World-leading RTLS for robotic guidance and navigation
The problem
AGVs and AMRs are critical to efficient material movement in modern factories and warehouses, but traditional navigation systems like SLAM or RFID often suffer from drift, interference, or signal loss. When an AGV/AMR goes off-route or stalls, it disrupts production flow, creates congestion, and poses safety risks to nearby workers and equipment.
The solution
ZeroKey's Quantum RTLS provides millimeter-accurate real-time tracking of AGVs and AMRs across entire facilities. By enabling precise drift-free route adherence, real-time visibility, and intelligent task allocation, ZeroKey customers benefit from smoother material flow and optimized AGV utilization with minimal downtime or human intervention.
Hyper-accurate localization and tracking anywhere
ROS2 compatible open API enables seamless integration
6 Degrees of Freedom (6DoF) for rotation and heading
Unlock fleet capacity with dynamic routing and navigation
ZeroKey vs the competition
Legacy challenges
Traditional SLAM navigation methods break down when reference points change in dynamic environments or when views are obstructed, resulting in unplanned downtime that requires human intervention and erodes ROI.
ZeroKey's solution
ZeroKey’s best-in-class 1.5 mm positioning accuracy and availability ensure AMRs never lose precise localization, even in dynamic environments, because Quantum RTLS doesn’t rely on feature points.
1.5mm 3D ground truth system
ZeroKey’s indoor positioning system offers millimeter-accurate ground truth for AGV/AMR navigation and robotics localization. Guidance is no longer restricted to predefined routes or reliant on outdated and unreliable RTLS technologies with limited accuracy.
1.5mm 3D ground truth system
Better and cheaper than LiDAR/vision
Better and cheaper than LiDAR/vision
The ZeroKey system overcomes the limitations of expensive vision and LiDAR-based systems, delivering hyper-accurate, continuous, wide-area tracking to support virtually any use case. Unlike competing technologies, Quantum RTLS‘s industry-leading calibration technology automatically calculates the exact location of every fixed device, eliminating the need for costly surveying or mapping throughout the deployment process.
100% positioning availability
Quantum RTLS combines several core technologies to provide always-available, real-time positioning across entire facilities. Online provisioning supports rapid scalability across the shop floor, while advanced sensor fusion algorithms and multichannel operation enable simultaneous operation of a large number of devices.
100% positioning availability
Stop ROI leakages from AGV “rescues”
Unplanned interventions kill payback. Every time an AGV drifts, stalls, or loses localization, a human has to step in—halting flow, stacking queues, and burning labor you didn’t plan for. That’s the hidden cost most TCO models miss.
Real results: $18.4M annual ROI in cost savings
Real results: $18.4M annual ROI in cost savings
The challenge
The challenge
When a major automotive OEM launched a new production program, they built an experimental factory to validate their AGV-based material handling strategy. The AGVs relied on high-end LiDAR and visual SLAM, but real-world conditions quickly exposed critical flaws. Frequent localization dropouts and inconsistent feature detection forced the AGVs to operate at reduced speeds to avoid collisions. Slower travel meant more AGVs were required to maintain line-side delivery rates, inflating capital costs. Operators routinely intervened to rescue stalled units, and the LiDAR hardware carried significant cost premiums.
The solution
The solution
The manufacturer replaced their LiDAR-based navigation stack with ZeroKey’s Quantum RTLS®, equipping each AGV with a compact mobile tag providing continuous, millimeter-accurate 3D positioning. With absolute, drift-free ground truth, the AGVs could navigate at full rated speed with no risk of localization loss and no need for periodic remapping. This allowed the OEM to reduce the total fleet size, remove costly LiDAR units from every robot, and eliminate unplanned human interventions entirely.
The impact
The impact
After integrating Quantum RTLS, the OEM achieved:
2x
Increase in AMR throughput
through full-speed,
drift-free navigation
100%
Elimination of manual
interventions, restoring
continuous flow
$18.4M
Annual cost savings driven
by fleet reduction, LiDAR elimination,
and higher utilization across
the full-scale rollout
Seamless robotic integration
import requests
from signalrcore.hub_connection_builder import HubConnectionBuilder
TOKEN = "<YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN>"
API = "https://<YOUR_DEPLOYMENT>.edge.zerokey.com/v3"
conn = requests.post(
f"{API}/events/connections",
headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {TOKEN}"},
json={"Mode": "read", "Filters": [{"FilterTemplate": "position_events"}]},
).json()
hub = HubConnectionBuilder().with_url(
conn["EndpointURI"],
options={"access_token_factory": lambda: conn["EndpointID"]},
).build()
hub.start()
import rclpy
from rclpy.node import Node
from geometry_msgs.msg import PointStamped
rclpy.init()
node = Node("zk_rtls")
pub = node.create_publisher(PointStamped, "/zerokey/position", 10)
def handle_event(e: dict):
if e.get("Category") != "POSITION":
return
pos = e.get("Content", {}).get("Position")
if not pos:
return
msg = PointStamped()
msg.header.stamp = node.get_clock().now().to_msg()
msg.header.frame_id = "zk_map"
msg.point.x, msg.point.y, msg.point.z = pos
pub.publish(msg)
rclpy.spin(node)
Seamless robotic integration
ZeroKey’s open API and SignalR streaming interface connect directly to robotic middleware like ROS2, feeding millimeter-accurate position data in real time. Clients can subscribe to position and quaternion updates from Quantum RTLS, instantly syncing ground-truth data with navigation stacks, fleet management systems, or simulation environments.
FAQs
FAQs
Quantum RTLS provides an external, facility-wide source of absolute 3D position and pose data for indoor robotics. Robots can use this data as a ground-truth localization layer to reduce drift, validate route adherence, recover from localization uncertainty, and improve fleet-level visibility in areas where SLAM, markers, or RF-only systems are unreliable.
Quantum RTLS is typically used as an absolute positioning layer alongside the robot’s existing navigation and safety stack. It eliminates dependency on visual features, floor markers, and periodic remapping, but onboard perception, obstacle detection, and safety-rated systems can still be integrated according to the robot’s functional safety requirements.
Quantum RTLS can provide real-time 3D position, 6DoF pose, orientation/quaternion data, zone events, device status, and position quality flags. Position payloads can indicate how the position was derived, such as ultrasonic positioning, sensor fusion, inertial propagation, or other fallback states, so downstream systems can make informed decisions based on position confidence and source.
Quantum RTLS supports position updates up to 20 Hz per device, depending on the system, configuration, tracking mode, deployment density, and use case requirements. For robotics applications, update rate should be evaluated alongside latency, coverage geometry, mounting location, and the control loop or fleet-management architecture consuming the data.
Quantum RTLS exposes position and pose data through open APIs and real-time streaming interfaces, including SignalR-based event streams. Robotics teams can subscribe to live position events from the Edge Compute Device (ECD), publish data into ROS2 topics or transforms, and align the Quantum RTLS coordinate frame to the robot or facility frame. If required, position and pose can also be accessed directly from the Mobile device via micro-USB.
A deployment uses fixed Anchors, tracked Mobiles, Gateways, and an Edge Compute Device (ECD). Anchors are installed in the areas where high-accuracy positioning is required. Mobiles are mounted to AGVs, AMRs, forklifts, tools, workers, or assets. Gateways coordinate hardware communication, and the Edge Compute Device (ECD) runs the positioning network, hosts the Spatial Intelligence Platform, and exposes the local API.
Quantum RTLS is an indoor positioning system. For full-accuracy ultrasonic positioning, Mobiles need to be within range and have a clear ultrasonic path to at least four Anchors with suitable geometry. Temporary obstructions can be bridged using built-in inertial sensor fusion, and the position payload includes quality and derivation flags so applications can respond appropriately when tracking mode or confidence changes.
Yes. Quantum RTLS does not depend on camera visibility, lighting, visual feature points, floor markers, or static scene geometry. This makes it useful in environments where racks, materials, people, carts, or equipment frequently change the visual landscape and cause SLAM systems to lose confidence or require remapping.
Most teams start with a Quantum RTLS Starter Kit, which includes the core hardware and software needed to evaluate positioning in a real route, cell, or operating area. It arrives as a complete first system, so teams can validate Anchor coverage, Mobile mounting, update rate, latency, coordinate-frame alignment, API integration, and position quality flags without designing a full deployment up front.
After evaluation, the Starter Kit hardware becomes the first building block of the production system. As the project scales, teams simply add more Anchors, Mobiles, and coverage areas rather than starting over or replacing the pilot infrastructure.
Want More Info?
Download Our White Paper
ZeroKey’s Quantum RTLS technology is backed by more than thirty patents and extensive research and development! Want to learn why we’re the most accurate RTLS technology in the market? Read all about it in our white paper.
Want More Info?
Download Our White Paper
ZeroKey’s Quantum RTLS technology is backed by more than thirty patents and extensive research and development! Want to learn why we’re the most accurate RTLS technology in the market? Read all about it in our white paper.
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CALGARY
HEAD OFFICE
3120 – 12 St. NE
Calgary, Alberta T2E 8T3