Warehouses run on movement—pallets, forklifts, totes, people. Knowing exactly where things are (and where they’re going next) is the difference between smooth flow and costly delay. Ultra-Wideband (UWB) gives operations a live, precise map of the floor—often down to tens of centimeters—so teams can move faster, waste less, and make better decisions in the moment.
This article breaks down how UWB positioning works (time-of-flight, anchors, tags), the core components, practical deployment tips, and where it outperforms other tracking tech.
What is UWB—In Plain Terms
Ultra-Wideband is a short-range radio technology that sends very short pulses across a very wide spectrum. Those pulses make it easier to measure travel time accurately and to distinguish the true signal from reflections off racks, walls, and vehicles—common headaches in industrial spaces.
What UWB tells you: high-precision location (x, y, z) and motion in real time
Typical refresh: multiple updates per second
Typical accuracy: ~10–30 cm in well-planned installs (environment dependent)
The Positioning Methods (How UWB Finds “Where”)
UWB uses precise timing to infer distance from tag → anchors (fixed reference radios), then solves the position by geometry.
Two-Way Ranging (TWR)
The tag pings an anchor; the anchor replies; the tag measures round-trip time and computes distance.
Works well with fewer anchors; good for mobile assets (totes, forklifts).
Lower network coordination complexity, but tags do more work (slightly more battery use).
Time Difference of Arrival (TDoA)
The tag broadcasts once; multiple time-synchronized anchors record when they heard it.
The engine computes hyperbolas of possible locations from arrival-time differences; the intersection is the tag.
Very scalable for many tags (lower tag power, more burden on infrastructure & time sync).
Trilateration / Multilateration
With 3+ distance estimates (2D) or 4+ (3D), the engine solves x, y, z.
More anchors = more geometric diversity = better accuracy and robustness.
System Components (What You Actually Deploy)
Tags: Small UWB devices on pallets, totes, forklifts, or personnel badges
Anchors: Fixed UWB receivers/transceivers mounted on walls/columns/ceilings
Time Sync: For TDoA, anchors are tightly time-synchronized (wired or wireless)
Gateway / Network: Backhauls anchor data (PoE/Ethernet or Wi-Fi)
Location Engine: Computes positions from timing data; outputs live x-y-z
Applications & APIs: Map views, heatmaps, alerts, forklift telemetry, integrations (WMS/TMS/MES)
Why UWB Works So Well in Warehouses
High precision: cm-level in good geometry; supports bin-level visibility, slotting accuracy, and “which level of the rack?” decisions.
Fast updates: Near-real-time motion tracking (forklifts, tuggers, AGVs).
Resilience to clutter: Short pulses help separate true paths from reflections around racks and metal.
Scalability: Use TWR for flexible installs; TDoA to scale to thousands of assets.
Battery life: Low-duty beacons + clever firmware = long-life tags (cadence and method matter).
Safety & flow: Geofences, speed/zone alerts, and proximity insights reduce near-misses and bottlenecks.
Where UWB Fits vs Other Tech
RFID: Great for identification at read points (“what is this?”), not continuous indoor position.
BLE Beacons: Lower cost, room-/zone-level presence; generally lower accuracy (meters).
Wi-Fi RTT / ToF: Useful if you already have dense Wi-Fi; accuracy and refresh vary.
GPS/GNSS: Works outdoors; weak/unavailable indoors.
Best of both worlds: Pair RFID (ID) + UWB (position) → you always know what and where.
Deployment Playbook (What to Plan Up Front)
Define the questions: “Which rack/level is this pallet on?”, “Where are forklifts idling?”, “What’s the dwell time at staging?”
Anchor layout: Aim for clear line-of-sight and diverse angles. Cover aisles, dock doors, staging, and dense racking zones.
Time sync choice:
Power & backhaul: PoE where possible; plan cable paths and safe mounting heights.
Calibration pass: Measure reference points; validate accuracy vs. ground truth.
Integrations: Stream positions to WMS/TMS; trigger alerts for dwell time, wrong-zone putaway, FIFO breaches.
KPIs to watch: Search time, pick rate, dock turn time, mis-slot rate, spoilage/damage, forklift utilization, SLA hits.
Practical Trade-offs (So You’re Not Surprised)
Anchor density: More anchors = better accuracy, but higher install cost.
Geometry matters: Long narrow aisles need careful placement for good angles.
RF environment: Very RF-noisy zones may need tuning and channel planning.
Commissioning time: Plan a short calibration & testing window to lock in accuracy.
Change control: New racks/mezzanines can affect lines of sight—budget for occasional re-survey.
What You Get When It’s Live
Live map of assets & vehicles (no more radio calls to “find it”)
Faster picks & putaway, fewer mis-slots
Lower dwell, better dock flow
Objective forklift telemetry (paths, idling, congestion)
Traceability & auditability (who moved what, where, when)
Closing Thought
UWB doesn’t just put dots on a map—it unlocks decisions. When operators see what’s moving and where bottlenecks form, they adapt immediately. That’s how you turn data into throughput, quality, and safety.
At Locatematic, we combine RFID for identification with UWB for precise location, feeding a simple, actionable dashboard. If you’re exploring real-time visibility, I’m happy to share deployment checklists, anchor layouts, or sample dashboards.
Let’s connect and compare notes.
— Wichaya Charuchinda Co-Founder & CEO, Locatematic
