Telematics is an interdisciplinary field encompassingtelecommunications, vehicular technologies (road transport,road safety, etc., as part ofIntelligent transportation systems), electrical engineering (sensors, instrumentation,wireless communications, etc.), andcomputer science (multimedia,Internet, etc.). Telematics can involve any of the following:
The termtelematics is a translation of theFrench wordtélématique, which was firstcoined bySimon Nora andAlain Minc in a 1978 report to the French government on thecomputerization of society. It referred to the transfer of information over telecommunications and was aportmanteau blending the French wordstélécommunications ("telecommunications") andinformatique ("computing science").[1]
The original broad meaning of telematics continues to be used in academic fields, but in commerce it now generally meansvehicle telematics. Telematics is closely related to, and largely built upon, the concept oftelemetry. While telemetry refers specifically to the remote measurement and transmission of data (widely used in fields such as aerospace, meteorology, medicine, and defense), telematics incorporates telemetry but extends it with telecommunications, informatics, and integration into digital platforms.[2] In modern usage, the termtelematics is applied mainly in commercial contexts, with dominant applications in the vehicular, personal, and asset domains (seeKey applications).[3][4][5]
While the term telematics is broad, its modern usage is dominated by a number of key applications in the vehicular context, as well as for personal and asset tracking.
The largest commercial application of telematics is infleet management, often utilizing a comprehensiveFleet telematics system. Telematics devices are used as the primary data collection tool forfleet digitalization, enabling businesses to manage their fleets of cars, trucks, and other assets. In volatile economic climates, telematics is a key tool for reducing high operational costs, especially for fuel.[6] Key functions include:
Beyond fleet vehicles, telematics is widely used in the form of small, portable, battery-poweredtrackers for a diverse range of personal and asset monitoring applications.[7] These devices providelocation data for:
Video telematics is an evolution of traditional telematics that integrates cameras, such as aDashcam, with telematics data. This adds visual context to events, which is used for proactive driver coaching usingAI, accident reconstruction, and insurance claim validation.[8]
Usage-based insurance is a model whereauto insurance premiums are directly correlated with real-time driving behavior. A telematics device in the vehicle monitors metrics such as distance driven, speed, and braking force. Safer drivers are often rewarded with lower premiums.
Telematics technology is integral to moderncarsharing and ride-hailing services likeUber,Lyft, andZipcar. The onboard device allows the company to track the vehicle's location, monitor its usage, and manage remote locking and unlocking for users, who typically access the service via a smartphone app.
Telematics is used in modernizingpublic transport. It enables real-timevehicle tracking, which provides passengers with accurate arrival and departure times through mobile apps and station displays. It also helps transport authorities with route optimization, schedule adherence monitoring, and efficient dispatching.
Telematics systems facilitate safety communications.
Vehicle manufacturers increasingly use embedded telematics to offer connected services to consumers, often through a smartphone app. These services includeautomotive navigation systems, sometimes called aJourney planner, remote vehicle control (e.g., remote start or locking doors), vehicle health reports, and concierge services.
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The Association of Equipment Management Professionals (AEMP)[9] developed the industry's first telematics standard.[citation needed]
In 2008, AEMP brought together the major construction equipment manufacturers and telematics providers in the heavy equipment industry to discuss the development of the industry's first telematics standard.[10] Following agreement fromCaterpillar,Volvo CE,Komatsu, andJohn Deere Construction & Forestry to support such a standard, the AEMP formed a standards development subcommittee chaired by Pat Crail CEM to develop the standard.[11] This committee consisted of developers provided by the Caterpillar/Trimble joint venture known as Virtual Site Solutions, Volvo CE, and John Deere. This group worked from February 2009 through September 2010 to develop the industry's first standard for the delivery of telematics data.[12]
The result, the AEMP Telematics Data Standard V1.1,[12] was released in 2010 and officially went live on October 1, 2010. As of November 1, 2010, Caterpillar, Volvo CE, John Deere Construction & Forestry, OEM Data Delivery, andNavman Wireless are able to support customers with delivery of basic telematics data in a standard xml format. Komatsu,Topcon, and others are finishing beta testing and have indicated their ability to support customers in the near future.[12]
The AEMP's telematics data standard was developed to allow end users to integrate key telematics data (operating hours, location,fuel consumed, andodometer reading where applicable) into their existing fleet management reporting systems. As such, the standard was primarily intended to facilitate importation of these data elements intoenterprise software systems such as those used by many medium-to-large construction contractors. Prior to the standard, end users had few options for integrating this data into their reporting systems in a mixed-fleet environment consisting of multiple brands of machines and a mix of telematics-equipped machines and legacy machines (those without telematics devices where operating data is still reported manually via pen and paper). One option available to machine owners was to visit multiple websites to manually retrieve data from each manufacturer's telematics interface and then manually enter it into their fleet management program's database. This option was cumbersome and labor-intensive.[13]
A second option was for the end user to develop an API (Application Programming Interface), or program, to integrate the data from each telematics provider into their database. This option was quite costly as each telematics provider had different procedures for accessing and retrieving the data and the data format varied from provider to provider. This option automated the process, but because each provider required a unique, custom API to retrieve and parse the data, it was an expensive option. In addition, another API had to be developed any time another brand of machine or telematics device was added to the fleet.[13]
A third option for mixed-fleet integration was to replace the various factory-installed telematics devices with devices from a third party telematics provider. Although this solved the problem of having multiple data providers requiring unique integration methods, this was by far the most expensive option. In addition to the expense, many third-party devices available for construction equipment are unable to access data directly from the machine'selectronic control modules (ECMs), or computers, and are more limited than the device installed by the OEM (Cat, Volvo, Deere, Komatsu, etc.) in the data they are able to provide. In some cases, these devices are limited to location and engine runtime, although they are increasingly able to accommodate a number of add-on sensors to provide additional data.[13]
The AEMP Telematics Data Standard provides a fourth option. By concentrating on the key data elements that drive the majority of fleet management reports (hours, miles, location, fuel consumption), making those data elements available in a standardized xml format, and standardizing the means by which the document is retrieved, the standard enables the end user to use one API to retrieve data from any participating telematics provider (as opposed to the unique API for each provider that was required previously), greatly reducing integration development costs.[12]
The current draft version of the AEMP Telematics Data Standard is now called the AEM/AEMP Draft Telematics API Standard, which expands the original standard Version 1.2 to include 19 data fields (with fault code capability). This new draft standard is a collaborative effort of AEMP and the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), working on behalf of their members and the industry. This Draft API replaces the current version 1.2 and does not currently cover some types of equipment, e.g., agriculture equipment, cranes, mobile elevating work platforms, air compressors, and other niche products.
In addition to the new data fields, the AEM/AEMP Draft Telematics API Standard changes how data is accessed in an effort to make it easier to consume and integrate with other systems and processes. It includes standardized communication protocols for the ability to transfer telematics information in mixed-equipment fleets to end user business enterprise systems, enabling the end user to employ their own business software to collect and then analyze asset data from mixed-equipment fleets without the need to work across multiple telematics provider applications.
To achieve a globally recognized standard for conformity worldwide, the AEM/AEMP Draft Telematics API Standard will be submitted for acceptance by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Final language is dependent upon completion of the ISO acceptance process.
Several universities provide two-year Telematics Master of Science programs:
In 2007, a project entitled the European Automotive Digital Innovation Studio (EADIS) was awarded 400,000 Euros from theEuropean Commission under itsLeonardo da Vinci program. EADIS used a virtual work environment called the Digital Innovation Studio to train and develop professional designers in the automotive industry in the impact and application of vehicle telematics so they could integrate new technologies into future products within the automotive industry. Funding ended in 2013.[27]
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