Typical positioning accuracy for a Quuppa system is around 0.5 m (2 ft) – or “sub-meter”. Accuracy demands can vary from one area to another and with Quuppa, you can control it simply by altering the number of Locators. For example, in inventory management it’s often enough to know that the assets are present or are in an approximate area, which requires only a few Locators – and very low investment. If a more accurate position is needed, let’s say at the loading dock, just add a few Locators to that area.

Real-time is a flexible concept. For a standard Quuppa system, it means a location update rate of up to 50 Hz, and latency down to 100 ms. That, coupled with our superior accuracy, enables for example many Security and Safety related applications, such as Collision Avoidance between people and vehicles in industrial environments, or covering the complex movements of a hockey game in real-time. The transmission rate for Standard Bluetooth® channels is limited to 10 Hz, as per Bluetooth regulations. But the Quuppa system can also be configured to use proprietary channels, on which the standard Quuppa Tags can be set to transmit at up to 50 Hz. Sometimes, for example, when tracking fast paced sports, even that is not enough. Then it’s good to know that the Quuppa system itself doesn’t have any limitations, and the tag can be configured to transmit for example 200 Hz or even higher and the latency can be 20 ms or less. The location update rate and latency of the Quuppa system are also dependent on the software license type.

As the Quuppa system is based on Bluetooth® wireless technology, it can track any Bluetooth® Low Energy device that is transmitting a Quuppa specified radio packet. For example Android and iOS devices can be made trackable by just adding a few lines of code to the application in use. Furthermore, Quuppa Tag IDs can be read by a Bluetooth device without the help of Locators. For example, a doctor could read a patient’s ID Tag with a smartphone to request critical information from a cloud service.

Quuppa allows total freedom in Tag design. You can choose between multiple ready-made tags by Quuppa or its partners, integrate the QT1 Tag Module into your device, or design your own tag using our firmware libraries and schematics. Basically, any Bluetooth® Low Energy device can be made Quuppa-trackable with minor software modifications. The Quuppa standard Tag is a great solution, fit for most purposes. It is lightweight, shockproof, waterproof and easy to attach with straps, lanyards or other fastening methods. However, the design or functionalities of the standard Tag are not necessarily optimal for all use-cases. Should you prefer to design a customized Tag, we’ll provide you with the reference design files including schematics, layouts, and BOM. Whatever you want to track, we’re happy to support you.

In addition to location tracking, the Quuppa system can be used as a gateway to IoT, receiving and exposing data from Bluetooth® sensors. As more and more Bluetooth® radio equipped devices are connected to the Internet of Things, sending out information about themselves and their surroundings, they can all be made visible to the Quuppa system. And if the “Thing” has any sensors on board – which they practically always do – the sensor data can be received by Quuppa system and exposed through its open and configurable API.

The Quuppa system is easy to integrate into existing systems with pull or push APIs, that offer standard JSON/REST or CSV formats. The API is fully open and configurable, and even comes with an editor, so if you wish, you are totally free to write your own API. Quuppa API can expose whatever data your sensors are recording: heart-rate, gyro, compass, magnetometer, barometer, temperature, humidity…

Thanks to the Bluetooth® Low Energy technology, Quuppa Tags consume very little energy. A standard Quuppa QT1-1 Tag can transmit one packet per second 24/7 for three years. That makes roughly 94.6 million transmissions. Using the onboard sensors and/or geofencing, and activating the Tag only when needed, battery lifetime can be extended up to several years. In many cases, the battery manufacturers specification for the maximum lifetime becomes the limiting factor.

Once installed, the Quuppa system normally requires no physical maintenance. The system is constantly monitoring itself and will send an alert, in case it needs attention. The Locators have inbuilt accelerometers, so if they are touched the system will know. If a Locator is offline, the system will know. In the case of a power failure, the system will perform an automated recovery.

The Quuppa system is based on Bluetooth® wireless technology, which enables compatibility with standard mobile devices. However, the 2.4 GHz band range is very crowded, so operating on these radio channels is not a trivial task. Quuppa Intelligent Locating System™ uses advanced proprietary algorithms that make it a very robust and reliable solution, even in the most demanding environments. The system is continuously being used in challenging environments, such as fully packed trade shows and stadiums and has been confirmed interference-free of other systems. When tracking high-speed objects, like hockey players and the puck, the Quuppa system can be configured to provide faster update rates, and is also immune to any interference from other Bluetooth devices or any other wireless systems such as WiFi or wireless microphones.