Inside Samsara’s new disposable asset tracking label
LAS VEGAS—“This looks like a sticker, because it is,” David Gal, Samsara’s VP of product and engineering, said, introducing the company's unassuming new tracking device here at its customer conference Samsara Beyond.
The newly unveiled sticker is the Samsara Tracking Label, a disposable tracker designed for location intelligence at scale. The label was Samsara’s final announcement during a series of feature and product reveals at the conference’s keynote address.
Here is a breakdown of the asset tracker’s features, including a treasure trove of photos about the new product.
The tracking sticker has a simple, printable, weather-resistant paper face for traditional goods labeling. Inside the tiny sticker are all the components for a budget asset tracker: a battery, a radio antenna, and simple computation.
Once activated, the tiny tracking label sends short-range radio signals at regular intervals, which Samsara’s Bluetooth network can pick up.
The Bluetooth network leverages the company’s extensive customer population to create a connected data ecosystem. Devices connected to Samsara with long-range communication capabilities, such as trucks using a gateway or smartphones, can act as data communication nodes. These devices can listen for nearby tracking signals and communicate their approximate positions to a Samsara database.
The Bluetooth signal's range is roughly a quarter mile. Samsara has tested the product for a few months, and Hannes Magnusson, software engineer for Samsara, told FleetOwner that while the company hasn’t yet determined the average range, it has “seen over 1,000 feet.”
The Tracking Label’s battery uses a zinc-carbon chemistry, making it safe, affordable, and hardy. The battery can be shipped safely by air, ground, or rail. The power source should last 45 days after activation, though zinc-carbon battery chemistries tend to perform worse in extreme temperatures.
This small, low-power configuration helps keep the Asset Label economical. Sanjit Biswas, CEO and co-founder of Samsara, told FleetOwner that the label’s broad pricing is “designed to be in the single-digit dollars.”
Every label can be instantly associated with an existing shipment identifier, such as a BOL or a carrier tracking number. A QR code on the sticker’s face works with any optical label scanners.
Label makers with near field communication (NFC) capabilities can automatically communicate with the integrated labels as they are printed.
Samsara also provides two interfaces for these disposable asset trackers. A tracking dashboard, called the Shipment Center, allows users a detailed view of label locations and movement history. The Shipment Center can also be integrated with existing operational data to track delays and delivery errors.
A smartphone app, called the Samsara Shipper, can scan and activate labels.
Click through the media gallery above to see more about this clever sticker: A smartphone interface, David Gal on stage, a closeup of some of the minuscule electronic components inside the tracker, and more.
About the Author
Jeremy Wolfe
Editor
Editor Jeremy Wolfe joined the FleetOwner team in February 2024. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with majors in English and Philosophy. He previously served as Editor for Endeavor Business Media's Water Group publications.