I see this problem being mentioned by a few other people in the forum.
Currently, the new location beacons broadcast magnetometer data that is 0’s on all three axes.
The node.js script in https://github.com/Estimote/estimote-specs seems to indicate that the readings will be 0 if the magnetometer is not calibrated. I am not yet aware of any way of calibrating the sensors.
What is concerning here is that there is no clear announcement about when (or if at all) this support will be included in the SDK. I have been told that the magnetometer support has been postponed because it was challenging to come up with a proven use case for the magnetometer? I bought the new beacons purely because they had the magnetometer, it has been frustrating not being able to use it properly.
We’re sorry for the radio silence! We’re well aware of this problem, and we’ll be trying to address it in January.
In the meantime, maybe you can help us—we’re gathering feedback about how people want to use the magnetometer. Just wanna make sure any solution for the calibration we come up with is aligned with what developers have in mind
Thank you for the update Piotr, looking forward to what you guys will come up with in Jan.
I would like to not disclose our use case due to patentability issues, hope you understand.
I am also anxiously waiting for the android API to support magnetometer readings.
Here is my use case: I am developing an android application that needs to know the orientation of the beacon. The beacon will not be stationary so I can’t simply extract the gravity vector from the accelerometer.
I am hoping the magnetometer works. My intention is to detect when the magnetic field is disrupted so I know for example when a metal object moves near it. I have calibration code I can share for the CMMotionManager (using the magnetometer in an iOS device) if that helps.
In fact, if the magnetometer is not working in the location beacons I need to cancel my order. I was going to test it out. I’d contacted the business@estimote.com about purchasing 1500-10,000 beacons but if the magnetometer does not work, then I cannot use them
Been waiting for this forever. Estimote is using false advertising. Mentioning magnetometer to get people buy their beacons and not delivering the proper support for it.
Hey all, sorry for the long wait. We’re working on fixing that as we speak—I know we missed our “January” promise, so I wouldn’t want to commit to any timelines anymore, but we’re really close now!
Hey all,
is there any progress or solution? Latest Location Beacons (4.11.0 / F3.3) still transmit 0/0/0 in iOS SDK and the same if you parse the advertisement data with CoreBluetooth.
Our use cases:
Object tracking: we need the orientation / heading of the moving beacon.
Valve orientation: we need a compass to get the status of a valve for example
