High-precision localization: New technology developed in Klagenfurt has international potential

Major smartphone manufacturers like Apple want to help us when it comes to quickly locating small devices that we can attach to our key rings or backpacks. The underlying technology promises great potential for industrial and logistic applications. Researchers at the University of Klagenfurt have developed a technology that works up to 60 times faster and 40 times more precisely.

A wireless technology named ultra-wideband (UWB), has been researched by a team at the Institute of Networked and Embedded Systems over the last 6 years. In an international project with Airbus, the team researched the feasibility to substitute wires by wireless communication in Airplanes via UWB, making them lighter and more fuel-efficient.

Now, the team, which includes Daniel Neuhold, made major progress in the advancement of UWB for high-precision localization. “Our technology enables an up to 60 times faster and 40 times more precise localization compared to the current market leader,” Neuhold explains. This is made possible by sophisticated calculations and innovative concepts that are integrated in an embedded hardware as a software solution.

The developments have already been protected by patents in Germany and an EU-wide patent application is close to finalization. Daniel Neuhold and his colleagues are currently in the process of founding a start-up to roll out the new technology, thereby expanding the Carinthian tech space with a solution that can be deployed globally.