Australian wireless and communications company Telepathx has added a solution for monitoring automobiles to its growing portfolio of RFID-enabled systems. The Enterprise Call Box (ECB) can send an alert if a car’s airbag inflates or the vehicle rolls over, thereby helping transportation departments, emergency responders and others track road conditions and automobile accidents.
Telepathx already manufactures several RFID-enabled products used to help monitor emergency events. Its Automated Crash Notification (ACN) system, for example, includes an active 433 MHz RFID tag with a mechanical vibration sensor. The tag is designed to be attached to utility poles, guardrails, signs and other fixed roadside objects. If a car crashes into a tagged roadside object, the vibration sensor activates the tag, which uses a proprietary air-interface protocol to transmit its ID number to a Pinpoint Remote Transmission Unit (RTU) located on a utility pole.
The RTU identifies the tag’s ID, assembles a message (including the time and location of the crash) and instantly relays that information over the Telepathx Urban Mesh Network to an operation center, which routes the data to emergency response teams (see Crash Course). The Telepathx Urban Mesh Network, a monitoring platform developed for communities and essential service providers, operates over the Telstra mobile network.
To help combat fires common in the Australian bush, Telepathx also offers its VRF sensor, which includes a similar 433 MHZ active RFID tag, combined with a thermal sensor. When the sensor discerns temperatures within 2 degrees of a predetermined setting, it activates the RFID tag, communicating its unique ID number to an RTU. The system cross-checks the tag’s ID number against those stored in the RTU’s memory, then sends a message to a contact person’s cell phone via the Telepathx network (see Fighting Fires With RFID and Wireless Sensors).
The newest addition, the ECB, is designed to retrofit into existing roadside emergency telephones, according to James Eades, the company’s CEO and founder. The ECB is similar to the Pinpoint RTU and includes a 433 MHz RFID interrogator, a microprocessor, a GPS receiver and a modem using either GSM, satellite or CDMA 3G wireless communications. Like the Pinpoint RTU, the ECB is designed to monitor ACN RFID tag/sensors affixed to utility poles, guardrails and other roadside objects.
Telepathx is in talks with automotive dealers to have them fit their vehicles with accident-detecting RFID tags and sensors that would work in conjunction with the ECB. One such product is a wireless sensor that would detect the activation of an airbag, then transmit the make and model of the vehicle using the same proprietary air-interface protocol employed by Telepathx’s 433 MHz active tags.
One difference, however, is that to protect consumer privacy, Telepathx is not encoding a unique ID number to each sensor, Eades explains—just the car’s make and model. That data would be received by the ECB, which would use a wireless communications link to instantaneously forward the sensor’s data and the ECB’s own location data to a dispatcher in an operation center. From there, the information would be routed to an emergency response team.
In addition, Telepathx is considering developing a second tag with a motion-sensing sensor, which could transmit its unique ID number if a car rolled over, identifying the exact vehicle involved in an accident. According to Telepathx, the system could provide a much more affordable alternative to such systems as General Motors’ OnStar vehicle security, communications and diagnostics system.
“OnStar is offered as a new car upgrade.” Eades explains. “There is a monthly service fee that you need to pay, depending on what service you want, in addition to the equipment cost, and it can only be used on certain autos. It is a great service and has many benefits. This system is not a competitor to OnStar; however, it would be considered a very stripped-down and affordable version of it for the masses that could be installed on any auto, new or used, without any monthly fees. Our system will not offer auto diagnostics, two-way communication or tickets to the opera. It will, however, tell us exactly where, when and what type of auto has been involved in an incident.”
The ECB is expected to be commercially available within two to three months, at a cost of US$399. Telepathx has tested the ECB in the lab, and has also done some testing roadside, in conjunction with tests performed on its ACN product.
Eades says the ECB will be marketed to government transportation departments, as well as road network operators. Telepathx has approached automakers, he notes, adding, “they generally support the idea. However, we are holding off on official talks until we see our [ACN] networks expand.”