Apart from offering solutions to connected homes and industry, the IoT Suite will have several advantages for connected mobility.
16 Mar 2016 | 5405 Views | By Autocar Professional Bureau
Bosch has launched its own cloud for its services on the Internet of Things (IoT) at a computing centre of its own in Germany.
These IoT applications are created using the Bosch IoT Suite, which offers several functions to connect devices, users and companies. More than five million devices ...
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Bosch has launched its own cloud for its services on the Internet of Things (IoT) at a computing centre of its own in Germany.
These IoT applications are created using the Bosch IoT Suite, which offers several functions to connect devices, users and companies. More than five million devices and machines are currently connected via the IoT Suite. Apart from offering solutions to connected homes and industry, the IoT Suite will have several advantages for connected mobility.
Sensors detect available park-and-ride spaces
Where is the nearest free parking space? A new Bosch system offers an answer to this usually urgent question. Sensors fitted in 15 park-and-ride facilities along Stuttgart’s S2 and S3 commuter train lines can detect whether parking spaces are available or occupied.
This data is sent over the web to the Bosch IoT Cloud and fed into an up-to-the-minute map of available parking spaces. This information will be made available through an app and the website of the VVS, Stuttgart’s transportation authority. The system’s main benefit is that it saves people time. If drivers know they can find a free park-and-ride space, they will be more willing to use public transportation, which in turn will reduce traffic jams. The smallest parking area in this pilot project offers 49 spaces, the largest over 520 spaces. Installation of the sensors will begin in 2016 and the project will run through June 2018.
Apart from sensors, the German automotive technology major is also working on a pilot project in collaboration with Daimler and car2go for automated parking. The project, started in June last year, does not require the driver to find parking space. The smartphone is used to book a vehicle via car2go. As soon as the user is ready in the pick-up-zone of the car park, the car drives up independently and the ride can begin. Returning the car is just as comfortable. The customer parks it in the drop-zone of the car park and returns the car via their smartphone. The intelligent system of the car park registers the vehicle, starts it and is directed to an assigned parking space.
Parking spaces for tired truckers
Rest areas for truckers along highways are often hopelessly overfilled. This is especially true at night, which is also when the risk of theft increases. Bosch offers logistics companies, fleet operators, and independent truckers a book-and-park service called ‘Secure Truck Parking’. This provides secure parking spaces that truck drivers can book in advance. Whenever they are looking to park, their truck sends its location data and a parking request to the system. The system then finds a nearby parking space and sends the details directly to the truck’s navigation system. Booking and billing are automatic and cashless. This system will be running in the Bosch IoT Cloud starting in mid-2016.
Rebates for careful drivers
A large German insurer is giving drivers who are careful and responsible a rebate on their insurance premium. Bosch’s Automotive Aftermarket division offers the technology to enable this, in the form of its connectivity control unit (CCU). Once installed in the vehicle, the CCU connects to the car’s OBD interface to gather data on acceleration, maximum speed, and cornering speeds. The CCU encrypts this information and sends it to a computer system via the cellular network using its built-in SIM card. The insurer can generate driver profiles based on this information and offer particularly careful drivers a rebate.