BLE ranging possible by RSSI?

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  • Just curious:
    Is BLE ranging possible with the BLE module in puck.js?
    Meaning will one puck acting as a central get the RSSI value of another puck acting as a peripheral?

    (backer of puck.js; just got me a Pico because I couldn't wait any longer...)

  • :) Yes, it can - in fact it can get RSSI of any devices advertising around it without connecting to them. Some devices - like Eddystone beacons - even broadcast what the RSSI at 1 meter is, so it's pretty easy to work back to get a distance.

    It's not very accurate though - on any BLE device. RSSI can change even depending on the angle the transmitter/receiver is at, and if there's something like a desk in the way that can change it too, and walls affect it a huge amount

    Still, it's good for a rough idea, and the more beacons you have the better it'll be.

  • Perfect.
    I was already thinking of some clever ideas for interactive board games with communicating pawns... :)

    Ranging would be a plus here.
    Already worked with Apple CoreBluetooth - so it should be easy to bring mobiles into the game as well.

  • Great! It should be pretty straightforward for you to integrate them into your apps then.

    Over small distances I imagine measuring distance might be quite a bit better - I wonder how much detail you could get if each piece talked to each other piece.

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BLE ranging possible by RSSI?

Posted by Avatar for ChristianW @ChristianW

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