Axeda, Walsh Vision Partner on Cloud Integration for Auto Telematics 
Cloud platform provider Axeda Corp. and systems integrator Walsh Vision have teamed up on a cloud integration solution to support advanced machine-to-machine (M2M) telematics for the auto market.
Cloud platform provider Axeda Corp. and systems integrator Walsh Vision have teamed up on a cloud integration solution to support advanced machine-to-machine (M2M) telematics for the auto market.
The collaboration aims to provide enterprises a flexible cloud platform they can use to layer critical apps on top of the real-time data coming from vehicles.
Applications would include: disabling text messaging to promote safer driving, optimizing routes for better fuel savings and improving vehicle management to cut maintenance costs. These applications will be able to be launched in weeks, not months or longer, according to Dennis Lottero, Walsh Vision’s vice president of M2M and Wireless Solutions.
The joint cloud/telematics solution combines an on-board diagnostic system (OBDII) data device with Axeda’s cloud platform. The device is connected through a vehicle’s on-board diagnostics port and collects data on speeds, idling time, locations, distances traveled, and sends this data over a cellular network to the Axeda platform.
The Axeda platform provides a secure and scalable cloud-based environment enterprise IT can use to build and deploy M2M applications for connected products, and currently supports 500,000 devices using wired and wireless connections.
“When you are talking about basic monitoring of a 10-vehicle fleet, you might be able to get away with a simple telematics point solution,” Lottero said in his statement. But this solution is aimed at more scalable needs, such as a 100-vehicle service fleet, or the ability to monitor data from the driving activity of 10,000 auto insurance policyholders. Scalability, security, and back-end integration capabilities are critical, Lottero added.
In the auto insurance example, Axeda and Walsh Vision are combining cloud and telematics to track the driving behavior of individual policyholders. This information will be used to calculate a “driver score,” which dictates policy terms and discounts. This, in turn, allows insurance companies to offer their customers value-added services. In enterprise fleet management, GPS tracking, email alerts, geofencing, ignition sensors, and other services will enable companies to better control these mobile assets, improve dispatch efficiencies and decrease vehicle idle times.
The platform stores all the data required for each device, which allows applications and rules to rely on a connection to the platform for the information they need to connect and complete a transmission.
Inside Axeda’s Cloud Integration for M2M
The Axeda platform has an open architecture built on standards-based technology and includes built-in Web Services for two-way communications with other enterprise systems, such as ERP, CRM, and billing systems. A rich set of web services allows access to the core Axeda platform data and functionality and provides authentication, authorization, and transport security via HTTPS.
Enterprise systems and applications located in the cloud or behind an IT firewall can be integrated into the Axeda platform. The platform has three ways of handling integration, depending on the location and needs of the application:
- An application can call the platform’s web services to create or synchronize information. For example, an external system may populate the customer and site information of an asset when it is installed. Many enterprise applications support workflows that call web services.
- The Axeda platform can use scripts to call the web services of another application, such as another cloud application. Groovy scripts can call a REST-based service or import WSDL and call a SOAP-based service. Scripts can also transfer files.
- When an enterprise application is behind a firewall, it cannot be called directly from the cloud, so the Axeda platform includes a message queue that allows enterprise applications to connect to the queue and receive events using a firewall-friendly outbound connection. Applications can subscribe to events for specific assets, or expression rules can be used to put information into the queue based on their logic.
Further up the stack, Axeda also provides a simple way to define a data model for M2M applications, and supports logic rules and workflows. For example, expression rules allow companies to express business rules in a simple form, with the ability to extend the rules, as needed. Threshold rules are managed on the platform and downloaded to devices to manage communication with the platform. Geofences provide a simple way to define and use location data.
For design, Axeda includes a Groovy Java development environment and runtime to extend built-in functions or define a tailored web services interface. During operations, Axeda also allows users to configure and administer applications via a simple browser-based interface or web services. This approach allows Axeda to support rich internet application (RIA) clients, as well as integration with legacy on-premise enterprise applications.
In addition to the mapping between a device and an asset, the Axeda platform and data model allow one asset (which we call a gateway) to report data for a set of connected assets. The platform asset can also be extended to include other properties. A typical use of this feature is to include identifying information with each asset, such as an inventory number.
At least one analyst firm sees that bringing cloud integration to telematics and M2M will be a driver of innovation in the space. Innovations in cloud-based telematics solutions will lead to better data management, improved process efficiencies, as well as offer more value to consumers and commercial businesses, according to Gartner’s Thilo Koslowski, vice president and distinguished analyst. “Vehicle telematics continues to mature and represent one of the key segments in the M2M market,” he said in a statement.
