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Automatic calibration

Measure the position of two base stations (UWB anchors). The rest find their own positions by ranging with each other over UWB, and the result is checked before go-live. Surveying every base station is no longer part of the job.

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Why base station positions matter

A UWB system computes every tag position from distances to base stations. It can only be as accurate as its knowledge of where those base stations are: a base station recorded 10 cm off shifts the positions of every tag near it.

The traditional answer is a survey. Someone measures each base station with a laser distance meter, a total station or a LiDAR scan, and types the coordinates into the system. On a site with dozens of base stations that takes days, mistakes are easy to make, and the work starts again when the layout changes. Research on UWB deployments names manual surveying of anchor positions as one of the main costs of installing a system (Ridolfi et al., ACM Computing Surveys, 2021).

Noccela used a LiDAR-based process in earlier years. Automatic calibration replaced it: the base stations measure each other instead.

From floor plan to go-live

The installation flow used on Noccela sites. Steps 6 and 7 replace the survey.

  1. Upload the floor plan

    Load the site drawing into the Designer in the Location Intelligence Platform and set its scale. Mark the areas where you need positioning.

  2. Get a base station plan

    The planner suggests how many base stations you need and where, from the areas you marked, the use case and how demanding the environment is, drawing on experience from similar installed sites.

  3. Review it with the site

    Check the suggestion against ceiling heights, racks, cranes, lighting rails and network points, and move positions where the building demands it.

  4. Cable a PoE star

    Run one Ethernet cable from a PoE switch to each base station position. It carries data and power. Cabling is usually the longest part of an installation.

  5. Mount and measure two

    Mount the base stations and assign each one to its planned position. Measure the position of two of them, for example with a laser distance meter from walls or columns.

  6. Let the rest calibrate

    Base stations measure the distances to each other over UWB. The calibration solves the positions of all the others from these distances and the two measured ones.

  7. Validate

    Walk a tag through known test points and compare the positions with reality. A base station whose result does not fit can be left out and checked.

  8. Go live

    Set up zones, rules and integrations, and start tracking. When a base station is added or moved later, run calibration again.

How base stations calibrate themselves

Base stations use the same UWB ranging with each other that they use with tags. Each pair that can hear each other produces a measured distance. With many pairwise distances and two known positions, the system solves for the coordinates of every other base station, much as it solves for a tag’s position.

The result goes into the site layout in the Designer, where you can review it on the floor plan. You can also add tag points, positions on the floor where a tag is placed and measured, as extra references.

Each base station can briefly change the colour of its LED on command, so the installer can check on site that the right device sits at the right position before calibrating.

Sports mode

Calibration by walking the corners

A football pitch or an equestrian track has no ceiling and often no drawing. Sports Beacons go on fences, poles or tripods around the field, and the set-up calibrates without a floor plan and without measured base stations.

Someone walks a tag to the corners of the field. From those points and the distances the base stations measure between each other, the system works out where everything is relative to the field. Coaches and analysts can set up a session themselves.

Sports and animal tracking Football analytics case
  1. Place Sports Beacons around the field
  2. Switch them on
  3. Walk a tag to the corners of the field
  4. Start tracking in field coordinates

What it removes, and what remains

Automatic calibration is not zero installation. It removes the survey, not the cabling.

Removed

  • Surveying every base station with a laser, a total station or a LiDAR scan
  • Typing coordinates for each base station by hand, and the typing errors that come with it
  • Re-surveying when a base station is moved or added: run calibration again instead
  • Survey drawings that go out of date as the site changes

Still part of the job

  • Cabling and mounting the base stations
  • Measuring the position of two base stations
  • Validating the result before go-live
  • Base stations that can range to their neighbours: in very metal-dense spots, validation shows where a base station needs to move

Plan your installation

Base station estimator

A first estimate of how many base stations your floor area and environment need.
Open the estimator

RTLS deployment planning

Placement, mounting heights, cabling, network and validation: a vendor-neutral checklist.
Read the guide

Services and pilots

Noccela plans, installs and validates systems, and trains your team to run them.
Our services

Frequently asked questions

What is automatic calibration?
Automatic calibration means the system works out where its base stations (UWB anchors) are. You measure the position of two of them; the others find their positions by measuring UWB distances to each other.
Do I still have to measure anything?
Yes: the positions of two base stations. They tie the coordinate system to the building. Measured positions stay fixed as reference points when calibration runs again.
What happens when a base station is moved or added?
Run calibration again from the Designer. Base stations marked as measured keep their positions as references; the others are recalculated.
Does automatic calibration work in metal-heavy halls?
It uses the same UWB ranging as tag positioning, so reflections and blocked paths affect it in the same way. The validation step shows whether the result fits the building, and calibration can leave out a base station whose measurements do not fit.
Do sports set-ups need a floor plan?
No. Sports Beacons around a field calibrate when someone walks a tag to the corners of the field, so neither a drawing nor measured base stations are needed.
How many base stations will I need?
Coverage is up to 500 m² per base station; the real number depends on walls, racks, machinery and the accuracy you need. Try the base station estimator for a first figure.

Send us a floor plan

We will suggest the number and positions of base stations for your site, and show how calibration works on it.

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