Title: Bluetooth-based positioning techniques for the cold chain application

Authors: Y.P. Tsang; K.L. Choy; C.H. Wu; H.Y. Lam; G.T.S. Ho; P.S. Koo

Addresses: Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong ' Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong ' Department of Supply Chain and Information Management, Hang Seng Management College, Shatin, Hong Kong ' Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong ' Department of Supply Chain and Information Management, Hang Seng Management College, Shatin, Hong Kong ' AOC Limited, Unit 6B, 11/F, Mita Centre, 552-566 Castle Peak Road, Kwai Chung, N.T., Hong Kong

Abstract: In cold chains, the essentials of cold storage are the chilling and freezing storage sections. Due to occupational safety concerns for the warehouse workers in such a cold environment, this paper describes a Bluetooth-based access management and positioning system (BAMPS) to monitor worker location and movement in chillers and freezers, inspired by the growth of internet of things. In complying with the ISO11079, their occupational safety in term of exposure duration and recovery time in cold environments can be controlled. The Bluetooth low energy module is used for the transmitting and receiving sensing data in the cold storage environment. The positioning module is designed using Kalman filtering to eliminate signal variations instead of pre-requested calibration. Hence, the workplace ergonomics and monitoring in cold storage environment are enhanced. The significance of BAMPS is in exploring occupational safety management and real-time positioning in cold storage facilities.

Keywords: positioning techniques; occupational safety; cold chain; Bluetooth low energy; BLE; Kalman filtering.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIMS.2019.100982

International Journal of Internet Manufacturing and Services, 2019 Vol.6 No.3, pp.201 - 224

Received: 18 Nov 2017
Accepted: 27 Feb 2018

Published online: 22 Jul 2019 *

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