barnowl-simatic converts the decodings of UWB devices by the Siemens SIMATIC RTLS into standard developer-friendly JSON that is vendor/technology/application-agnostic.
barnowl-simatic is a lightweight Node.js package that can run on resource-constrained edge devices as well as on powerful cloud servers and anything in between. It is compatible with reelyActive's Pareto Anywhere open source middleware suite, and can just as easily be run standalone behind a barnowl instance, as detailed in the code examples below.
Clone this repository, install package dependencies with npm install, and then from the root folder run at any time:
npm start 12.34.56.78 800
barnowl-simatic will connect as a TCP client, on the given IP address and port, to the ExportAVT module of the SIMATIC RTLS Data Export Service, perform the mandatory V1 protocol handshake (protocol version 1.2), and decode the LineFeed-framed plain-text telegrams, and output (flattened) raddec JSON to the console.
const BarnowlSimatic = require('barnowl-simatic');
let barnowl = new BarnowlSimatic();
barnowl.addListener(BarnowlSimatic.TestListener, {});
barnowl.on('raddec', (raddec) => {
console.log(raddec); // Real-time location
});
barnowl.on('infrastructureMessage', (message) => {
console.log(message); // Sensor/status data
});The following listener interfaces are supported.
const options = {
host: "localhost",
port: 800,
protocolVersion: "1.2",
reconnectMilliseconds: 5000,
decodingOptions: {} // See Decoding Options below
};
barnowl.addListener(BarnowlSimatic.TcpListener, options);Provides a steady stream of simulated TExportAVT telegrams for testing purposes.
barnowl.addListener(BarnowlSimatic.TestListener, {});The decodingOptions property of the listener interface options supports translation from the SIMATIC coordinate system to WGS84 (global geocoordinates) via the reposition property:
{
reposition: {
coordinateSystem: {
type: "customOrigin",
originOffset: [ -73.57123, 45.50883, 0 ], // Geocoordinates of origin
measurementUnits: [ 'm', 'm', 'm' ], // SIMATIC uses metres
horizontalPlaneRotation: 0 // Degrees from true North
}
}
}
See the repositioned module for detailed documentation.
Additional decodingOptions are as follows:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| receiver | { id: "...", idType: 2, rssi: 0 } optionally adds a synthetic receiver decoding to each raddec (ExportAVT provides computed positions, not per-receiver radio decodings, so raddecs otherwise have an empty rssiSignature). |
| includeHeartbeats | true maps H1 telegrams to isHealthy infrastructure messages. Off by default (S1 already carries heartbeat state). |
Configure the SIMATIC RTLS as follows. In RTLS_LM_DataExport.ini, the [ExportAVT] section (or a [Module.*] clone with ExportType=ExportAVT) must be active with the telegrams to export enabled, for example:
[ExportAVT]
Active=1
Port=800
RemoteFraming=LineFeedFraming
SendInitialData=1
PosDataMsg=P1
StateDataMsg=S1
NodeDataMsg=N1
ButtonStateMsg=BtnStates1
PositionFormate=xyz
RemoteFraming must be LineFeedFraming (default) or LineFeedFramingCR. Multiple parties may connect to the same ExportAVT port simultaneously, so this module can run alongside other consumers (e.g. Location Intelligence).
| ExportAVT telegram | Event | Properties |
|---|---|---|
| P1 / OP1 (position) | raddec | position [ x,y,z ], timestamp (sensor time) |
| S1 (device status) | infrastructureMessage | batteryVoltage, batteryPercentage, isHealthy (heartbeat) |
| BtnStates1 (buttons) | infrastructureMessage | isButtonPressed [ button1, button2 ] |
| N1 (device data) | infrastructureMessage | name, deviceType (TAG/Anchor/Gateway), position (infrastructure only) |
| H1 (heartbeat) | infrastructureMessage | isHealthy: true (only with includeHeartbeats: true) |
| V1, I1, KeepAlive1, BattState1, LED_Info1, CMD_Ack1, Error1 | ignored | Battery level is already covered by S1 |
The device identifier is the transponder NetworkAddress (6-byte HexBinary, e.g. 17:b4:10:02:07:ea), translated to an EUI-48 id (17b4100207ea). The ExportAVT default NodeIdent=NetworkAddress must be maintained for addresses to be recognised, else the transmitterIdType will be TYPE_UNKNOWN.
P1 telegrams with an empty (invalid) position (ex: tags which went offline) do not produce a raddec.
This project is maintained by human developers. The original code was developed by Tommy Morissette at CNIMI using Anthropic's Fable 5 artificial intelligence model in Claude Pro.
Discover how to contribute to this open source project which upholds a standard code of conduct.
Consult our security policy for best practices using this open source software and to report vulnerabilities.
MIT License
Copyright (c) 2026 reelyActive
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.