Mar 18, 2020Aeler Technologies reports that it has developed a 20-foot shipping container with intelligence. Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity allows Aeler's C3 container to broadcast its location and condition via a cellular transmission.
The container is built out of composite materials to be lightweight, durable and better insulated, according to the company, with more packing space than traditional steel containers, so that businesses can move more products in a single shipment. It comes with an IoT sensor that allows shippers and logistics providers to view the conditions in and around each container, as well as its location throughout the supply chain. The IoT-based network leveraged by the sensors is provided by operating systems platform company Foundries.io, and the platform is known as FoundriesFactory.
Aeler Tecnologies, a French company, was formed to revamp a standard shipping container model that has not evolved much in 50 years, according to David Baur, Aeler's CTO. "We offer a lot of advantages that make the container less expensive to operate," he states, based on its relatively lower weight and added durability. The IoT system also enables logistics providers and shippers to improve their own efficiency. The container collects data and transmits it via a cellular connection. The information is captured and managed using Foundries.io's Linux-based software platform, says Trina Watt, the company's CMO.
The global supply chain, Baur explains, is a maze of redundant information. For instance, a shipper often has little view into where goods are located once they leave a warehouse. What's more, receiving parties may lack the information they require about the scheduled arrival of goods so they can properly prepare. Companies often simply visit shipping line websites and refresh the information daily in order to view where a particular container is located. That may end up being how a shipping delay is discovered.
"With our container," Baur says, "the shipper could view the last known position of the container." With that information, the company would be able to forecast when it would be unloaded. "This is the case for any cargo. We need to know where things are." The sensor in the container tracks not only its location via GPS, but other data regarding activity around the container. A built-in IoT device consists of temperature, humidity, pressure and light sensors, an accelerometer, GPS functionality and a cellular telecommunications unit, according to Quentin Cabrol, the firm's lead developer.
The door-opening detector ensures that users can view each time a door is opened, then confirm whether or not that access to the container was authorized. If the container was opened without authorization, for instance, a red light would be displayed on the monitor at the container door. With temperature, humidity and shock sensors, the system can alert users if the products loaded within may have been exposed to conditions that could damage them.
Those using the new Aeler shipping container will initially be companies shipping bulk liquids, high-end luxury goods, pharmaceuticals or other sensitive products that would benefit from sensor data collected during transportation. The sensors not only detect environmental conditions, but also can identify if a container is opened, based on the light sensor data, in order to help prevent theft.
The monitor at the door can access the cargo stored within. Users could employ a 13.56 MHz Near Field Communication (NFC) RFID tag, compliant with the ISO 14443 standard, to release the container's locking mechanism. The container unit comes with a built-in NFC reader. If the C3 software, leveraging the Foundries.io platform, recognizes the NFC tag's ID number, it enables the tag holder to open it. That NFC entrance data can be stored in the container's software.
As the container moves throughout the supply chain, the system collects sensor measurements and GPS location data, then forwards that information via a cellular connection. Once the container is out at sea on a vessel, that data collection goes dormant until the ship brings the cargo within range of a cellular connection at a port. In the future, however, Aeler's container technology will be able to leverage a vessel's satellite connection to forward data even when a container is at sea.
Aeler can use the location data for its own purposes, in order to better manage its assets as they are being used by customers and are then made available for other shipments, as well as when they are shipped with cargo, so as to maximize their usage. "We use the analogy of Tesla," Baur says, which produces, collects and analyzes data to improve its own efficiency. As the containers move through customers' supply chains, he says, information is captured so that the company can optimize the supply chain of its own containers.
"What we've done with FoundriesFactory," Watt says, "is to help companies like Aeler have a customized, Linux-based solution" that can be easily deployed. The platform is designed to "make it as easy as possible," she states, "and [is] tailored for IoT and edge devices." That means providing security for the data transmission, as well as offering the ability to easily update the system.
The benefit for Aeler, Cabrol says, is the ability to easily onboard a device with provisioning, authentication and a secure chain of trust. "It's easy," he states. "We have a very smooth integration." That function, Watt adds, "enables you [as an IoT solution provider] to focus on your own differentiations, knowing your platform is set up for you." That makes it faster for companies like Aeler to go to market.
The containers could also track the material loaded inside them via UHF RFID tags on the cargo, which could transmit data to a UHF reader built into each container's sensor unit. "That would provide in-transit inventory management," Quentin says. Such functionality could reduce the risk of containers being shipped before they are full. A container could monitor how much is loaded within it, as well as ensure that goods are delivered to the right warehouse, especially in cases for which multiple shippers are using the same container.
According to Baur, companies are investigating the container's use in the United States with a radiation sensor to identify any radioactivity. Each container will be employed by several companies for pilot programs by the end of the first quarter of this year. Approximately five companies plan to deploy about 60 containers around the world, he says, and the firm expects to have around 200 containers by the end of the year. By 2021, Aeler intends to manufacture thousands, Baur says.
