Planning beacon installation

Basics of Proximi.io positioning

Proximi.io platform not only allows you to mix beacons of different manufacturers or iBeacon and Eddystone standards, but you can also combine them with different technologies. Quite frequently used combination is BLE beacons with native positioning, which allows you to add functionality both indoors and outdoors. Additionally, inertial sensors (compass, accelerometer and barometer) are used to further improve the positioning information.

The Proximi.io SDKs use beacon’s absolute position to locate the visitor when there’s only one beacon added to the venue; when there’s more than one beacon nearby, our SDKs use trilateration and various filtering techniques to calculate the visitor’s exact position. If you want to take advantage of the trilateration feature, make  sure to add your beacons under the same department. All beacons under the same department will be used for the trilateration. Also make sure that the beacons are close enough to each other. Signals must partly overlap for the calculation to become effective.

	Trilateration is not possible, as the spheres don't overlap. -> SDK uses absolute positioning
	Beacon transmit power is increased. -> SDK uses trilateration for most parts.

Planning beacon installation

Key thing to consider is what are the pathways that people are using? Which areas need to be covered with positioning?

We start the planning process by placing beacons in each pathway crossing and at the beginning and end of pathways. Thereafter, beacons are added to the rest of the pathways at about 5-7m distance from each other.

The best way to plan an installation is to use any picture editing software, such as Photoshop. Add the floorplan as one layer, and add the beacon image as a new layer (download below). Resize the beacon layer so that the beacon's radius is 6m in reference to the picture. Drag to correct location. Duplicate the layer and drag to correct location. Continue the same process until you have covered the entire venue.

Special areas: Elevators and staircases

In order to make sure users' position stays correctly in the staircase or elevator while navigating up and down your building, it is often best to install a beacon in them. For elevators, you need just one beacon per elevator. For staircases, if the staircase is in a separate "room", you should install one beacon per landing. 

In order to configure the beacons to function in this manner, edit the following info via REST API or mobile application:

 "data": {

Campus areas with multiple buildings

If the venue consists of multiple interconnected buildings, it is recommended to treat each one as a separate Place, connected under one Campus. When moving between buildings indoors, it is recommended to plan the installation so that a smooth transition from one Place to another is possible. The expected behaviour is that the position moves smoothly in building A. When the user reaches the border between buildings A and B, the position lingers for a few seconds, and then jumps to building B and continues on a smooth journey. 

If the transition happens in a long straight corridor, the transition is typically very smooth. If the area is more complex, it may be required to install a beacon in both buildings very close to the border. This helps to avoid the position being stuck in the wrong building for an extended period, or moving to a wrong direction.

Ceiling height

If the building has very high ceilings (above 4 meters), special attention to installation is needed.