Energy-Neutral Ultra-Wideband Asset Tracking Tag for Museums

Asset tracking is particularly important in museums, as it enhances security and simplifies the management of valuable artworks in both exhibition and storage. This paper details the development and evaluation of a custom-designed asset tracking tag that meets museum-specific requirements. To ensure energy-neutral operation, enabling minimal maintenance, the suggested implementation utilizes indoor light harvesting and event-based sampling. The presented tag operates at an ultra-low quiescent current of just 504 nA in motion-detection mode. For on-demand sampling, an energy-efficient wake-up receiver (WuR) enables remote activation at a total system current consumption as low as 2 µA. Localization samples were optimized to only consume 1.3 mJ per 2D-localization. The expected battery-life was assessed through simulations using a low-light indoor lighting dataset over the span of one year with a small 9.7 cm² photovoltaic (PV) cell. The results indicate that the tag achieves energy-neutral operation on a 20 mAh battery, supporting up to 60 localizations per day. With the WuR enabled, the tag is projected to operate for up to two years between charges, depending on the required localization frequency.