Tracking tools and construction machinery with Bluetooth Beacons
What is Bluetooth?
Bluetooth Low Energy - Bluetooth LE (BLE) - is a wireless transmission technology that is well known from smartphones. Bluetooth is used to link nearby devices. Bluetooth Low Energy consumes less power and is more battery-saving in comparison to traditional Bluetooth. The prevailing standard is Bluetooth 4.0, the latest standard is Bluetooth 5.0
What is a Bluetooth Beacon
Bluetooth Lowe Energy Beacons - BLE Beacons in short - are small wireless transmitters that send a unique ID and data which can be received by Bluetooth compatible GPS tracking devices. The sending range of the BLE Beacon depends on its battery capacity, its settings and the surrounding (open field). A longer distance sending range consumes more battery power and shortens the lifetime of the BLE beacon.
Which types of BLE Beacons are there?
There are special types of Bluetooth Beacons that can tranmit more data beyond its ID and its battery level:
BLE Beacons with movment sensor detect movement and are used for detecting movement, driving, shock, work, operating hours
Bluetooth Beacons with magnet sensors detect opening and closing of doors, for example opening and closing of doors of construction containers to trigger alert
Beacons with temperature sensors can measure and transmit the temperature of goods in transport or monitor the cold chain.
BLE Toolmatix Beacons Use cases
BLE Beacons can be widely used in construction and service industry:
Tracking of tools and small assets (“where is my machine”) where GPS is not applicable, small valueable machinery, excavator shovels, excavator attachments, rocking hammers, drilling machines, dumpsters
Monitoring and controlling of inventory and devices: who has picked up the device from the construction yard and brought it to which construction site
Digital documentation: using movement sensors will tell you if the tools have been moved around and used or where idle
Protection against theft and loss: you can detect where the device was connected the last time, if valuable assets cannot be detected anymore, you can trigger an alert.
Advantages of Bluetooth Toolmatix Beacons (BLE Beacons)
Very small, water-proof, resistant against heat
Simple mounting by glueing, fixing, screwing, no wires needed
Fit for longterm outside operations
Long-term battery life time, no external power needed
Much cheaper than other sensors (magnetic, movement, temperature, RPM…) that need wiring
Bluetooth beacons for monitoring power generators
Bluetooth Beacons transmit on which construction site the power generator is used. The bluetooth beacon also triggers an alert if a company vehicle with GPS tracking and bluetooth support pickups up the power generator from the construction site.
Monitor dumps, skips and waste containers with Bluetooth beacons
Construction companies that are specialized on container and skips can stick Bluetooth Beacons on their dumps and waste containers. The Bluetooth Beacons are used to detect the truck that is transporting the container to the construction site and Bluetooth Beacons can be used to detect how long the waste container has been left at the customer’s premise.
Protect Construction Containers with Toolmatix Bluetooth
You can use GPS tracking devices to know the location and combine it with Bluetooth Beacons that send an alert in case of opening and closing of doors outside the work times.
Software for Toolmatix Bluetooth tracking
Last position
GPS tracking devices can be equipped and activated for working with Blueooth Low Energy to detect and transmit data from small assets’ BLE beacons. The current GPS location of the GPS tracker can be used to roughly indicate the current location of the Bluetooth Beacon. Is the tool that wears the beacon still on the construction yard, in transit on a truck or already on the construction site?
Last historic trips
The transport of tools and inventory can be monitored, from leaving the construction yard, to identifying which truck is carrying it until being deployed on the construction site, the trip and the historic data is shown in the software.
Data about operations and usage
Bluetooth Beacons with movemnet sensor can be used and analyzed how many times and how long the tool was used on the construction site or whether the BLE beacon has been idle for a long time.
Alert in case of leaving the area
If Bluetooth devices should be on a construction site, they are closely linked and monitored by surrounding GPS tracking devices. If a Bluetooth device is not linked anymore, it is supposed to have left the construction site which can trigger an alert.
Finding lost devices in our cloud-service
Our GPS tracking devices can detect lost or stolen Bluetooth beacons. If your lost tool with a Bluetooth beacon comes close to another GPS tracking device that is activated with Bluetooth, we can find it and send an alert.
Support of other types of Bluetooth beacons
Bluetooth Low Energy Becons are an universal standard, most BLE Beacons support iBeacon (Apple) or Eddistone (Android) and we work on supporting and transmitting also Bluetooth Beacons from tool manufacturers.