Hi,
I have a setup where there are 4 DWM1001-DEV boards mounted on a horizontal metal plate. They are close to each other (about a square with sides of 0.5m). There is also another DWM1001-DEV as a tag going around the metal plate, in the same planar region of the 4 anchors (parallel to the metal plate).
Position readings are not very accurate, is it possible that the metal plate is interfering with the UWB radio waves?
Thanks for now!
Lucas
How far are the antennas from the metal plate?
Any metal near any antenna is going to mess things up, the only question is by how much.
Hi @AndyA thanks for your answer.
The boards are currently mounted right on the metal plate, with spacers, about half an inch away from the metal plate.
I get a lot of NaN when reading the tag’s position, do you think this could be the issue?
Thanks!
The wavelength for the signal is around 4.5 cm (~2 inches). So yes, putting a large metal plate 1/4 of a wavelength away from the antenna is going to cause significant issues.
Ideally stand the boards up, I think you’ll get a better antenna pattern that way too. If you can’t do that then get them a couple of wavelengths away from the metal.
Can you test the system without the metal plate? Put the boards on top of a cardboard box or something similar in the same pattern. That’s one way to be sure that it’s the metal causing the issue and not something else.
Or to be more accurate, to find out if it’s only the metal is causing problems. It’ll have an impact, the question is is it the only thing or not. The mounting pattern you’ve described sounds far from ideal too.