Space technology helps find space
10 August 2009
Today, most of our goods are carried by lorries loaded with giant containers. However, although the modern freight transport business is highly automated, there is often some empty space left on the trucks. Now two German engineers have come up with a great way of using satellite technology to reduce the waste of space.
At the 2008 European Satellite Navigation Competition, backed by ESA’s Technology Transfer Programme, T-Systems/DHL of Germany put up a prize for the best idea on how to use transport capacity better. The winning entry came from German company ubigrate GmbH, with an 'intelligent' system that can constantly monitor how much spare room is available on a lorry.
The Load-Volume Tracking (LoVoTrack) system uses ultrasonic sensors on the ceiling of each container to measure the available empty volume. This information, together with satellite navigation data giving the precise location of the truck, is transmitted via the mobile phone network to a central computer.
In this way, it is possible to keep a check on what is happening with a whole fleet of trucks. Any unused capacity may be quickly filled by last-minute shipping orders. 'It is easy to assign new packages to where volume is available,' said Dr. Mario Neugebauer, one of the inventors of the system. In this way, LoVoTrack will not only result in a better service for customers, but also reduce the costs of trucking companies. Just as important, it will cut pollution by reducing the total amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the trucks. The award-winning idea is now ready to be introduced on the roads of Europe.
