GPS technology: Logistics, Agriculture, and Security Industries Reap Benefits

GPS technology can be a valuable aid to such business sectors as logistics, agriculture, and security. Using these trackers companies can improve the efficiency of many operations and spend resources wisely.

GPS technology

Logistics, agriculture, and security are the spheres that benefited the most from the introduction of GPS technologies. Why so, and what preceded it? Let’s consider several examples.

One of the first industrial GPS trackers, which was manufactured in the early 2000s and sold in Kyiv, was the size of an ABC book. If I’m not mistaken, it cost about $ 600 and was mounted on a truck. It sounds unbelievable, but its functionality was limited to one function – determining its location by sending it via CSD (Circuit Switched Data) or SMS.

If we compared it to aviation, the device was similar to the Kudashev-1 aircraft, which made the first flight at the Syretsky Hippodrome in Kyiv in 1910. Since then GPS trackers evolved enormously: they have become much smaller, much more accurate, and reliable. GPS trackers are extensively used in logistics, agriculture, and security. How? This essay explains this by examples.

GPS Trackers for Logistics

GPS trackers can be used for route optimization in logistics. Alternatively, combined with temperature and fuel sensors they can provide ubiquitous information about resource consumptions.

Smart Consumption of Resources

The installation of trackers on trucks has become systemic. Not only fuel sensors but also temperature sensors are connected to the trackers. A significant step was to connect the tracker to the on-board computer via CAN-bus. This provided additional information such as engine speed, refueling, fuel consumption, and system errors. At present, there are attempts to automate the process of fuel accounting using fuel sensors. Unfortunately, so far there are successful cases only the mileage accounting on the GPS without an account of fuel consumption. To do this, it is necessary to integrate GPS-systems with accounting systems, such as 1C.

However, if you compare the accuracy of the odometer (speedometer) with GPS data, provided that the car rides more or less on a flat surface, it is almost the same. This is around 5%, in my experience. Usually, the height value (Z-parameter) is not taken into account when calculating the distance, because the vertical error is much higher than the horizontal. If the car drives on mountainous terrain more than 80% of the time, then, as a rule, to multiply the mileage of GPS by the coefficient, namely 1.1.

GPS Trackers for Routes Optimization

So far, we’ve talked about account costs, and now let’s move on to planning. For courier delivery services it is much more important to plan the route optimally for a day. In mathematics, such planning is called the Travelling Salesman Problem.

How can GPS trackers assist in solving this problem?

If you optimize the route, you can save up to 10% of the time and reduce costs accordingly. What does the tracker need in this case? First, they compare the time of visiting checkpoints (geo zones), monitor the work of drivers online, and adjust their routes as needed. Secondly, the tracker can be not only a separate device but could also be installed on Android devices. Accordingly, the driver who uses the sensor can receive additional points for delivery ‘on the fly’ and, if necessary, adjust the route.

GPS Trackers for Agriculture

Agricultural applications of GPS trackers turned out to be enormous.

Agriculture Machinery Tracking

For instance, a heavy tractor can consume up to 1 ton of fuel per day (working around the clock). Accordingly, control of fuel consumption was a priority. Trackers sold in the thousands because the cost of the tracker compared to the cost of fuel saved was a penny.

In the future, the information from the GPS trackers starts to be used in production for automatic verification of work, to compare plans with actual results. When the trackers started working almost flawlessly, agronomists also started online monitoring speed modes and ‘downtime’ agricultural machinery. It helped not only to save costs but also significantly increases profits (EBITDA – Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization).

Next, they began to control the working hours of machine operators using RFID-cards, the depth of the soil plowing and filling of the hopper of the combine by ultrasonic sensors, and eventually implemented a system of own-unfamiliar to control the transportation of crops.

Precision Farming Systems with GPS

At the same time, precision farming systems were developed as well. The simplest of them is an autopilot, which directs the movement of the tractor on a given trajectory (parallel to the guideline). The result is a reduction in overlaps and gaps, respectively, increasing the efficiency of agricultural production. More complex devices can disable sections on the units. It is also called differential application (mineral fertilizers and seed). But for this to work, you need to develop the right task maps.

Not to mention that the accuracy of this method reaches from 2 to 5 cm and depends on the type of signal correction. RTK ground stations transmit it over a GPRS signal (which does not cover all fields), and the route used previously, can be used one more time, which is a great advantage of the method. The advantage of satellite data is that their signal transmission (a correct location) does not depend on ground stations. In both cases, you have to pay for a high-quality signal.

Drones in Agriculture

And last, but not least I would like to mention drones. I bet you couldn’t imagine modern life without them. They also navigate in space thanks to the GPS signal. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the most profitable service provided by drones is field measurement. Drones also can check the condition of crops. Besides, due to special programs that use artificial intelligence (AI), agronomists can detect plant diseases and pests timely.

Some drones can also work as sprayers, applying chemical solutions to the field. However, drones have such limitations as short flight time, dependence on weather conditions, and significant information processing time on servers. In addition, in order to operate a drone, you need to undergo a certain training.

GPS Trackers for the Security Business Sector

GPS trackers are a valuable asset which helps to track stolen objects.

Asset Tracking: Finding Stolen Objects

In parallel with the GPS trackers, which connect to the regular power supply of vehicles, a line of autonomous trackers, the so-called ‘beetles’ was developed. There are even models that are called Cicada. The tracker spends most of the time in the sleep mode and communicates on schedule. It determines its location when needed, transmits it, and ‘falls asleep’ again. No grabber can find it!

In addition to the coordinates, the tracker can also transmit the base station number. This feature is especially useful when the stolen car is in the garage, where a satellite signal is absent. The last type of coordinate determination is also called LBS coordinates. According to a similar principle, mobile operators (GSM) determine the location of phones. The difference is that the phone does not transmit the base station number, because the network already knows which station is currently serving the subscriber. The accuracy of this method, compared to GPS, is not very high (over 500 meters), but it is enough for police to identify robbers if the car was stolen.

Casually, the autonomous operation of trackers, depending on the settings, namely the period of data transmission can be several years. Here we come to the next step, where IoT technology (Internet-of-Things) originates. Of course, it was the demand for energy-saving appliances that gave it an impact on their development.

The Future of IoT

I believe IoT devices will create another breakthrough in society. They will be everywhere. Those that are autonomous will control air pollution, river levels (to prevent floods), soil moisture (for automatic irrigation), and much more. Those devices that run on power will make cities smarter, namely: smart lighting, smart parking, garbage collection control, and so on.

Of course, each of the IoT technologies will take its place. LoRaWAN will be more common in rural areas and NB-IoT in urban areas. Also, there are hybrid solutions for recharging the battery. There are also IoT trackers that can determine your location by BLE-tags (Bluetooth Low Energy). If it is in a hospital, then each room should have its BLE-tags, which are read by the tracker. The number of BLE-tag determines the number of the room. It is very convenient for the medical staff. Additionally, the tracker can work as an SOS button. In this case, it is really convenient for patients.

New location methods will appear together with the development of technology. It is difficult to predict in what other areas they will be indispensable. The demand for the trackers is inevitable and will continue growing.

Mykola Pylypenko