www.intralogisticsmag.com
10
'26
Written on Modified on
Murata Launches High-Precision UWB Positioning System for Factories and Logistics
Murata Manufacturing has commercialized a high-precision real-time location system (RTLS) utilizing Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology to track workers and assets within complex industrial environments.
www.murata.com
Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. has announced the development and commercial release of a high-precision positioning system designed for industrial manufacturing facilities and logistics warehouses. The system leverages Ultra-Wideband (UWB) wireless technology to monitor employee movement paths and manage asset localization in real time. The factory-floor platform will be officially demonstrated at the "Maintenance Resilience 2026 / 52nd Plant Maintenance Show" at Tokyo Big Sight from July 15 to July 17, 2026.
Resolving Industrial Signal Interference and Installation Overheads
Industrial digital transformations are accelerating as facilities face labor shortages and rising demands for operational efficiency. While tracking employee movement paths and asset locations is critical for optimizing workflows, conventional wireless positioning methods (such as Bluetooth Low Energy or standard Wi-Fi) struggle in factory environments. Heavy steel machinery, storage racks, and metallic structural infrastructure cause severe radio wave reflections and signal attenuation, which degrade positional accuracy. Furthermore, traditional systems suffer from structural sensitivity, where the orientation and mounting angles of receiver units heavily influence tracking precision, resulting in costly calibration and engineering setup times during deployment.
To address these site-specific challenges, the manufacturer combined high-frequency UWB technology with custom antenna geometry:
- Multipath Mitigation: UWB relies on short-duration pulses distributed across a wide radio frequency spectrum. By measuring the absolute time-of-flight of the radio signals, the system isolates direct-path line-of-sight signals from multipath reflections off metallic structures.
- Angle-Insensitive Receiver Layout: Leveraging specialized internal antenna design expertise, the vendor engineered an omnidirectional antenna matrix that minimizes signal degradation caused by varying hardware mounting angles, streamlining installation processes.
- In-House Validation: The system has been validated at scale within the manufacturer's own production facilities, where an infrastructure network of over 100 receiver nodes is deployed to monitor operational workflows and refine manufacturing productivity.
Technology Integration and Portfolio Direction
The UWB infrastructure is designed to resolve positional coordinates down to a sub-decimeter level, a substantial upgrade over the multi-meter error margins typical of legacy tracking standards. Moving forward, the company plans to scale its industrial RTLS portfolio to support broader factory automation and labor optimization targets.
Additional Context
This section details technical specifications not included in the original news release.
The positioning engine relies on Two-Way Ranging (TWR) and Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) algorithms to establish accurate spatial coordinates. By transmitting sub-nanosecond radio frequency pulses across bandwidths exceeding 500 MHz, the system accurately distinguishes the first arriving signal from delayed multipath reflections bouncing off metallic factory infrastructure.
Standard UWB antennas often exhibit directional gain variations, leading to phase errors and polarization mismatches when tracking tags move out of the anchor's primary boresight axis. To counteract this angular dependency, the receiver nodes incorporate a custom planar circular inverted-F antenna (PIFA) or a patch antenna matrix. This configuration maintains uniform phase center stability and steady gain distribution across a wide hemispherical pattern. This specialized layout prevents the signal time-of-arrival fluctuations that typically occur when a transceiver tag tilts or changes its orientation relative to fixed wall-mounted anchors.
Edited by Romila DSilva, Induportals Editor, with AI assistance.
The UWB infrastructure is designed to resolve positional coordinates down to a sub-decimeter level, a substantial upgrade over the multi-meter error margins typical of legacy tracking standards. Moving forward, the company plans to scale its industrial RTLS portfolio to support broader factory automation and labor optimization targets.
Additional Context
This section details technical specifications not included in the original news release.
The positioning engine relies on Two-Way Ranging (TWR) and Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) algorithms to establish accurate spatial coordinates. By transmitting sub-nanosecond radio frequency pulses across bandwidths exceeding 500 MHz, the system accurately distinguishes the first arriving signal from delayed multipath reflections bouncing off metallic factory infrastructure.
Standard UWB antennas often exhibit directional gain variations, leading to phase errors and polarization mismatches when tracking tags move out of the anchor's primary boresight axis. To counteract this angular dependency, the receiver nodes incorporate a custom planar circular inverted-F antenna (PIFA) or a patch antenna matrix. This configuration maintains uniform phase center stability and steady gain distribution across a wide hemispherical pattern. This specialized layout prevents the signal time-of-arrival fluctuations that typically occur when a transceiver tag tilts or changes its orientation relative to fixed wall-mounted anchors.
Edited by Romila DSilva, Induportals Editor, with AI assistance.
