Sendrato Fusion & Awareable: Contact tracing and Social Distancing and Tracking

The CT&SD wearable can be used for social distancing and contact tracing at indoor- and outdoor events. There will be two versions available. One version that only uses Bluetooth (BLE) and another version that combine BLE with Ultra Wide Band (UWB). The UWB version can measure person to person distance with an accuracy of 10cm (The BLE version has 1 meter accuracy). Using this distance measurement, the wristband will vibrate and/or light up if the 1.5m rule is breached and security personnel can be informed in real-time using available dashboards (real-time crowd control). The wearable will be designed to be completely compatible with the Google Apple Exposure Notification (GAEN) API, this means that the wearable can interact with any mobile app that implements the GAEN protocol. In addition, it could (…) be possible to measure temperature or sleep-rhythm before the event takes place. This information will contribute to the contact tracing process and will help prevent people carrying the SARS-Cov-2 virus to visit the event. Also, a warning can be triggered whenever someone has come into close contact with a contaminated person. This allow for events to become fully accessible while at the same time guaranteeing safety for the visitors. 

The impact of the CT&SD wearable is dual. On the one hand certain groups of people can be reached that typically can not or do not use smart phones or have phones that do not support the GAEN protocol. Think also about young children and elderly that do not own smartphones or have difficulties operating them. The wearable can also be used for persons that work in an environment in which smart phones cannot be used, like for example players during a sports event. On the other hand, the accuracy and the reliability of the distance measurements (UWB version) are significantly higher than the mobile phone based apps. These apps work on the basis of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) only and are accurate up to 1 meter and very sensitive to interference of steal constructions, human bodies, 4G/5G masts and the presence of a large amount of smart phones. This issues is solved by the wearable by using a combination of BLE and Ultra Wide Band (UWB). The system is usable both indoors, as well as outdoors and scalable based on the current virus threat level. The number of wristbands can be easily scaled up and down. In addition, the social distancing and contact tracing parameters are easily adjustable. 

The primary target group of the CT&SD wearable exists of a broad spectrum of event organisations, e.g. sportclubs, theme parks, museums, theatres, festivals, concert venues, etc. The wearable automates a large part of the required Corona measures to which businesses have to comply. This saves times, human resources and costs. Besides the Corona context, the wearable can also be deployed in other safety contexts. For example, crowd control to secure safety within large events or within factories where humans and robots cooperate in the same space. Also within the context of health care the wearable can be used. Consider for example social distancing during 

medicine intake in elderly care homes. In addition the wearable features integration with external BLE sensors that support e.g. body temperature- and heart rate monitoring, but also blood oxygen saturation- and glucose level measurements. These addition can make the wearable act as a full blown health care wearable to support patients in hospitals or clients in assisted living facilities. 

For the event industry the built-in NFC radio supports cashless payments and access control functionality. In addition, NFC facilitates an easy on-boarding process for visitors entering the event. The UWB radio facilitates crowd monitoring on the venue of the event by making use of Real-time social distancing and health data dashboard strategically positioned UWB gateways. The long communication range (up to 75m) of the UWB signal allows for more robust communication and better interference resilience compared to more common BLE beacons. A dashboard that visualises crowd densities and social distance breaches can be installed in the Event Control Center. This information can be used by event security staff to help them creating a safe event environment. The wearable is designed in such a way that the active electronics part is fully reusable and mountable on a disposable wristband. 

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Technical Specifications

UWB / BLE / NFC combined RTLS tag with single MCU using wristband, belt-clip or keychain 

UWB radio subsystem 

• PCB antenna optimised for channel 5

• NXP OL23D0

• High precision TCXO clock 

Bluetooth LE radio subsystem 

• BLE interaction with beacons and between wearables

• Apple/Google Exposure notifications (contact tracing) and custom advertisements

• Ceramic antenna @ +8 dBm

• BLE 5.1 support (NXP QN9090)

• User applications and/or protocols can be added on request 

NFC subsystem 

• NFC-A (type 2) tag for wake-on field, touch-to-pair and RFID 

User I/O / peripherals 

• 4 RGB user leds

• 1 large front button

• 1 small “reset” button

• RF active led

• Charge led

• Vibration motor

• 6-DoF IMU (accelerometer and gyroscope)

• [Optional] Altimeter / barometer

• [Optional] AS7038RB Vital signs sensor 

Power 

• Internal LiPo battery of 400 mAh

  o @20Hz* = 4 Hours

 o @1Hz* = 48 hours

  o @0.1Hz* > 1 week (no power optimization used)

• Low power sleep state (< 2 [uA])

• USB-C charging 

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