BLE Beacons

Overview

The Raven video telematics platform provides a comprehensive view of fleet operations. Beyond AI-powered video and vehicle telematics, Raven devices function as a powerful Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Gateway.

A BLE Beacon is a small, battery-powered device detectable by nearby Bluetooth-enabled devices. These devices are low-cost and have batteries lasting 2+ years.

Raven devices act as Bluetooth Gateways, equipped with both LTE and Bluetooth radios. They scan for whitelisted BLE beacons in their vicinity and report each beacon’s location and status. By leveraging the integrated BLE transceiver, Raven can track external assets, such as tools, equipment, or cargo, providing near real-time asset management and loss prevention.

Value for Integration Partners

BLE beacons offer a low-cost, reliable way to monitor non-powered equipment. By integrating BLE asset tracking, Raven enables:

• Equipment Monitoring: Verify that specialized tools or generators are in the vehicle before it leaves a job site.
• Inventory Automation: Automatically check inventory in and out of the vehicle “zone” without manual scanning.
• Loss Prevention: Generate alerts if an asset’s MAC address is no longer detected, indicating potential theft or equipment left behind.

Customer Use Cases

Customer Profile	Typical Assets	Value of BLE Tracking
Landscaping	Mowers, blowers, trimmers	Prevent equipment from being left behind at job sites
Construction	Generators, mixers, compressors	Verify which site equipment is currently located at
Field Service	High-value toolboxes, ladders	Identify the last vehicle carrying the asset to aid recovery
Logistics	Pallets or cargo	Confirm that the specific cargo was loaded on the correct truck

BLE Scanning Functionality

Raven devices function as mobile BLE gateways, performing automated scans for whitelisted beacons:

• Scanning Cadence:
  • Driving: 60-second scans every 60 seconds
  • Parked: 60-second scans every 15 minutes. For the first 5 minutes after parking, scans occur every 1 minute to allow for equipment loading/unloading.
     
• Reporting: Raven will report all beacons with a whitelisted manufacturer’s identifier following each scanning interval. Raven is not aware of which MAC addresses belong to individual partners, so filtering by the integrator for their own BLE Beacons is required.
   
• Protocol Support: Raven is compatible with major pseudo-standards, including Apple's iBeacon™ and Google's open-source Eddystone™ (UID, URL, and TLM frames).
   
• Whitelisting: To ensure data relevance, Raven only reports MAC addresses with a whitelisted prefix, typically associated with verified hardware manufacturers like Minew (e.g., Minew E9).
   
• Coverage: Raven-enabled vehicles can detect whitelisted assets within a range of approximately 100-150 feet.
  
  Note: While Raven can support a wide variety of iBeacon and Eddystone devices, every device has its own unique payload and manufacturer-specific data structure. To ensure seamless deployment, these beacons must be analyzed by Raven Engineering beforehand. Please note that Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE) charges may apply for new beacon integrations.

Protocol Buffers (Protobuf) and Webhooks

This data is serialized using Google Protocol Buffers via the ravenconnected_beacons protobuf. This lightweight format allows for efficient transmission to the Raven Cloud. Once processed, the data is relayed to the integration partner’s cloud via Webhook.

Sample Beacon Protobuf Definition:

message Beacon {
  message Status {
    int32 rssi = 1; // Signal strength in dBm
    int32 battery_level = 2; // Percentage (0-100)
    int32 battery_voltage = 3; // In mV
    int32 activity_counter = 4; // Asset activity time in sec
    string device_make = 5; // e.g., "Minew"
    string device_model = 6; // e.g., "E9"
  }
  fixed32 timestamp = 1;
  string mac_address = 2;
  GPS location = 3; // Raven GPS coordinates
  Status status = 4;
}

Enablement

Enabling BLE scanning is managed through the Raven Connected API (RC-API).

1. Authentication: Access the API via the standard partner credentials.
2. Configuration: Use the PATCH method on the Raven settings endpoint.
3. Activation: Set the following flag in the settings payload:
   1. asset_ble_tracking_enabled: true

API Endpoint: PATCH

https://api.partner.ravenconnected.com/v1/ravens/{ravenId}/settings

Roadmap

All Ravens Bulletin (ARB) Mode

Currently, only Raven devices with asset_ble_tracking_enabled set to true will perform scans and report data. However, Raven is exploring an innovative secondary scanning mode: All Ravens Bulletin (ARB).

Under this proposed framework:

• Community Recovery: All Raven devices in the field (even those not specifically configured for active asset tracking) can be enabled to scan for "High Priority" beacons.
   
• Lost/Stolen Asset List: Integration partners would submit MAC addresses associated with lost or stolen equipment via API. This "ARB List" is then distributed to the wider Raven network.
   
• Passive Detection: Ravens in ARB mode will scan at the standard intervals but will only report detections that match a MAC address on the ARB list.

This creates a powerful, crowd-sourced recovery network, significantly increasing the likelihood of locating stolen assets across the North American market.