India bus trial for tracker
Jan 15 2009 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal
A VEHICLE-tracking device designed by a North East scientist is to be trialled on buses in India as part of a £17m government transport project.
Late last year, North East inventor Dr Phillip Tann and Neil Herron – a well-known regional campaigner for motorists hit by parking and speeding fines – launched a business on the back of Dr Tann’s groundbreaking vehicle-tracking system.
The company announced in December that it had signed a deal with India’s SLN Technologies to market the product throughout India, and now the arrangement looks to be bearing fruit for the firm.
The device, developed by South Tyneside-based FleetM8, will be trialled by the State Government of Karnataka to track buses in the city of Mysore.
If the trial on 10 buses is successful, FleetM8 will see its device used on 250 buses in a deal worth around £17m to the company and its SLN partners.
The FleetM8 system can be used to track the location of any vehicle and also its historic location, which enables fleet operators to view performance and make decisions in real time.
As well as tracking location, the technology allows users to record speed, fuel efficiency and driver behaviour and is supported by a system which can send alerts to mobile phones and in the event of theft.
Its creators claim it can track vehicles to the nearest metre worldwide at a fraction of the cost of anything else available on the market.
Mr Herron said he expected the potential deal in India to act as a stepping stone to the global expansion of the new technology.
“This is the first real major step towards the globalisation of a South Tyneside business at a time when everyone else is shedding jobs we are looking to expand the company into worldwide markets.
He also said the company is planning to adapt the technology to a range of other uses.
It is currently working on a device which parents can use to track their children and is also considering developing a device to track animals for use in the agriculture sector and for race horse trainers.
Dr Tann’s invention first gained national recognition in 2007 when he used the device to avoid a speeding ticket.
Northumbria Police claimed he was doing 42mph in a 30mph zone, however, Dr Tann’s vehicle was fitted with a prototype GPS tracking device which proved otherwise.
The inventor believes the trial in India will help showcase the technology to other markets.
He said: “The tracking technology itself has a myriad of uses and we are working on the next phase of technical developments which will assist in the development of intelligent road networks and fleet management systems as well as benefits for individual motorists such as speed and breakdown alerts.”
SLN Technologies managing director M. Anil Kumar arrived in the North East this week to finalise the specifications for the Mysore bus project while Dr Tann and fellow director Byron Longstaff will head to Mysore next month to oversee the project.
This is the first real major step towards the globalisation of a South Tyneside business
