Highlighting the breadth of applications now using 'wireless technology', a leading supplier of high performance, cost effective 2,4 GHz spread spectrum wireless modules, AeroComm, has supplied transceivers for vehicle management applications that it claims can save time and money and greatly ease essential operational fleet management duties.
Fleet management companies - for trucks, coaches, buses, cars, cargo containers, railway carriages, forklifts, and trailers - often need to exchange data between the vehicle and a base station. Such data can include engine performance for maintenance alerts, refrigeration unit performance, forklift battery condition, driver oversight (excessive speed/engine revs), driver performance such as hours worked, routes travelled, comparing fares collected with the number of passengers, and so on.
Benefits of data collection
There are many benefits to be gained from deploying a vehicle data collection system. To avoid breakdowns, companies are able to diagnose and report engine problems from information contained in their timely, periodic updates in a matter of seconds. For health and safety they can monitor the environmental conditions of a refrigerated cargo and report exceptions. They can monitor driver behaviour, speed and hours, obtain records on fuel consumption, monitor brake wear and detect faults, access electronic logs of servicing, and - from downloaded data - they are often able to reconstruct accidents to avoid load claims.
In use, a server radio (base station) is connected to a central data collection PC. Multiple 'client' radios are mounted on vehicles. Periodically the radios receive downloads from the server (eg, delivery instructions) but more commonly, the radios will upload data gathered and stored while the vehicles were away for the reasons mentioned above.
Crucially, fleet management companies require cost effective, automatic data collection on a timely basis. As this initially called for wide area networks, fleet managers found this option to be expensive; additionally, they found that periodic daily data collection, for example, is sufficient. Continuous data collection while trucks roamed led to information overload.
Data when needed
Importantly, fleet managers need the information when they can do something about it, such as when the truck returns to base. They can schedule maintenance or question a driver when alerts are issued upon the truck entering the facility. As one industry executive has said, fleet managers are not air traffic controllers standing by their PCs watching their trucks; they want information when they can use it (eg, the vehicle and the driver are in the depot) and they need it at low cost. While the price of GSM and GPRS are coming down, there are still some issues over coverage, multicountry carriers, and roaming fees. Data rates are slower, so airtime costs may be higher.
Radio modules from AeroComm are available to OEMs for incorporation into fleet management systems. These modules offer an extended temperature range of -40°C to 80°C for outdoor applications. The radios are point-to-multipoint architecture; hence a central base station can talk to numerous clients' radios. To minimise airtime and reduce RF collisions, AeroComm's radio modules are also fast, offering serial interface rates up to 115 Kbps.
AeroComm has developed tools and industry specific expertise that enable fast time to market for OEMs. Further, transceivers are agency pre-certified for fast development schedules, reduced regulatory agency expertise and cost for the OEM.
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