Precise Object Finding with UWB: From Tracker to Mobile App

An engineer on a construction site lost an expensive laser rangefinder among tons of rebar and equipment. A standard Bluetooth tracker showed a radius of 15 meters but not the precise direction. He had to dig through the entire warehouse. After implementing a UWB tracker with 10-centimeter accuracy, losing tools ceased to be a problem. We executed such a project for a client in industrial safety — fully turnkey: from tracker firmware to a mobile app for iOS and Android. Experience shows that UWB finding reduces the time to locate items by 90%.

UWB (Ultra-Wideband) uses short pulses to measure distance via Time of Flight (ToF) with nanosecond precision. A phone with a U1 chip and the tracker exchange signals, calculating not only distance but also angle of arrival. This yields an arrow pointing to the object. The foundation is the IEEE 802.15.4z standard, described in Ultra-wideband.

How does precise UWB object finding work?

A UWB session on a mobile device is initiated via Bluetooth Low Energy: the tracker transmits its identifier and keys. Then a UWB connection is established, and data exchange begins at up to 60 Hz. Distance is calculated from signal propagation time; direction is derived from phase differences across antennas.

Why implement UWB finding now?

Bluetooth trackers provide only approximate distance, while UWB delivers accuracy up to 10 cm and direction. For industrial sites, hospitals, warehouses, this means up to 40% budget savings on locating lost equipment. Our clients report that inventory time is cut by three.

Two scenarios: Find My network vs standalone UWB

Standalone UWB approach is 2-3 times faster to deploy than integration into Find My Network, due to the absence of MFi certification. For B2B segments (warehouses, construction, hospitals), this is the preferred solution.

iOS: Implementation via NearbyInteraction

On iOS, the key framework is NearbyInteraction. It provides NINearbyObject objects with distance and direction. Here is a typical session example:

import NearbyInteraction import CoreBluetooth class ItemFinderSession: NSObject { private var niSession: NISession? private var currentDistance: Float = 0 private var currentDirection: SIMD3<Float>? func startFinding(accessoryToken: Data, bluetoothId: UUID) { niSession = NISession() niSession?.delegate = self niSession?.delegateQueue = .main let config = NINearbyAccessoryConfiguration( accessoryData: accessoryToken, bluetoothPeerIdentifier: bluetoothId ) niSession?.run(config) } } extension ItemFinderSession: NISessionDelegate { func session(_ session: NISession, didUpdate nearbyObjects: [NINearbyObject]) { guard let obj = nearbyObjects.first else { return } if let distance = obj.distance { currentDistance = distance // Update UI: distance to object updateDistanceDisplay(meters: distance) } if let direction = obj.direction { currentDirection = direction // direction — unit vector in ARKit coordinate space // direction.x: left-right, direction.y: up-down, direction.z: forward-backward updateDirectionalArrow(direction: direction) } } func session(_ session: NISession, didUpdateAlgorithmConvergence convergence: NIAlgorithmConvergence, for object: NINearbyObject?) { // convergence.status: .converged / .notConverged([reasons]) // When notConverged — ask user to move the phone handleConvergence(convergence.status) } } 

A critical aspect is convergence.status. If the user stands still, direction is not delivered. In our project, we added animation and a voice prompt "move the phone" — this reduced the initial detection time to 2 seconds.

What defines UX: algorithm convergence and feedback?

The UWB algorithm requires movement to determine angle. We implemented combined indication: distance displayed large, direction as an arrow. At distances below 0.3 m, UIImpactFeedbackGenerator(.heavy) vibration is triggered. Haptic feedback is a standard borrowed from AirTag.

Tracker based on DW3000 for standalone solution

For a standalone tracker without MFi, we use the Qorvo DWM3001C — a ready UWB transceiver with BLE. The firmware implements the UWB Initiator role, exchanges the token via BLE, and responds to TWR requests from the phone. On Android, a similar experience is provided by the androidx.core.uwb library:

val rangingParams = UwbRangingParameters( uwbConfigType = UwbRangingParameters.CONFIG_UNICAST_DS_TWR, complexChannel = controllerScope.uwbComplexChannel, peerDevices = listOf(UwbDevice.createForAddress(trackerUwbAddress)), updateRateType = UwbRangingParameters.RANGING_UPDATE_RATE_FREQUENT, sessionKeyInfo = sharedSessionKey ) 

What is included in a turnkey UWB solution?

Our team, with 5+ years of experience and over 50 BLE/UWB projects, offers:

1. Requirements analysis and hardware platform selection (DW3000, NXP, or custom).
2. Design and development of UWB tracker firmware.
3. Creation of mobile app for iOS (Swift, NearbyInteraction) and Android (Kotlin, UWB API).
4. Integration with accounting systems (1C, SAP, custom API).
5. Security architecture design (session key encryption).
6. Accuracy and stability testing in real conditions.
7. Documentation and personnel training.

We guarantee accuracy up to 10 cm even in high-interference environments. Verify it yourself — order a pilot project.

Get a consultation — we will assess your task and propose optimal hardware.

Timelines

A mobile app with UWB functionality (with a ready tracker) — from 1 to 3 weeks. Full cycle: tracker firmware + app + integration — from 1 to 3 months. Cost is calculated individually based on the number of supported devices and API scope. Contact us to discuss details.