Radio Frequency Triangulation (Positioning)

arduino radio triangulation
Nicholas picture Nicholas · Jun 5, 2014 · Viewed 23.6k times · Source

I'd like to know if it's possible to somehow triangulate (or otherwise) get a location of a moving object inside a defined area, let's say, 200m x 200m, by using radio waves. I've been looking at some transceivers and the range shouldn't be impossible (budget doesn't really matter). What would i need? Is there some reading material out there about this?

What i thought about was having a few "Antennas" positioned around the defined area, listening for the RF signal from the moving object - and then somehow calculate the distance from the object to the antenna, and that way get the exact location of the object by combining the data from all antennas.

Is this somehow possible, anyone care to point me in the right direction? Thanks a lot guys.

Edit: Forgot to mention that the accuracy wouldn't have to be so precise, maybe ~15cm?

Answer

Nenad Vukicevic picture Nenad Vukicevic · Jun 13, 2014

Phased antenna arrays are used for beamforming: sending a signal in a certain direction and estimating direction of arrival.

DOA and a several antenna arrays could be used for Localization, which is what you are looking for. This source explains that 2D localization can be performed with 3 receivers using only the TDOA information.

I'm not sure if its practical or applicable to the problem you want to solve, just an avenue for investigation.

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