Internet of Things

Auburn U Partners with Plus Location Systems on IoT research

• By Leila Meyer
• 08/08/16

The Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Lab at Auburn University in Alabama has partnered with PLUS Location Systems in an effort to advance research and development of internet of things (IoT) technologies.

The RFID Lab at Auburn University "is a research institute focusing on the business case and technical implementation of RFID and other emerging technologies in retail, supply chain and manufacturing," according to the lab's site. The lab contains 13,000 square feet of simulated retail, grocery, warehouse and distribution center environments. Faculty and students from Auburn's colleges of business, engineering, human sciences and agriculture, as well as technology providers and organizations, use the lab to study tracking and analysis technology, tools and processes for the industrial internet of things (IIoT).

PLUS Location Systems has installed its Real-Time Location System (RTLS) in the RFID Lab to provide tracking of personnel, assets and inventory throughout the lab. According to a news release, the system includes ACTIVE RTLS tags, which can be worn by people or attached to assets or inventory, and PLUS Readers, which receive ultra-wide band (UWB) radio signals from the tags. Software processes signals from the tags to identify the location of tags, analyze the movement and interaction of tags, and provide data visibility through dashboards, reports and application programming interfaces (APIs). In the near future, PLUS Location Systems plans to add Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)-enabled tags, app-based mobile devices and safety system elements.

"Having the PLUS systems installed throughout the lab will enable our team to study and characterize person and asset activity and utilization across a broad spectrum of use-cases," said Justin Patton, director of the RFID Lab at Auburn University, in a prepared statement. "We have a growing list of research projects that the PLUS system will enable, resulting in new insights related to technology integration and the optimization of data collection and analysis tools and processes."