Telematics for construction and agricultural machines: What does this include and how can it be made future-proof?

As we all know, anyone who equips construction vehicles, agricultural and forestry machinery or mobile municipal vehicles with telematics cannot afford to make mistakes – especially when it comes to safety or functions. Technology and information streams must be consistent but also allow a high degree of design freedom and future viability – from data collection in the vehicle and device management to data management. Ideally, the solution should allow quick commissioning and be easily scalable so that the growing management outlay does not cancel out the benefits of the new business models. Here are a few tips which off-highway players should bear in mind when choosing a telematics solution for off-highway applications.

Managing data and devices

When it comes to telematics, many people will first think of brightly colored dashboards with all kinds of charts and visualizations showing important vehicle and operating data for fleet management and performance-based billing. Service staff, too, need the graphical displays. After all, they allow them to monitor the status of critical components, analyze errors and provide remote support. The associated tasks – from analyses and visualization to data exchange with other IT and cloud systems – come under the heading of data management. But there is another side to the telematics coin. One which works “under the bonnet” and is every bit as critical when it comes to success: connectivity and device management. This forms the basis for everything. And it decides how efficient and future-proof the overall solution will be.

Openness and efficiency play a crucial role in success

A telematics solution can only be efficient and allow sensible scaling if it takes into account the entire life cycle of the connectivity hardware – from preparation and commissioning to the operating phase and disposal. The device management system must provide optimum support for each individual phase. During operation, the device monitoring system also helps to keep track of large fleets, while mass management functions and tools for software and firmware updates minimize the administrative outlay. Other “must haves” include remote configuration and diagnostics as well as interfaces (APIs) for data exchange.

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Make or buy?

In light of the range of functions required for reliable, safe and efficient operation, only a few off-highway manufacturers can realistically develop such a telematics solution themselves. Also a conglomerate made up of generic IoT modules is unlikely to succeed. After all, the telematics solution must allow administrators and service technicians to carry out a wide range of remote diagnostics procedures, parametrize domain controllers and other devices, transfer firmware and software updates over the air (FOTA / SOTA) or roll out new applications. Without the necessary domain knowledge in the areas of electronics and hydraulics, this is virtually impossible.

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Telematics without the risk of a lock-in

When selecting connectivity hardware, it is essential to avoid a technological lock-in owing to a proprietary telematics control unit (TCU). If the key hardware unit for collecting and transmitting vehicle data is “welded” to the operating system and applications, improved functional software cannot be migrated to new hardware easily later on. But this is necessary once or twice over the life of a vehicle so that the software would then have to be reprogrammed each time.

If a technological lock-in is to be avoided, it is important to take into account modularity, standards and sector expertise when choosing a TCU. A processor-based unit with Linux as the open source operating system and a layer for device and application software running on it also has the advantage that it allows not only ready-made standard apps but also developers’ own software modules to be integrated and thus protects their know-how.