Ultra-Low-Power Edge Asset Tag
The challenge
Customers sought a maintenance-free tag for long-duration assets (trailers, containers) where frequent hand-offs are rare but period checks and geofence alerts are critical. The core challenge for this solution was meeting a target battery life of 24 months or more on a small coin cell, demanding extreme optimization in product engineering.
What we built
EurthTech delivered a purpose-built BLE tag with embedded systems development focused on ultra-low power. The design incorporates an accelerometer wake, intelligent duty-cycling, and NFC provisioning. The firmware employs an event-driven pattern where the tag sleeps with motion interrupts armed, waking into a short burst-report mode only when motion is detected. This AI-powered embedded system approach minimizes airtime and maximizes battery life for infrequent-tracking assets, aligning with a Predictive maintenance AI IoT strategy.
How it works
The hardware strategy involved selecting a minimal SoC with deep-sleep currents under 1 µA and an accelerometer with integrated FIFO to support true Edge AI embedded systems. The firmware uses compressed payloads and delta encoding to reduce airtime. NFC provisioning enables zero-touch commissioning—writing metadata, initializing keys, and testing RF in the field. Leveraging our GIS consulting company expertise, the system's periodic heartbeat windows update location and health stats, supporting backend GeoAI services for inventory sweeps and geofence management.
Results
Through rigorous validation, the design achieved a median 26-month battery life, meeting the 24-month target and demonstrating a robust engineering. In a container trailer pilot, the long battery life eliminated frequent field maintenance, cutting asset audit time by 72%. NFC provisioning removed human errors in ID assignment, dramatically speeding up commissioning.
Security & Scalability: Each tag includes a unique device key and supports AES-based message authentication, with options for a secure element for high-security customers. The OTA update path uses a lightweight bootloader supporting chunked diff updates. This architectural foresight provides a blueprint for a Digital twin smart city approach, ensuring asset data integrity and system longevity.