Sept/Oct 2003

Wireless navigation is moving out of the luxury-car executive toy bracket and into the practical world of business as the mapping and satellite navigation specialists start to target van and truck operators in earnest. Sharon Clancy reports

As drivers, we all know how frustrating it is to be within a mile of a destination, and yet to take another fifteen minutes to get where we're going because we're not familiar with the local one-way system, or an accident has closed the road.

The less well a driver knows a delivery address, the greater the contribution that a navigation system can make to operational efficiency. And the more locations a mobile worker has to visit each day, the greater the potential savings.

Apart from the time saving, there is less wasted mileage - and hence a saving in fuel. And if you link navigation with real-time traffic information, drivers can be re-routed in real time around traffic hotspots, minimising delays. One word of warning, however: with most navigation systems, the mapping information is not specific to vans and trucks, so it may not "know" about height and weight restrictions.

 

As you might expect, on-board navigation systems are already firmly established in the parcels delivery and courier business. The less time drivers spend finding collection or delivery addresses, the more jobs they can complete, and the more money they can earn for the company.

Courier Exchange, NetDespatch and Wireless Delivered all offer satnav options as part of their on-line job despatch software. Wireless Delivered's solution is particularly clever: drivers don't even have to enter the postcode to bring up route guidance instructions. The postcode is automatically downloaded to their PDA (personal digital assistant) when they accept the job.

Giving your mobile workers navigation assistance need not be expensive, now that the wireless network providers have identified navigation as a service that customers may be prepared to pay for. Navigation can now be delivered to a mobile telephone or PDA on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Independent satnav

How do you identify the most cost-effective navigation solution for your company? The choice may well depend on what other communication links you need with the driver and vehicle. At one time all automated navigation systems were vehicle-based and not dependent on any communications link to the office or the Internet. Siemens remains committed to this approach. "It gives the driver true independence," says commercial director Pail Jennings.

With independent satnav, each vehicle has a separate unit containing GPS modem and gyroscope (to work out location and direction), plus a CD-ROM containing digital map data (to show the information graphically). But with each system costing from £1,000 to £1,500 depending on the specification, this can work out expensive for larger fleets, and there is also the ongoing cost of updating the CD-ROM with the latest map.

However, Siemens VDO reckons it has a solution to this problem in the form of its C-IQ option. This is available on the latest version of its satnav system, the MS5400 Pro (see Product Evaluation, page 24). "The key to cost-effective navigation lies in being able to provide customers with only the data they actually require," Jennings maintains. "C-IQ data can be authorised for use for single days, a month, a whole year, or even for a lifetime."

With C-IQ, users still gets digitised maps on CDs (12 in all covering the UK, Ireland and Europe), but they then pay a time-related licence fee to access them. The CDs are updated annually, and updates are free (except for customers who buy a lifetime licence). The driver simply enters an activation key number into the unit. Prices for the C-IQ service for a single country are typically 89 euros a year, 159 euros for two years, 19.99 euros per month and 2.99 euros per day.

The screen has pull-down menus, and users can find addresses either by postcode or by street name. You can select route preferences such as quickest or shortest, with or without motorway use, along with the scale of the mapping. You can even choose a male or female voice to give you spoken guidance. The optional Traffic Message Channel (TMC) unit costs £200 including fitting.

A cheap and effective route to implementing satellite navigation is to replace the standard DIN radio in the van or truck with one that incorporates satellite navigation. Most of the radio manufacturers offer a satnav option, including Becker and VDO Dayton. Prices start at about £700 - half that of a stand-alone system. There is a pictogram of the route on the LCD display, using basically arrows, but apparently most drivers navigate using the voice instructions.

Embedded satnav

Vehicle manufacturers' telematics packages increasingly include satnav as an option. Ford offers this type of system as part of its Telematics Services offering, and includes a panic button and impact sensor as part of the deal. Operators can lease the hardware over a 12-month contract, and can access vehicle information via a dedicated Internet site or create their own reports using dedicated software.

Iveco offers two versions of the Daily light van and truck range with GPS navigation. There is a model with a Becker DIN radio with inclusive satellite navigation, and a more sophisticated CompuDaily, which features a Compaq PDA. The PDA incorporates a telephone, barcode reader and on-board data collection unit, as well as navigational capability.

The new Vito will be the first Mercedes-Benz van to have the option of the company's latest Command satellite navigation system. Mercedes already offers an earlier version, EN2, in current Sprinters and Vitos and its heavy-truck range, but Command is a more sophisticated multi-functional unit. It includes an on-board journey and driver display with communications, navigation and CD/radio functions. Navigation information can be displayed on a split screen, with one side showing the map and the other turn-by-turn pictures. All the information is displayed on an LCD monitor mounted in the centre console. The RDS/TMC function is integrated, so routes can by updated in real time to take account of actual traffic conditions.

On heavy trucks there seems to be less demand for real-time navigation, perhaps because fleet tracking systems sometimes allow operators to download maps to in-cab computers as and when required. It is appearing more and more an option, however. Volvo is incorporating a navigation tool into Dynafleet; it is available on the new Stralis; and Scania is trialling the Tom Tom navigation package on the latest version of its Compaq-based Fleet Analysis System.

LBS navigation

Maps are quite large data files to send over a wireless network, but GPRS has made it cheaper and faster to do this. Indeed, the advent of GPRS-enabled mobile telephones is bringing new popularity to Internet-based navigation systems, where users actually download maps on demand.

This approach tends to be linked with location-based services, where functionality is delivered to mobile units according to where they are at the time (see News on page 8). That is not an essential prerequisite, but LBS specialist Webraska for one is keen to make the connection. "Faster communications links and more powerful mobile handsets make LBS navigation more user-friendly," says Jonathan Klinger, vice-president of marketing.

Klinger says three key developments have made navigation by mobile phone feasible - handset development, "cell ID" and the roll-out of GPRS and 3G networks. Cell ID refers to the ability of mobile phone network operators to track the location of users simply by monitoring which "cell" they are in at any given time.

"Three years ago, mobile phones and PDAs were limited to SMS and WAP. If you wanted to run client-side applications you had to have a dedicated mobile computer because mainstream handhelds didn't have the computing power and graphics to run then. Today's generation of handhelds have a lot more capability."

In the past year the networks have also started to exploit the inherent tracking and navigation capabilities of cell ID technology. Cell ID is still accurate only to between 75 and 100 metres, although the network providers are trying to improve that. "Next year, phones that include GPS in the handset will start appearing in Europe," predicts Webraska's Klinger. "Qualcomm's Snap Track combines cell ID and GPS positioning in a single chip set, and is already available in Asia and the US."

Colin Bates, chief technology officer of Mobile Commerce, agrees that LBS accuracy is on the increase. "For guidance systems, absolute positioning accuracy is essential, so GPS still beats location-based services hands down today."

However, mobile phone operators are now beginning to try out A-GPS (assisted GPS) enhancements to their LBS systems, and Webraska's Jonathan Klinger maintains that this will increase the accuracy of LBS to the point where LBS navigation offers much lower costs per employee, points out Klinger. "A typical price is £10 per month. It is quick to roll out and does not require huge investment in back office systems."

Webraska's SmartZone Navigation for PDA is an off-board, GPS-enabled real-time navigation application for Pocket PC platforms. It gives turn-by-turn voice instructions and a digital map on the handheld screen. The Internet-based Distributed Navigation server collates the geographical and traffic data, and then "squirts" the package to the handset via a remote terminal within seconds. GPS and voice-enabled driving directions are initiated as soon as the download starts, and the connection is dropped once data transfer is completed.

Map data provider Navigation Technologies has teamed up with Telmap to offer a phone-based LBS-based navigation application called Polaris. "Navigation is the one LBS service with a predicted steady growth market," says Andrew Little, Navigation Technologies' Marketing Director. "Navigation software has had an extremely positive effect on European PDA sales, and bringing it to the mass market through mobile phones is a logical progression."

Telmap's core technology compresses and transfers the data at high speed via GPRS, and as with Webraska's Smartzone application, there is no need to maintain a connection during navigation sessions. Phone-based navigation systems tend to include additional information such as petrol stations and restaurants.

"The beauty of Polaris is that anyone with a Java-enabled cellular phone can have a navigation system at their fingertips," says Telmap chief executive Oren Nissim. Polaris is based on Telmap's Andromeda platform, a client-server system that provides robust mapping, searching, route planning and instructions.

Traffic information systems

Combining satellite navigation with real-time traffic information helps traffic managers and drivers regain control of delivery schedules disrupted by unforeseen events such as road traffic accidents.

Two companies provide real-time traffic data in the UK - ITIS Holdings and Trafficmaster. The major difference between the two is that ITIS has the UK licence to broadcast traffic information on the RDS/TMC channel, while Trafficmaster relies on subscribers and partnerships with mobile communications networks to deliver its information.

ITIS compiles traffic data from a variety of sources, including police and traffic control centres and the Highways Agency, and also monitors real-time vehicle movements using "floating vehicle data" (information gathered from large fleets as they travel around).

Trafficmaster derives its data from infra-red sensors on motorway and main road bridges, and from the familiar blue-pole roadside cameras on trunk roads.

Both data sources figure in on-board navigation systems, and ITIS data is also available for use in the office in conjunction with map datasets such as NavTech's. One of the main suppliers is Kingswood MapMechanics.

In a typical navigation application ITIS data is decoded by on-board equipment, allowing drivers to see exactly where current congestion problems are on the map, and ask to be re-routed round them.

Trafficmaster's Smartnav combines traffic information and satellite navigation functions. Drivers interact with it directly over a standard mobile phone network, talking to a live person at the Trafficmaster call centre. The route is then calculated and transmitted back to the cab. A single Trafficmaster Smartnav system costs £499 plus fitting, and in addition there's an annual subscription charge of £120, or £350 for four years.

On the road with Scania

A number of telematics and tracking systems suppliers offer the TomTom navigation system for handhelds, either integrated with their own software or as a stand-alone product. Among them is Scania, which has just upgraded its FAS in-cab package, adopting a more powerful Compaq iPaq PDA in place of the Casio PDA previously used.

m.logistics took a 40-tonne Scania artic out for a spin with TomTom navigation software installed, and found it quite impressive. The TomTom screen shows the route on a simplified map, along with the estimated time to arrival and the distance to go. It works in the background as well, so drivers can display trip information and still receive route guidance by voice. The screen also displays the distance to the next junction. So there is some indication of how far you have to go before the next manoeuvre.

The equipment did reveal one drawback, although this is common to many satnav mapping systems, not exclusive to this one: the instructions tend to be applicable to all road users, not specific to heavy trucks. So, for example, when we deliberately took a wrong turning, the system tried to navigate us back on course at the first opportunity. On our route, it was not possible for the 40-tonne artic to make the first two turns because of lack of turning space.

However, TomTom persists in trying to keep you on track, and after four attempts to turn you back, asks if you want to be re-routed from your current position. You can't really complain about that.