Mobile-Net

Automatic Vehicle Location

Applications

Application with vehicles

Automatic vehicle locating is a powerful concept for managing fleets of vehicles, as service vehicles, emergency vehicles, and especially precious construction equipment, also public transport vehicles (buses and trains). It is also used to track mobile assets, such as non wheeled construction equipment, non motorized trailers, and mobile power generators.

Application with vehicle drivers and crews

The other purpose of tracking is to provide graded service or to manage a large driver and crewing staff effectively. For example, suppose an ambulance fleet has an objective of arriving at the location of a call for service within six minutes of receiving the request. Using an AVL system allows to evaluate the locations of all vehicles in service with driver and other crew in order to pick the vehicle that will most likely arrive at the destination fastest, (meeting the service objective).

Types of systems

Configurations

A typical AVL system would use terrestrial wireless communications already installed and then communicates simultaneously the locations of a vehicle to the manager of a fleet of vehicles.

Simple direction finding

Amateur radio and some cellular or PCS wireless systems use direction finding or triangulation of transmitter signals radiated by the mobile. This is sometimes called radio direction finding or RDF. The simplest forms of these systems calculate the bearing from two fixed sites to the mobile. This creates a triangle with endpoints at the two fixed points and the mobile. Trigonometry tells you roughly where the mobile transmitter is located. In wireless telephone systems, the phones transmit continually when off-hook, making continual tracking and the collection of many location samples possible. This is one type of location system required by Federal Communications Commission Rules for wireless Enhanced 911.

Former LORAN-based locating

Motorola offered a 1970s-era system based on the United States Coast Guard LORAN maritime navigation system. The LORAN system was intended for ships but signal levels on the US east- and west-coast areas were adequate for use with receivers in automobiles. The system may have been marketed under the Motorola model name Metricom. It consisted of an LF LORAN receiver and data interface box/modem connected to a separate two-way radio. The receiver and interface calculated a latitude and longitude in degrees, decimal degrees format based on the LORAN signals. This was sent over the radio as MDC-1200 or MDC-4800 data to a system controller, which plotted the mobile's approximate location on a map. The system worked reliably but sometimes had problems with electrical noise in urban areas. Sparking electric trolleys or industrial plants which radiated electrical noise sometime overwhelmed the LORAN signals, affecting the system's ability to determine the mobile's geolocation. Because of the limited resolution, this type of system was impractical for small communities or operational areas such as a pit mine or port.

Signpost systems

To track and locate vehicles along fixed routes, a technology called Signpost transmitters is employed. This is used on transit routes and rail lines where the vehicles to be tracked continually operated on the same linear route. A transponder or RFID chip along the vehicle route would be polled as the train or bus traverses its route. As each transponder was passed, the moving vehicle would query and receive an ack, or handshake, from the signpost transmitter. A transmitter on the mobile would report passing the signpost to a system controller. This allows supervision, a call center, or a dispatch center to monitor the progress of the vehicle and assess whether or not the vehicle was on schedule. These systems are an alternative inside tunnels or other conveyances where GPS signals are blocked by terrain.

Today's GPS-based locating

The low price and ubiquity of Global Positioning System or GPS equipment has lent itself to more accurate and reliable telelocation systems. GPS signals are impervious to most electrical noise sources and don't require the user to install an entire system. Only a receiver to collect signals from the satellite segment is installed in each vehicle and a radio to communicate the collected location data with a dispatch point.

Large private telelocation or AVL systems send data from GPS receivers in vehicles to a dispatch center over their private, user-owned radio backbone. These systems are used for businesses like parcel delivery and ambulances. Smaller systems which don't justify building a separate radio system use cellular or PCS data services to communicate location data from vehicles to their dispatching center. Location data is periodically polled from each vehicle in a fleet by a central controller or computer. In the simplest systems, data from the GPS receiver is displayed on a map allowing humans to determine the location of each vehicle. More complex systems feed the data into a computer assisted dispatch system which automates the process. For example, the computer assisted dispatch system may check the location of a call for service and then pick a list of the four closest ambulances. This narrows the dispatcher's choice from the entire fleet to an easier choice of four vehicles.

Some wireless carriers such as Nextel have decided GPS was the best way to provide the mandated location data for wireless Enhanced 9-1-1. Newer Nextel radios have embedded GPS receivers which are polled if 9-1-1 is dialed. The 9-1-1 center is provided with latitude and longitude from the radio's GPS receiver. In centers with computer assisted dispatch, the system may assign an address to the call based on these coordinates or may project an icon depicting the caller's location onto a map of the area.

Sensor-augmented AVL

The main purpose of using AVL is not only to locate the vehicles, but also to obtain information about engine data, fuel consumption, driver data and sensor data from i.e. doors, freezer room on trucks or air pressure. Such data can be obtained via the CAN-bus, via direct connections to AVL systems or via open bus systems such as UFDEX that both sends and receives data via SMS or GPRS in pure ASCII text format. Because most AVL consists of two parts, GPS and GSM modem with additional embedded AVL software contained in a microcontroller, most AVL systems are fixed for its purposes unless they connect to an open bus system for expansion possibilities.

With an open bus system the users can send invoices based on goods delivered with exact location, time and date data where if connected to scale, RFID or barcode readers, can make a fairly good automated system to avoid human errors.

Logbook functions

Another scenario for sensor functions is to connect the AVL to driver information, to collect data about driving time, stops, or even driver absence from the vehicle. If the driver/worker conditions is such as the hourly rates for driving and working outside is not the same, this can be monitored by sensors.[needs clarification]

Differentiating between Automatic Vehicle Location and Events Activated Tracking Systems

It might be helpful to draw a distinction between vehicle location systems which track automatically and vehicle location systems which track when triggered by an event. There is increasingly crossover between the different systems and those with experience of this sector will be able to draw on a number of examples which break the rule.

A.V.L (Automatic Vehicle Location) This type of vehicle tracking is normally used in the fleet or driver management sector. The unit is configured to automatically transmit it location at a set time interval, e.g. every 5 minutes. The unit is activated when the ignition is switched on/off.

E.A.T.S (Events Activated Tracking system) This type of system is primarily used in connection with vehicle or driver security solutions. If, for example a thief breaks into your car and attempts to steal it, the tracking system can be triggered by the immobiliser unit or motion sensor being activated. A monitoring bureau, will then be automatically notified that the unit has been activated and begin tracking the vehicle.

Some products on the market are a hybrid of both AVL and EATS technology. However industry practice has tended to lean towards a separation of these functions. It is worth taking note that vehicle tracking products tend to fall in to one, not both of the technologies.

AVL technology is predominately used when applying vehicle tracking to fleet or driver management solutions. The use of Automatic Vehicle Location is given in the following scenario; A car breaks down by the side of the road and the occupant calls a vehicle recovery company. The vehicle recovery company has several vehicles operating in the area. Without needing to call each driver to check his location the dispatcher can pinpoint the nearest recovery vehicle and assign it to the new job. If you were to incorporate the other aspects of vehicle telematics into this scenario; the dispatcher, rather than phoning the recovery vehicle operative, could transmit the job details directly to the operative mobile data device, who would then use the in-vehicle satellite navigation to aid his journey to the job.

EATS technology is predominately used when applying vehicle tracking to vehicle security solutions. An example of this distinction is given in the following scenario; A construction company owns some pieces of plant machinery that are regularly left unattended, at weekends, on building sites. Thieves break onto one site and a piece equipment, such as a digger, is loaded on the back of a flat bed truck and then driven away. Typically the ignition wouldn need to be turned on and as such most of the AVL products available wouldn typically be activated. Only products that included a unit that was activated by a motion sensor or GeoFence alarm event, would be activated.

Both AVL and EATS systems track, but often for different purposes.

Special applications of automatic vehicle locating

Vehicle location technologies can be used in the following scenarios:

Fleet management: when managing a fleet of vehicles, knowing the real-time location of all drivers allows management to meet customer needs more efficiently. Vehicle location information can also be used to verify that legal requirements are being met: for example, that drivers are taking rest breaks and obeying speed limits.

Passenger Information: Real-time Passenger information systems use predictions based on AVL input to show the expected arrival and departure times of Public Transport services.

Asset tracking: companies needing to track valuable assets for insurance or other monitoring purposes can now plot the real-time asset location on a map and closely monitor movement and operating status. For example, haulage and logistics companies often operate trucks with detachable load carrying units. In this case, trailers can be tracked independently of the cabs used to drive them. Combining vehicle location with inventory management that can be used to reconcile which item is currently on which vehicle can be used to identify physical location down to the level of individual packages.

Field worker management: companies with a field service or sales workforce can use information from vehicle tracking systems to plan field workers' time, schedule subsequent customer visits and be able to operate these departments efficiently.

Covert surveillance: vehicle location devices attached covertly by law enforcement or espionage organizations can be used to track journeys made by individuals who are under surveillance

See also

Automatic number plate recognition

Fleet telematics

GPS tracking

Intelligent transportation system

LoJack

Millennium Plus

Mobile Phone tracking

NextBus, an implementation used for public transportation systems

OnStar, vehicle manufacturer implemented tracking systems.

StarChase

Telematics

Tracking system

Vehicle Infrastructure Integration

Vehicle Tracking

References

^ Thirty second reference only is from Assessment of the Denver Regional Transportation District's Automatic Vehicle Location System, US Department of Transportation.

^ One definition of AVL exists in, "Glossary," Arizona Phase II Final Report: Statewide Radio Interoperability Needs Assessment, Macro Corporation and The State of Arizona, 2004, pp. 165.

^ For an example of one US signpost system, see its service manual: T1919A Metrocom II 150.8-174 MHz Vehicle Location Receiver, (Schaumburg, Illinois: Motorola Communications and Electronics, 1979).

^ Wright, Matthew. "What is Vehicle Tracking ?". http://www.uktelematicsonline.co.uk/html/vehicle_tracking.html. Retrieved 2009-03-13. 

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Automotive design

Part of the Automobile series

Body

Framework

Automobile platform  Body-on-frame  Bumper  Cabrio coach  Chassis  Continental tire  Crumple zone  Dagmar bumpers  Decklid  Fender  Fender skirts  Grille  Hood  Hood scoop  Monocoque  Overhang  Pillar  Pontoon fenders  Quarter panel  Shaker scoop  Spoiler  Subframe  Tonneau

Compartments

Trunk/Boot/Dickie  Hood/Bonnet

Doors

Butterfly doors  Canopy door  Gull-wing door  Scissor doors  Sliding doors  Suicide door

Glass

Greenhouse  Power window  Quarter glass  Sunroof  Windshield/Windscreen  Windshield/Windscreen wiper

Other

Bumper sticker  Curb feeler  Hood ornament  Japan Black paint  Monsoonshield  Nerf bar  Tire/Tyre  Tow hitch  Truck accessory

Exterior

equipment

Lighting

Daytime running lamp  Headlamp  Hidden headlamps  High-intensity discharge lamps  Retroreflector  Sealed beam  Trafficators

Legal and other

Motor vehicle theft  Parking sensors  Vanity plate  Vehicle Identification Number  Vehicle registration plate  Vehicle horn   Windshield/Windscreen washer fluid  Wing mirror

Interior

equipment

Instruments

Backup camera  Boost gauge  Buzzer  Carputer  Electronic instrument cluster  Fuel gauge  Global Positioning System and Automotive navigation system  Head-up display  Idiot light  Malfunction Indicator Lamp  Night vision  Odometer  Radar detector  LIDAR detector  Speedometer  Tachometer  Trip computer

Controls

Bowden cable  Cruise control  Electronic throttle control  Gear stick  Hand brake  Manettino dial  Steering wheel  Throttle

Theft deterrence

Automatic vehicle location  Car alarm  Immobiliser   Power door locks  VIN etching

Safety & seating

Airbag  Armrest  Automatic seat belts  Bench seat  Bucket seat  Child safety lock  Rumble seat  Seat belt

Other

Air conditioning  Automobile accessory power  Car audio  Car phone  Center console  Dashboard  Flat tire  Glove compartment  RF connector  Power steering  Rear-view mirror  Sun visor

Portal  Category

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Two-way radio

Amateur and hobbyist

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Aviation (aeronautical mobile)

Air traffic control  Aircraft emergency frequency  Airband  Mandatory frequency airport  Single Frequency Approach  UNICOM

Land-based commercial and government mobile

Business band  Base station  Mobile radio  Professional Mobile Radio  Radio repeater  Specialized Mobile Radio  Trunked radio system  Walkie Talkie

Marine (shipboard)

2182 kHz  500 kHz  Coast radio station  Marine VHF radio  Maritime mobile amateur radio

Signaling / Selective calling

CTCSS  Dual-tone multi-frequency  D-STAR  MDC-1200  Push to talk  Quik Call I  Quik Call II  Selcall

System elements and principles

Antenna  Audio level compression  Automatic vehicle location  APRS  Call sign  CAD  DC remote  Dispatch  Fade margin  Link budget  Rayleigh fading  Tone remote  Voice procedure  Voting (diversity combining)

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Bus rapid transit

Sub-articles

Implementation by country  List of existing systems or under construction

Vehicles

Articulated bus  Bi-articulated bus  Guided Bus  Guided Light Transit  Trolleybus  Wright StreetCar

Systems

Automatic vehicle location  Bus priority  Bus lane  Passenger information system

See also

Light rail  People mover  Rubber-tyred metro  Tram  Translohr

Categories: Automotive accessories | Geolocation | GPS | Radio navigation | Road transport | Satellite navigation systems | Technology systems | Tracking | Ubiquitous computing | Vehicle technology | Wireless locating
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