Ahrma Technology Whitepaper

Transcription

1 Ahrma Technology Whitepaper Ahrma Track & Trace IoT Platform Ahrma Holding BV was founded in Headquarters and the production plant are located in The Netherlands (Deventer). Ahrma is serving clients logistics in the industrial food, beverage, pharmaceutical and retail industries. It s Ahrma s aim to launch a completely new smart returnable asset platform concept on the logistics market. First assets to be made available are pallets. Using an active wireless transponder that is integrated in new innovative hybrid wood/plastic pallets, and together with track & trace software from Ahrma, it will be possible to record not just the position and movement of the pallets, but also their ambient temperature, load state and any possible impact or dropping of the pallets. Key features of this platform are: Low cost transponders Low cost IT infrastructure (gateways and mobile apps) Battery life > 10 years Worldwide operation Long range transmission Compatibility with the existing smart-phone infrastructure Platform for multiple sensors (presence, temperature, motion, weight, ) Data logging when the asset is not in range of a gateway (e.g. during transport) Cloud based dashboard & KPI system Transponder Based on these requirements Ahrma selected a 2.4Ghz technology for it s transponder platform. The basic technology is Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). However, this technology in itself is not good enough for this application: its range is only limited to around 30 meter and also it is not a good solution for high volume implementations (>10k active transponders in a warehouse). To solve this Ahrma did add the following innovations to the standard BLE solution: 1) A best in class RF layout and antenna design which increases the range to 300 meter (open field) and around 80 meter (inside).

2 2) A proprietary protocol layer 1 which avoids radio collisions in big scale implementations The basic transponder contains a wireless radio, a motion sensor as well as a temperature sensor. The transponder transmits (or pings) with a frequency of once per minute when in motion and once per hour when not in motion. This ping time is programmable and the transponders can be programmed over the air. The transponder is mounted in it s own jacket inside the middle block of the pallet The transponders will have a non-volatile buffer memory and will store all recorded data with a time stamp of the measurement if the asset is not in range of a gateway. The same transponder is used (in other enclosures) to support other assets such as IBCs, big-boxes and other returnable packaging assets. Gateway The fixed gateway The Ahrma gateway is a Bluetooth scanning device with three wireless radios inside: Two Bluetooth radio s (one for scanning and one connecting to transponders) both with an internal antenna One Wi-Fi 2.4Ghz radio with an external antenna The gateway can be connected via Ethernet cable to an existing Customer IT infrastructure. It does support Power over Ethernet. It is also possible to configure the gateway to use the Wi-Fi network of the Customer (guest account). The WiFi radio can also be used to link several Ahrma gateways into a mesh network so that only one gateway in the network needs an external Internet link; the others are than just access-points. 1 BlueRobin 2017 Ahrma and/or its a affiliates. All rights reserved Subject to changes August 2017

3 Gateway App Next to the fixed Gateway Ahrma also did develop a software version of the Gateway. This Gateway is an App running on an ios or Android smart-phone or tablet. The App uses the Bluetooth of this smart-phone to scan the surrounding area for assets. This App can be used to track Ahrma assets on the move so during transportation inside truck trailers or cargo trains. On the screen a list is shown of all assets: The App normally runs in the background and is transmitting event information including GPS coordinates (captured from the phone) into the Ahrma Cloud. This App can also be ported to existing Fleet Management Systems such as the TomTom WEBFLEET platform and other Android based systems. Cloud Service The transponder infrastructure is transmitting data to a Microsoft Azure based cloud service. Ahrma did develop a full asset management dashboard inside this cloud, which will be used internally for managing the Ahrma asset pools, but will also be disclosed towards customers in order for them to manage and operate their own assets. A rich API is also available in order to link the Ahrma data to ERP systems of it s customers. Blockchain The Ahrma cloud is also interfacing to a Blockchain based eco-system for enhanced trust and for provenance administration of products in the logistics chain. Several PoCs are under way and with major partners.

4 Figure 1. Detailed map with Ahrma asset locations Figure 2. Overall KPI dashboard

5 Figure 3. Overview of a single asset Figure 4. Measurement history from a single asset

6 Mobile Applications Ahrma is also making available Asset Scanner Apps for smart-phones and tablets. Via these Apps a single asset can be identified by scanning it s barcode or by a BLE scan, and it then collects the corresponding data from the cloud: temperature history, shock history, battery status, etc. The same App can be used to report an asset as Damaged or In need of cleaning. See below some screenshots. Opening screen Scanning 2D code Fetching data from the cloud