# Optimization of UWB Base Station Deployment for Formwork Scaffolds in Underground Construction with Sub-Meter Positioning Accuracy by Semi-Controlled Field Experiments

## TL;DR

This paper optimizes UWB base station placement for accurate positioning in metal-rich underground construction scaffolds to improve safety.

## Contribution

The study provides a deployment-optimized UWB setup for sub-meter accuracy in formwork scaffolds using controlled field experiments.

## Key findings

- Sub-meter positioning accuracy (0.317 m 3D RMSE) is achievable with optimal UWB deployment.
- Horizontal spacing of 1.5 m aligns with scaffold grid size for best performance.
- PDOP does not linearly correlate with positioning errors in coplanar UWB setups.

## Abstract

Fall-from-height fatalities in underground construction are closely associated with formwork scaffold operations, where dense steel members cause severe non-line-of-sight (NLOS) and multipath effects that degrade positioning performance. Although ultra-wideband (UWB) technology offers high theoretical ranging accuracy, its deployment-dependent performance in metal-rich scaffold environments remains insufficiently quantified. This study focuses on physical deployment optimization rather than algorithmic compensation. A full-scale formwork scaffold was constructed, and a stepwise one-factor controlled experimental design was employed to quantify the effects of anchor height (H) and horizontal spacing (S) on 3D positioning accuracy. The results show that sub-meter accuracy can be achieved through appropriate deployment, with a minimum 3D RMSE of 0.317 m and over 80% of single-axis errors confined within a 0.2 m engineering-valid region. For this specific setup, the optimal S = 1.5 m correlates with the scaffold grid size (approximately 0.8 times the 1.8 m bay width). While we hypothesize this ratio dependency applies to other geometries, this remains a site-specific observation requiring future cross-validation. Further analysis indicates that this deployment balances vertical signal visibility and multipath suppression. In addition, while the Position Dilution of Precision (PDOP) metric reflects geometric sensitivity, it does not linearly correlate with actual positioning errors under coplanar UWB deployments. These findings provide a rigorous static error model, serving as a critical prerequisite for developing robust real-time safety monitoring systems in scaffold-intensive construction environments.