A Consumer Product of Wi-Fi Tracker System using RSSI-based Distance for Indoor Crowd Monitoring

Abstract

—This study aims to design and develop Wi-Fi tracker system that utilizes RSSI-based distance parameters for crowd-monitoring applications in indoor settings. The system consists of three main components, namely 1) an embedded node that runs on Raspberry-pi Zero W, 2) a real-time localization algorithm, and 3) a server system with an online dashboard. The embedded node scans and collects relevant information from Wi-Fi-connected smartphones, such as MAC data, RSSI, timestamps, etc. These data are then transmitted to the server system, where the localization algorithm passively determines the location of devices as long as Wi-Fi is enabled. The mentioned devices are smartphones, tablets, laptops, while the algorithm used is a Non-Linear System with Lavenberg–Marquart and Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF). The server and online dashboard (web-based application) have three functions, including displaying and recording device localization results, setting parameters, and visualizing analyzed data. The node hardware was designed for minimum size and portability, resulting in a consumer electronics product outlook. The system demonstration in this study was conducted to validate its functionality and performance.