GPS Based Vehicle Positioning/Tracking System For a Medical Respiratory Gas Provider Company USA 2101 Highway 516, Suite F Old Bridge, NJ 08857 Tel: 732-588-5959 732-952-5395 Australia Tel: +61-2-8015-5723 India 306, Silver Sanchora Castle R.N.T Marg Indore - (M.P) 452001 Tel: +91-731-4025351 VOIP: 732-734-4774 732-654-9056 www.mobilepundits.com Copyright, Mobile Pundits. All rights reserved
Client: An east coast, US Based product Company catering to the Healthcare Industry. Project Objective: The client needed fingertip access to the trucks carrying gas tanks, used for delivery of the respiratory gases (Like Liquid O 2 ). Various factors, like effective and proper utilization of the available fleet of trucks, were of paramount importance to the day to day operation of the company. The company wanted to develop a custom GPS based Fleet/Vehicle Tracking System in order to enable them to: 1. Save on the recurring cost of using an Off-The-Shelf product for GPS based Vehicle Tracking System. 2. Ensure the optimal usage of trucks (during business hours, appropriate routes etc). 3. Keep a track of the mileage and hours of usage. 4. Track breakdowns, stoppages, idling of the trucks etc. Overview of the Solution Provided: The system designed by us consisted of both hardware and software components. Architecture Overview MOBILEPUNDITS PAGE 2 OF 7
The data transfer from wireless modem to the server was done using Telco infrastructure and could support both GSM and CDMA. The architecture of the solution consists of following major components: - Wireless Modem; - Dedicated Server with Static IP; - Packet Analyzer; - Telco Network. Wireless Modem: The wireless modems were the heart of the system that provided us with real time GPS data based on either TAIP or NMEA Standard. We used BlueTree Wireless Modem 4600 Series with inbuilt GPS Received to send the data either in TAIP or NMEA formats. The frequency was also set for the push from the modem to a static IP (of our dedicated server). These modems could either be programmed/configured using a UI based console or through a terminal program that can execute the AT commands. Various parameters that needed to be pushed in the TAIP/NMEA formatted message packet were configured using terminal program and AT commands. The modems were set to send UDP packets with the data to the server at predefined frequency. UDP protocol was chosen over TCP/IP to ensure that least amount of data overhead was incurred for transmission of data to the server. Dedicated Server with Static IP: The task of a dedicated server was to listen to the incoming UDP packets. A UDP Socket listener would constantly run as a Windows Service and retrieve the incoming UDP data on configurable port number. Packet Analyzer: The UDP Listener on the server had the ability to parse and understand the binary encoded TAIP or NMEA data. Google Maps: Google Maps were integrated with to show the data in real time on a web browser. The maps were also very helpful in visualizing various position based data for reporting purposes. We also implemented Reverse Geo-Fencing on the maps, so that the trucks could be tracked for time-in and time-out if they were in the vicinity of delivery points of interest. MOBILEPUNDITS PAGE 3 OF 7
Benefits Delivered: Real-Time GPS tracking is highly useful when vehicles are located in distributed areas, cities or states, and need to be tracked over the Internet from multiple locations. It is also useful when there is a need for fleet management throughout the day, or when customer service is a business's top priority. With the real-time vehicle tracking web interface, the client could see where the fleet is within minutes and reroute a driver to a new call in the same area saving time, gas, money, and overtime. - Review start-stop time - Speed control - Validation of time spent in driving - Lower fuel expenses - Lower maintenance costs - Monitor time with customer - On-time service - Service validation MOBILEPUNDITS PAGE 4 OF 7
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Technology Used: Windows 2008 Server MS SQL 2005 Standard Edition Google Maps API Integration C#.NET Visual Studio 2005 BlueTree Wireless Modem 4600 Series Glossary of Terms: Trimble ASCII Interface Protocol (TAIP): Trimble-specified digital communication interface based on printable ASCII characters over a serial data link. TAIP was designed specifically for vehicle tracking applications but has become common in a number of other applications because of its ease of use. NMEA (Or NMEA 0183): a combined electrical and data specification for communication between marine electronic devices such as echo sounder, sonars, anemometer (wind speed and direction), gyrocompass, autopilot, GPS receivers and many other types of instruments. It has been defined by, and is controlled by, the U.S.-based National Marine Electronics Association. The NMEA 0183 standard uses a simple ASCII, serial communications protocol that defines how data is transmitted in a "sentence" from one "talker" to one "listener" at a time. MOBILEPUNDITS PAGE 6 OF 7
About Mobile Pundits Mobile Pundits, an IT Consulting and Solutions Company, helps global corporations transform their ideas and strategic vision into reality, by innovative use of Information Technology. Mobile Pundits is a highly process driven organization and our range of services address the end-to-end IT outsourcing needs of our clients. Our services include IT strategy consulting, enterprise integration services, large application development, maintenance & re-engineering services, web solutions, quality consulting and professional services. We have a strong global presence. Our Global Delivery Model leverages our proximity to the client and an India based offshore delivery mechanism to provide IT solutions. This enables us to provide high quality, rapid time-tomarket solutions to the clients in a cost effective way. Our global reach enables us to seamlessly service the multi location, multiple time zones, outsourcing needs of corporations. It gives us the ability to anchor a client engagement from our offshore development centre in India, apart from providing client ssite (on-site) & near-site solutions. Contact Us India 306, Silver Sanchora Castle, RNT Marg, Indore MP 452001, INDIA. Phone: +91 731 4025351 Email: info@mobilepundits.com USA 2101 Highway 516, Suite F Old Bridge, NJ 08857 Tel: 732-588-5959, 732-952-5395 Australia Tel: +61-2-8015-5723 Copyright Mobile Pundits. All rights reserved. This documentation is the property of Mobile Pundits. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission from Mobile Pundits MOBILEPUNDITS PAGE 7 OF 7