Knowledge Base

TrackLab:

Currently altitude measurement and export in TrackLab is NOT supported, for both indoor (UWB) and outdoor (UWB or GPS) tracking. There are 2 scenarios that we know certain demand exists for:

1. Measuring the vertical location of subjects, e.g. the amount of time laying hens spend outside, inside or below their elevated chicken coops.
2. Using the z-coordinate of neck-mounted tags on cattle, to feed the machine learning algorithm to output behaviors such as eating or posture.  

Ask the Product Manager IF and WHEN this functionality is expected (depending product roadmap and Return of Investment).

Sewio Workaround for raw z-axis data:

Sewio currently (2021) have a beta version of altitude measurement, based on barometer sensor measurement. Provided the customer has the appropriate hardware, they can measure and export altitude data from Sewio, however, Noldus do not support this and the process requires a tech-savvy person and some manual periodic re-calibration. Notes:

• Measurement principle: Sewio uses barometer sensors to measure altitude; one sensor in each tag and one sensor in each anchor. By measuring the difference in altitude between anchor and tag, the system can calculate and visualize the altitude of each individual tag.
• Required anchors: Vista Omni or Vista DirectFive, firmware v3 upwards (details).
• Required tags: Leonardo iMU 4.7 and Piccolino 2.6, firmwars 3.118 upwards (details).
• For more details, see the application note and demo video.
• To enable the barometer sensors, see the sensor guide.
• To export the z-axis data, ask the R&D team for the Python export tool.

Side Note:

One could expect it to also be possible to measure altitude data based on triangulation, just like the x-y measurement. Indeed this is possible with Sewio hardware, however, for accurate measurement, this requires placing anchors not only in the horizontal plane, but also in the vertical plane, i.e. high up and low down. In most TrackLab applications this is not practical due to the risk of damage or misalignment of the devices. It would also result in considerable extra hardware cost for the customer. Finally, Sewio claim that although they enable this form of z-axis measurement, they have not thoroughly tested and optimized it and therefore do not support it. Hence, WE also do NOT support this solution. Whenever we support Sewio-based z-axis measurement, it will be barometer based.