All references

People tracking in a tunnel (RTLS)

A construction company (tunnel construction)

A safety register: at any moment it was clear how many people — and who — were inside the tunnel, via Bluetooth tags and readers at the portals. We delivered the whole chain from readers to a web portal on ordinary, low-cost hardware.

Challenge

During tunnel construction it is critical to know at any moment how many people — and who — are inside, for safety and possible evacuation. A paper log at the entrance is not enough.

Solution

Our team delivered the whole chain of a location system: workers wore Bluetooth tags, readers at the portals recorded crossings, and an evaluation algorithm turned them into logical “who is inside/outside” events. A web portal showed a live view of who was present.

Results:

• Count and identity of people in the tunnel in real time — a basis for evacuation and presence checks
• History of gate crossings with timestamps
• Ordinary, low-cost hardware (BLE tags + Raspberry Pi) instead of proprietary RTLS devices
• Ran for about three years, until the build was finished (a past reference)

Safety as the core value

The idea is clear even to a layperson: at any moment you know how many people are in the tunnel and who. That is critical information in an emergency — and instead of paper at the entrance, the system holds it in real time.

The whole chain on cheap hardware

A pair of readers (outer + inner) at a portal determines the direction of a crossing; a collection layer pulls the captures into a central database and the algorithm converts raw radio captures into logical events. The portal also tracks reader status and tag battery levels.