Athlete Tracking for Professional Sports, Two Engagements
A global semiconductor company was building wearable athlete tracking hardware for professional sports clubs. They needed firmware that could produce accurate position data during a live session, on a compact chip with a limited battery, inside venues where the signal environment shifts depending on where a player is standing. UWB was the positioning technology. Getting it to work reliably while someone is sprinting and changing direction is not the same problem as getting it to work in a test setup.
There was also the question of who actually deploys this. At a professional club, the person running kit setup before a morning session is a sports scientist or a technician, not a developer. The deployment software had to work for them, cleanly, without needing someone from engineering on a call.
Firmware, Deployment Software, and a Four-Module Server System
Sequoia Applied Technologies is a Santa Clara embedded and software engineering firm. Firmware engineers handled the device. Backend engineers handled the server. Each team worked to a written specification. The client reviewed and signed off at each milestone.
The device used UWB, ultra-wideband, for positioning. UWB gives you precision that GPS cannot deliver indoors. It still needs algorithm work though. A player cutting across a pitch produces signal patterns that look nothing like a stationary device in a lab, and the firmware has to handle both. Add a battery that needs to last a full session and the design space gets tight quickly. Most of the engineering effort on the firmware side went into that.
Deployment was a separate problem. Clubs run sessions at multiple venues. The person arriving to set up the kit at 6:45 in the morning is not a software engineer. Sequoia built the setup flow so that person can get the system calibrated and running on their own. When something goes wrong, the failure message is written in plain language, not a numeric code they would have to look up.
The server work came as a follow-on engagement. Four modules, each specified before build and accepted by the client independently. A database module for incoming position records. A real-time location service for getting data to applications without delay. A crowd-sourcing module that works out a single position per player when UWB readings from different devices do not agree. And a performance test specification written before testing started, with the reports from it covering how the system held up under load.
The reports were contractual deliverables. Not notes in a repo. The client needed documentation they could run through their own internal sign-off, and that is what Sequoia delivered.
Device, Field, Server
The device, the field setup, and the server behind them. Each one is someone else's problem on the day of a session. Sequoia built all three.
UWB-based positioning firmware for a wearable device. Athletes move differently from anything a lab setup replicates, and the algorithms had to account for that. Battery life was a hard constraint. The firmware shipped as commercially releasable code, reviewed and accepted by the client.
Venue setup software for operations staff. Walks the technician through calibration, flags problems clearly. A club technician with no prior exposure to the system should be able to bring a venue online without outside help.
Database module for field position records, a real-time service for pushing data through to applications, and a reconciliation module for resolving conflicting UWB readings across devices. Three modules, each signed off by the client separately before work on the next began.
Tested how the system held up as device count and venue load increased. Reports went through the client's formal review before sign-off.
Questions About IoT Location Systems for Sports and Enterprise Deployments
How does wearable athlete location tracking work at a professional sports club?
Players wear a small device during training. The device uses UWB, ultra-wideband radio, to determine position. UWB works indoors at a precision level GPS does not reach. The firmware processes the signal and sends position data through to a server, which makes it available in real time to whatever system the club is using. The firmware engineering is mostly about making that work while someone is moving unpredictably, not standing still in a test environment. The server side is about making the data usable at the speed analysts actually need it.
Can a venue technician set this up without an engineer involved?
That is what Sequoia built it to do. A club running sessions across several venues cannot have a developer show up every time. The setup flow guides the technician through what to do. Calibration runs automatically. If something goes wrong, the message explains what, in plain terms. The first time someone uses it should not require a phone call to anyone at Sequoia or at the client.
What does the server system look like behind a sports location platform?
Sequoia built four modules for this client. A database module that takes in position records from the field and stores them. A real-time location service that pushes that data through to applications without sitting on it. A reconciliation module that handles the situation where UWB readings from different devices on the same player do not agree and the system has to decide on a position. And a performance test specification, written before any testing started, with the reports that came from running it under load and across different conditions.
How does the testing and sign-off process work?
The test specification gets written before testing starts. Not pulled together at the end. For this project it covered scalability and how the system behaved when conditions shifted. The reports were delivered as formal contractual items and reviewed by the client before sign-off. The client needed something they could take through their own internal process, so that is what the documentation was written to.
What kind of embedded and IoT projects does Sequoia take on?
Sequoia Applied Technologies is a Santa Clara embedded and software engineering firm. This project covered UWB firmware on a wearable platform, real-time location algorithms, a four-module server build, and performance validation. The team also works across IoT systems, life sciences, and embedded product development. Engagements are scoped to written deliverables with milestone-based acceptance.