Overview

This is a quickstart guide intended for use with a small starter system.

This guide assumes that the user has the following available:

• 6 or more anchors
• 2 or more tags
• Anchor mounting hardware appropriate for the system location
• Ethernet cables of appropriate lengths
• PoE switch
• A Host PC for the CUWB Manager Package

For first time users, Ciholas recommends using tripods for the initial installation to avoid needing to permanently modify building infrastructure.

Anchor Array Setup

1. Determine Anchor Locations
   • Anchors require line-of-sight (LoS) visibility to multiple adjacent anchors.
   • Tags require line of sight visibility to four or more anchors.
   • Anchor location selection should initially prioritize the perimeter of the intended tracking area. Fill in the interior area with additional anchors if possible.
   • Installing anchors directly above tracking areas where Z performance is desired will improve performance in those areas.
2. Determine coordinate axis orientation and origin.
3. Connect Anchors to your network infrastructure and provide them with power.
   • Anchors should be powered per the specification in their respective datasheets.
4. Survey and record anchor locations relative to the origin and desired coordinate axes.
   • Measurements should be in meters.
   • Survey is a critical component to system performance, visit the Anchor Survey in the installation guide for information regarding proper system survey.

Software Installation

CUWB Manager Package System Requirements

• OS: Ubuntu 22.04
• CPU: 64-bit, 4-core or better
• Network: Two NICs or VLANs - one for the production network and one for the isolated anchor network
• RAM: 8 GB or more
• Storage: 32 GB or more

PPA Installation and Setup

Follow the instructions below for CUWB Software Suite installation. Following successful installation, the CUWB Software will be available on all of the host machine’s network interfaces on port 5000.

Offline Installation

The latest DEB packages can be downloaded from the PPA for installation off-line. Type the commands below into a terminal window to gather the appropriate packages for installation.

jammy below can be replaced with any compatible Linux OS version. See the Software Downloads for the most up to date supported OS options.

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 13FB78B5
sudo add-apt-repository 'deb [arch=amd64] https://ppa.cuwb.io/official/ jammy main'
sudo apt update
mkdir /tmp/cuwb-packages
sudo apt -d -o Dir::Cache::Archives=/tmp/cuwb-packages install cuwb-all

The above commands gather the DEB packages needed to install all cuwb software. Users may change cuwb-all in the code above to any of the available packages to gather installation data for just that package. For example, to install the CUWB Viewer, the user would change cuwb-all in the code above to cuwb-viewer.

Once the packages have been gathered run the following commands in a terminal window to combine the output into a single, easy to manage, file.

cd /tmp
tar -cvzf cuwb-packages.tar.gz cuwb-packages

The result is a single file cuwb-package.tar.gz that can be moved between machines for installation. To install the software move the file to the desired Linux PC and run the following commands from a terminal window.

tar -xvzf cuwb-packages.tar.gz
cd cuwb-packages
sudo dpkg -i *.deb
sudo apt install -f

The instructions above gather all CUWB packages as well as software packages external to the CUWB system. It will not include packages that are already installed on the original Linux PC. To ensure proper operation it is suggested that the source and target PC be identical in regard to the packages currently installed.

Installing debian packages

After downloading the packages type the commands below into a terminal window to install the packages.

cd ~/Downloads 
sudo apt install ./<package_name>.deb //Repeat this step for each downloaded package

CUWB Manager Walkthrough

The CUWB Manager is the user control point for the CUWB RTLS. After successful installation access the CUWB Manager by opening a web browser and going to the following url:

http://localhost:5000

Note: If installing on a computer without a desktop environment, you can open a browser on another computer and use the IP address of the computer you installed instead of localhost.

Along with setting up the CUWB Configuration, the CUWB Manager can also be used for monitoring various status information. For additional details, refer to the CUWB Manager Manual.

Note: When creating a new CUWB Configuration, the CUWB Manager will default to MultiRange mode. This can be swapped to MultiTime mode in the configuration settings. For additional detail on MultiTime and MultiRange modes, see CUWB Operational Modes.

Tracking & Use

1. Enter serial numbers for anchors and tags, anchor survey information, and network configuration information into the CUWB Manager.
2. Run the CUWB Configuration from the CUWB Manager
3. Attach the tags to your subjects of interest and track.

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