For those of you who tried out our beta version motion sensor tags, problems below were discovered thanks to your feedback, and were corrected in the release version:

  • After beep function is used, unless the beep duration was less than 3 seconds (beep until moved), the tag requires "reset state" to function properly afterwards. This issue was due to a simple bug and has been completely fixed in the release version. To avoid this issue in beta tag, don't use beep function, or always "reset state" after beep.
  • Searching new tag sometimes cannot find long range tag. When tag manager is searching an unassociated tag, it cannot use wireless parameters optimized for long range tag or it will not be able to find old version tags. To keep user interface simple (no separate button to search for long range tag,) a special wireless setting is used in the long range tag until it is associated. The issue has been corrected by optimizing this special wireless setting.  
  • Association sometimes fails and requires a retry. This was because the tag manager was not using the correct setting. This has been corrected from the server side. We tested search, association and un-association for 20+ times in succession without a single failure that would have required a retry.
  • Perceived short battery life. This can be improved by enabling low power receive mode. We added algorithms in the server to enable this automatically if the server determines the tag is well within range and does not need frequency calibration.
    Because the tag draws battery current in short pulses of few mSec, the battery voltage vs. time graph resembles the last plot "Pulse Discharge Characteristics" of http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/cr2032.pdf. As this plot shows, the battery starts from 3.2V, but quickly drops to 2.8V after only ~10% of its juice is gone, then it stays at 2.8V for ~75% of its lifetime. Since the battery percentage is calculated proportionally from the battery voltage, you will see the battery percentage drops very fast from 100% (3.2V) to ~60% (2.8V), then stays at 60% for a long time. This sometimes give people false impression of short battery life after seeing the battery percentage drops so fast initially.
‹ Go back to the blog

Comments

Leave a comment

comments have to be approved before showing up