Monitoring of the Elderly with Dementia Based on Indoor Positioning System (IPS) Using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)

Abstract

Dementia is a neurodegenerative disorder that causes a decline in cognitive function in the elderly, increasing the risk of disorientation and loss in the indoor environment. This study aims to design and implement a monitoring system for the position and condition of elderly people with dementia based on Indoor Positioning System (IPS) using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology. The system was developed using five ESP32 modules consisting of three reference point devices, one mobile device worn by the elderly, and one server device as a data processor. The mobile device is equipped with a MPU6050 sensor to detect fall conditions. BLE signal strength data in the form of RSSI is sent through the MQTT protocol to the server, then filtered using the Kalman Filter to reduce noise. Furthermore, the trilateration method is applied to determine the position of the elderly in the form of two-dimensional coordinates. The test results showed that the system was able to display the position of the elderly and the status of the body condition in real time through the localhost web interface and the I2C LCD. The application of Kalman Filter has been proven to increase the stability of RSSI data so that the position estimation results become more consistent in a limited indoor environment. This system is considered effective as a solution for monitoring the elderly with low power consumption and relatively simple implementation. The implications of this research open up opportunities for further development, such as improving accuracy with the addition of reference points, integrating internet-based remote notifications, and implementing systems in more complex environments such as nursing homes or elderly care facilities.