Location Based Systems

Rudolf Mietzner looks at how machine-to-machine technologies and applications will affect the automotive sector in the coming years

Efkon Asia, the Kuala Lumpur-based subsidiary of Efkon AG, Austria, has received an additional order for 250,000 mult-lane free flow On Board Units (two piece OBU with integrated contactless Mifare Smart Card) based on high speed bi-directional active ISO CALM compatible Infrared.

Sheldon Drobot, Michael Chapman and Amanda Anderson, NCAR, and Paul Pisano, FHWA, detail latest results of testing of a vehicle data translator for road weather monitoring and information applications. The use of vehicle sensor data to improve weather and road condition products, envisioned as part of the US Department of Transportation Research and Innovative Technology Administration's (RITA's) IntelliDriveSM initiative, could revolutionise the provision of road weather information to transportation syste

Paul Laurenza of Dykema Gossett PLLC discusses the paths which lawmakers may go down on the route to making in-vehicle systems and cooperative infrastructures a reality. The question of whether or not to mandate in-vehicle systems for safety and other applications is a vexed one. There is a presumption on some parts that going down the road of forcing systems' fitment is somehow too domineering or restricting. Others would argue that it is the only realistic way of ensuring that systems achieve widespread d

Intermap Technologies has announced a collaboration with Hella KGaA Hueck & Company on a predictive front lighting system.

VeriLocation, a telematics company which currently tracks more than 10,000 devices and vehicles across the UK, Europe and the Middle East, has launched a new smaller trailer tracking device with a three-year battery life. The revised VL-Trailer uses GPS satellite tracking to fix its location anywhere in the world, and reports it once a day using mobile phone networks to send data.

Iridium Communications has unveiled its next-generation Iridium 9602 satellite data transceiver, a fullduplex Short-Burst Data (SBD) transceiver designed for embedded applications in remote asset tracking and monitoring applications. The product, which is the culmination of a two-year R&D programme, has completed prototype testing, and Iridium expects to begin commercial deliveries in June.

Masternaut has launched a new custom iPhone and Android app solution for clients using its mobile solutions and vehicle tracking. It allows them to launch their own app and make it available to their customers on the Apple app store or Android market. The apps can be fully customised - including colours, corporate identity and content. Users of Masternaut's solutions can choose exactly what to include in their app (from a range of available modules), with the aim of providing useful information for end user