Precise Real-time Location for Logistics

New Ubisense product provides transparency and high availability

Cambridge UK– 11th March 2008 - Ubisense, the world leading provider of precise real-time location systems (RTLS) using ultra-wideband (UWB) announces its focus on solutions for process optimisation within the logistics industry.

The Ubisense series 7000 product line launched last year is already enabling considerable improvements in security, transparency, quality and availability for many logistics operators. “We have multiple applications running in major logistics centres which are demonstrating real process improvements to a level that has not been seen before”, explains Ubisense executive Terry Phebey. “We are seeing Returns on Investment (ROIs) in less than 12 months for some of these applications”, Phebey added.

The system tracks items to a precision of 15cm in 3D and in real time. This provides transparency of material flow both by direct tracking of goods and by indirectly tracking the movement of equipment used in the transportation process, e.g. ground conveyors, tools, ID scanners or fork lifts, thus. By combining existing barcode or RFID scanning, the system can enable automated management of movements of goods in manual warehouses without the installation of further software. Within such applications the Fork Lift Trucks (FLTs) are continuously tracked as they move goods around the warehouse. The combination of conventional pallet ID scanning with FLT tracking enables automated storage of the goods’ locations on the floor and within three dimensional storage racks. ”The system can also be deployed in larger warehouses with full Warehouse Management Systems”, says Phebey. “We can integrate directly with these standard WMS to deliver storage location data and to analyse process flows and enable process optimisation.”

The Ubisense system consists of three key parts:

1. Battery-operated tags transmit UWB RF impulses (location signals) in the frequency range 6 to 8.5 Gigahertz. The very short, precisely timed radio pulses provide a reliable and accurate location measurement even in difficult environments such as those storing large amounts of liquids and metals. Radio multipath effects often disturb conventional radio communication systems in such environments, but have a lesser effect on the Ubisense technology which leads to a much more reliable location measurement when compared to alternative technologies.
   
2. Location sensors mounted around the facility receive and process the tag signals and communicate the results back to client software via industry standard IT networking.
3. The location data is recorded, edited and visualised by the Ubisense Location Platform software and presented via unique applications which, for example, can log automatically the insertion and removal of goods to and from the warehouse storage racking.

The Ubisense Series 7000 product line is CE and FCC certified for license exempt use in both the EU and North America.

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Location Intelligence 2008: You Asked for It, You Got It

GLENCOE, IL--(Marketwire - March 24, 2008) - Direction Media has built this year's Location Intelligence Conference on the specific needs of its readers and past conference attendees. Readers come to Directions Magazine for many reasons, but number one on their list, based on a recent survey, is to learn about new technologies. Past Location Intelligence attendees articulated a strong preference for presentations from technology users about their successes, that is, making or saving money for their organizations.

Conference Chairman and Directions Media Vice Publisher Joe Francica explains how the conference committee listened and responded to those content preferences. "We wanted new ways to address those two topics. How could we introduce new technologies, not just with presentations, but with a hands-on experience? How could we get top-notch speakers from world-class private and public organizations to share their insights? The answer was to recognize the technologies our readers wanted to know more about and work with partners to handpick speakers with significant successes tied directly to geospatial technology."

The result is two brand new features for 2008. Directions Media is teaming up with Ubisense to give attendees hands-on experience with that company's indoor location technology. Ubisense will be featured during the opening session to demonstrate location-based social networking on April 28th at 2:00 p.m. Furthering our exploration of new technologies, at this year's event Directions Media welcomes a variety of new exhibitors including Roadware, a logistics company that provides location intelligence technologies to place digital video images and infrastructure data within transportation networks; Quova, an Internet Protocol positioning solutions company; MapJack, a company that provides street-view imagery solutions; and thincSoft, which provides "visual intelligence" for retailers, just to name a few.

If discovering new geospatial and related technologies, plus a roadmap for using geospatial technologies to make or save money are of interest to you, join us at Location Intelligence 2008, April 28-30 at the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara, California.

About the Location Intelligence Conference

Now in its fifth year, the Location Intelligence Conference serves as a forum for discussing the integration of location-related products and services with enterprise computing and consumer products. The conference is hosted by Directions Media, the global leader in collectively covering all aspects of location technology: geographic information systems (GIS), location intelligence, mapping portals and location-based services (LBS).

Precise Location for Puccini

Audio Imaging and Real-time Location System Enhances Opera Experience at the Royal Albert Hall

The Ubisense Precise Real-time Location System already deployed in manufacturing and logistics has found application in live audio animation. Collaborating with Out Board Electronics, the companies delivered a breakthrough enhancement in public audio performance showcased for the first time this month at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Cambridge UK – 4^thMarch 2008 - In March 2008, Raymond Gubbay’s production of Tosca will be performed in-the-round at London’s Royal Albert Hall featuring a ground-breaking sound automation technique which combines Out Board’s TiMax Audio Imaging delay matrix with the Ubisense Ultra-Wideband (UWB) RTLS solution. The combined product will also be made available by Out Board as the TiMax Talent Tracker system. By tracking the position of individual actors and processing the audio feed from their radio microphones in real time the sound image is steered to give each audience member the impression of localised audio.

Each actor wears a small Ubisense location tag which communicates with an array of six sensors mounted on a lighting bar running around the Circle balcony-front. The actors are all individually miked and the sound sent back to the TiMax DSP matrix audio processor. The TiMax system uses the Ubisense system to define on-stage spatial localisation zones which correspond to pre-defined “Image Definitions” (pre-programmed level/delay instructions to the TiMax DSP matrix). By applying proprietary audio algorithms to the sound, the system can place the actor’s audio image in the appropriate zone on stage.

The system can easily follow up to 60 actors on a single stage depending on refresh rate and the TiMax delay matrix can independently localise up to 16 actors simultaneously in the same scene across 32 different Image Definitions. Larger arena productions and more complex spaces can utilize a series of interlinked cells of TTT sensors networked together to cover the whole area.

Out Board Director, Robin Whittaker, said “We had wanted to develop such a solution for several years but could not find the right partner. This application demands absolute precision and reliability, something which only Ubisense is able to provide. So we were finally able to bring the concept to market.”

A key requirement was to provide a simple user interface for set up, control and monitoring of the system since the solution must integrate within the existing sound engineers’ console.

“Because the Ubisense solution integrates so well with industry standard technology such as the Microsoft .NET environment, with well defined interfaces and APIs this enabled a rapid development and allowed us to meet the timescales for opening of the new Opera.“ Whittaker added.

Charles Sturman, VP Marketing at Ubisense commented “Although Ubisense has seen a great deal of traction in the manufacturing and logistics industries since the launch of our new product last year, we are keen to see how the technology can meet the needs of customers in other markets too. We are really excited about the potential for TiMax Talent Tracker and our on-going partnership with Out Board in this space.”

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