Finnish company Emergence Oy has developed a revolutionary location device – taival, capable of working ten years without charging or maintenance. The energy-self-sufficient and maintenance-free device is mounted onto the machine or device to be monitored, from which it transmits its location data around 20 times a day.
The small device is best suited for monitoring machines, devices and goods that are transferred from location to location, as the device requires no electricity access of its own. It is suitable for use with, among others, ground transport, shipping, and workshop containers, cranes and other rental machines, as well as trailers and vessels for collecting hazardous waste.
“Cities, towns, companies and other organizations can have vast working areas full of equipment; occasionally tracking down the locations of specific pieces of equipment can cause a lot of extra work and cost. Our energy-self-sufficient and maintenance-free devices bring considerable time and cost savings. With a monthly fee well below 10 euros, the customer receives the location device, cloud service, and a global mobile data connectivity,” explains Emergence’s CEO Vesa Aaltonen.
Independent updates and communication with the cloud
Emergence’s location device was born out of a customer need discovered via client interviews, and through prototypes and piloting.
“The problem with using other GPS devices across mobile networks is that their batteries only last anywhere between a few weeks to a couple of months. Additionally, without location devices location data must be manually updated in the device control systems, whereas the taival location device works on the mobile networks independently and communicates directly with the cloud,” describes Aaltonen.
Seamark monitoring for maritime safety
Additionally, the company has a location pilot program under way for maritime navigation via seamarks, in cooperation with the Finnish Transport Agency, with the goal of improving nautical safety. The location data from this project would reveal when seamarks have been dislocated due to ice or other reasons.
Previously, seamarks were inspected by sailing through 8 000 kilometres of waterways in the spring and getting observations from boaters. Automation makes the monitoring of seamarks more reliable, faster, easier and cheaper.
Text: Eila Lokka
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Emergence Oy currently employs ten persons and offers global location services. The company started its activities in Europe, and aims to be a global actor in 2018; each year Emergence Oy delivers tens of thousands of monitoring devices to the market.
