UWB System for Frequent Positioning of Moving Objects

Object positioning is an essential issue in the context of autonomous vehicles and AGVs in Industry 4.0 and smart cities. Based on the position, it is possible not only to track objects, but with appropriate positions’ accuracy and frequency, it is possible to prevent dangerous situations. The information about the possibility of a dangerous situation must be available in advance so that the superior system, driver, or operator can take the appropriate action. A UWB is a promising technology for object positioning, even though UWB systems are used for positioning objects in a limited area, mostly indoors. Nothing stands in the way of creating many small areas in high-risk areas, e.g. intersections and manoeuvring yards. This ultra-wideband technology allows to objects positioning with high accuracy of a few centimeters. However, the accuracy of this system depends on the speed of movement of the positioned objects and the ranging frequency to individual stationary reference nodes – anchors. Therefore, it is important to exchange messages in the network of UWB nodes during ranging runs as quickly as possible. This article analyses the modified UWB positioning system, which maximizes the frequency of acquiring the distance between nodes and, thus the frequency of determining the object’s positions.