IoT Product Engineering for Logistics: Hybrid GNSS + BLE + LoRa Architecture for Asset Tracking
Introduction: The Challenge of Seamless Intermodal Visibility
Clients faced critical asset visibility gaps across intermodal transfers: GNSS fails indoors; BLE lacks range for uplinks; and cellular is expensive and power-hungry. Logistics operations required a robust solution to guarantee continuity of custody, necessitating a powerful IoT product engineering solution.
Solution Overview: Edge AI Embedded Systems for Tri-Mode Tracking
EurthTech architected a tri-mode tracker combining GNSS for outdoor fixes, BLE for proximity sensing and high-fidelity indoor handoffs, and LoRa for scheduled, low-power uplinks. A small ARM Cortex-M4 microcontroller orchestrates adaptive mode switching, using motion heuristics to avoid needless GNSS acquisitions, functioning as an efficient Edge AI embedded system for multi-week battery life.
Technical Implementation: GeoAI, Embedded Systems Development & AI GIS Analytics
The embedded systems development focused on firmware orchestration: motion-triggered GNSS activation and adaptive reporting on significant events. Indoor handoffs rely on BLE beacon maps and server-side k-NN matching over RSSI fingerprint space. The cloud layer, utilizing GeoAI, ingests mixed telemetry and runs smoothing (Kalman filters + map matching for known routes). AI GIS analytics provide logistics dashboards with chain-of-custody timelines and warehouse handoff reports.
Results & Impact: AI Engineering and Smart Infrastructure Solutions
Pilot results demonstrated significant operational improvements: the hybrid approach reduced end-to-end missing events by ~43%, improved handoff accuracy to >90% inside partner warehouses, and achieved an average battery life of ~30 days under daily update patterns. This advanced AI engineering solution delivers the necessary continuity for critical logistics operations, proving its value as a smart infrastructure solution.
Scalability & GIS Context: The solution is scalable via a provisioning kiosk that registers devices and assigns warehouse gateway maps. Maintaining BLE gateway placement and the fingerprint database quality requires periodic re-fingerprinting and RF surveying, which are core geospatial engineering services required for large logistics sites. This hybrid pattern provides a pragmatic approach to Predictive maintenance AI IoT for mobile assets.