination of logistics activities.
To achieve these goals, the system had to meet specific requirements. First of all, it was essential to ensure real-time monitoring, which would allow the position of forklifts moving within the warehouse to be tracked with sufficient accuracy. Furthermore, the customer required an antenna infrastructure that did not involve cabling (for power or data) within the warehouse. Finally, the solution had to be easily scalable and replicable, i.e. designed to flexibly adapt to different warehouse configurations, allowing versatile use in variable contexts.

BlueUp therefore committed to developing an innovative technological solution, aimed at meeting all these needs with a practical and effective approach.

Solution

BlueUp developed ForkLift Locator, an innovative real-time localization system (RTLS) based on the integration of two technologies present in the company portfolio, namely Wirepas Mesh for centralized management and monitoring of the beacon network and BLE for real-time localization. This approach represents a significant evolution in the geolocalization sector, thanks to its effectiveness and ease of implementation.

The system involves the installation of battery-powered mesh anchors (mod. Brick or Forte+) on the warehouse shelves. The anchors are configured to periodically transmit a BLE advertising packet. The anchors support Wirepas technology to create a 2.4GHz ultra-low-power mesh network that allows you to monitor an installation of hundreds of devices with a single mesh gateway connected to the location software.

The forklifts, in turn, are equipped with BLE with WiFi connectivity (mod. TinyGateway WiFi Outdoor BLE), powered directly by the vehicle battery. During the forklift’s journey, the TinyGateway detects the signals emitted by the anchors and transmits them to the location software via the company WLAN, thus ensuring continuous and precise monitoring. Thanks to the TinyGateway’s ability to seamlessly manage the passage between different Access Points, the system guarantees smooth operation even in complex and dynamic environments.

The Forklift Locator solution eliminates the need for cabling, simplifying the infrastructure and reducing installation costs by a factor of more than 5 compared to other solutions on the market based on wired antennas. A further strength of the solution is its integration as a functional module within the MeshCube platform: this allows you to also locate other types of assets (e.g. tools, containers, mobile supports, …) using mesh tags with Wirepas technology.

Results

The implementation of the system has produced concrete and measurable results, demonstrating how BlueUp’s localization technology can bring significant improvements in operational processes with a minimum investment in economic terms. Thanks to the APIs offered by the Forklift Locator module integrated into MeshCube, the customer was able to integrate the real-time localization data of its forklift fleet into its WMS (Warehouse Management System), obtaining from day one an optimization of operational flows, reduction of downtime, improvement of logistics planning.

Another key element is the scalability and flexibility of the solution, thanks to its completely cable-free infrastructure and modular architecture. The system has been designed to easily adapt to new configurations, allowing both simple expansion to new warehouse areas and transparent integration of additional features. These features ensure extreme versatility, making the system capable of evolving together with the customer’s needs. The project is therefore a concrete example of how the hybridization of localization technologies (in this case BLE and Wirepas Mesh) allows for the development of advanced solutions for intralogistics. Furthermore, the active collaboration between BlueUp and the customer underlines the importance of a customized and innovative approach to successfully address the challenges of complex environments, demonstrating that tailor-made solutions can effectively respond to specific needs.