NEWS
Discover here the latest advances of the Ecotravid project
2023, 12th December
The 4-years LIFE ECOTRAVID project reporting is now complete
Funded by the EU Life Programme, the 4-years LIFE ECOTRAVID project reporting is now complete with the Final Report submitted on August 2023 and available for download as a key project deliverable in PDF form below.
Fraunhofer has decided to pursue the commercial exploitation of the VMC software extensions.
The idea is to use extended web services since these new tools derived from LIFE Ecotravid could be further applied in the context of vehicle development, for reliability or energy efficiency optimization, as well as for vehicle configuration or for operating fleets.
These methods help to reduce energy consumption for a given fleet of vehicles and support the transformation of conventional drivetrains towards more sustainable ones.
The latest news on the VMC technology can be found here: https://www.itwm.fraunhofer.de/en/vmc
2023, 20th January
On the ground, the ECOTRAVID project is moving forward
LIFE ECOTRAVID is a pioneering algorithmic tool designed to enhance hauler fleet management. It serves to reduce fuel consumption, save money, and preserve the environment. The LIFE ECOTRAVID project is led by CLS, the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics (ITWM) and the Samat Aquitaine group. It is co-financed by the financial instrument of the European Union LIFE.
The Samat Group is a leading provider of specialized transportation services for hazardous materials, including hydrocarbons, chemicals, and gas. With a fleet of approximately 100 heavy goods vehicles and 300 tankers per agency, the group operates on a regional, national, and international level.
The company has been partner and signatory to the ADEME ecological transition charter since 2011. It has set itself a target of reducing its entire fleet’s fuel consumption by 1% per year.
“The LIFE ECOTRAVID project is perfectly aligned with our set objectives, and the app will enable us to make considerable energy savings” adds Eric Barras, Director of Samat Aquitaine.
Fitted sensors enable the trucks to be geolocated. Routes are then calculated, considering multiple factors such as road topography, traffic, and the weather. The route selected by the fleet manager is then sent to the driver’s smartphone for GPS satellite navigation. It’s simplicity and state of the art, all in one!
“The ECOTRAVID app compares all the data on our operating schedules with a set of algorithms developed by our partners Fraunhofer ITWM and CLS, who together created the app. It then uses this information to suggest several routes to the operator, who chooses the one they find best suited” says Delphine Caille, Administration and Operations Manager – Samat Aquitaine. “A sensor is fitted inside the wheel rim, to send data on tire pressure and temperature. We then fix a modem inside the chassis and connected to the EBS system to send live data to the platform.”
A first series of tests is currently being conducted on 20 trucks and 20 trailers operated by Samat, in order to demonstrate the efficacy of this groundbreaking tool. “CLS has always had as core mission to use its assets to preserve earth’s resources and its welfare. ECOTRAVID’s project combines the expertise of our domain in satellite data and our goal to enhance green mobility transformation”, says Pierre Cuny, Product manager at CLS’s Mobility Business Unit.
“Getting closer and closer to the end of this adventure, we are now focus on the data results in order to extrapolate them to a potential market in the future, taking into account the challenges of the sector. Road transport market has many particularities regarding its behavior and working conditions, those who can vary depending on the fleet size, geographic location of the work field, commercial activity’s nature of the client, etc. Today’s challenge is to prove VMC solution’s performance and accuracy to reduce SAMAT’s carbon footprint. As the project keep evolving, long term goal will be to reach new adaptability levels to respond to a wider group of specific needs depending on the industry type.
2022, 31th March
LIFE ECOTRAID Project – Samat Group Testimony
LIFE ECOTRAVID is a pioneering algorithmic tool designed to enhance haulier fleet management. It serves to: reduce fuel consumption, save money, and preserve the environment. The LIFE ECOTRAVID project is led by CLS, the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics and the Samat Aquitaine group.
The Samat group has been partner and signatory to the ADEME ecological transition charter since 2011. It has set itself a target of reducing its entire fleet’s fuel consumption by 1% per year.
Fitted sensors enable the trucks to be geolocated. Routes are then calculated, taking into account multiple factors such as road topography, traffic and the weather. The route selected by the fleet manager is then sent to the driver’s smartphone for GPS satellite navigation. It’s simplicity and state of the art, all in one!
A first series of tests is currently being conducted on 20 trucks and 20 trailers operated by Samat, in order to demonstrate the efficacy of this groundbreaking tool.
2022, 21th February
LIFE ECOTRAVID Project: Reduce truck fuel consumption and related CO2 emissions by 5 to 10%
CLS is proud to work with Fraunhofer and Samat Group on this LIFE project, co-financed by the financial instrument of the European Union LIFE.
Amid mounting competition, the Covid crisis and the need to shift towards sustainable transport, the challenges to ensuring fleet performance have never been greater. Trailermatics fleet management plateform enables you to optimize your fleet management by providing an instant overview of the precise location of all vehicles and assets.
Fleet managers have access to a delivery planning tool based on real-time data concerning the location and deployment of each asset. Allowing the right decision to be made, at the right time.
Optimal fleet management also means keeping vehicles operational. Trailermatics’ automatic sensor feedback and predictive maintenance algorithms enable fleet managers to schedule maintenance procedures automatically.
Fuel is the leading expense for hauliers, and road transportation is a major contributor to global warming. Limiting fuel consumption by reducing mileage is therefore vital. The ECOTRAVID tool calculates the most fuel-efficient route available by taking a whole range of factors into account.
The suggested route is accessible via the driver’s smartphone, ensuring that every journey is as eco- friendly as possible.
2021, 26th July
VMC Engineers Complete 18 months of Data Analysis
Software engineers have just completed 18 months of analysis of all the data collected for ECOTRAVID’s Virtual Measurement Campaign (VMC)* since its launch in January 2020.
The data, which covers approximately 100,000 kms (62,000 miles) per vehicle of ‘real-life’ journeys on public roads, has been gathered from the 40 trucks and trailers involved in the campaign and operated by transportation and logistics expert Samat.
Transmitted back to the fleet management platform of project coordinator CLS at very high frequency, it is being used to fine-tune and adapt the VMC software.
Full range of variables
The responsibility of mathematical research institute Fraunhofer ITWM – developers of the VMC software – analysis of all this data relies on clustering of the routes measured, which cover everything from inner-city to minor country roads to motorways.
Each route is subdivided into single trips and then different road-type segments, with specific elements such as fuel consumption computed for each segment individually.
And each segment is travelled multiple times in different traffic situations and with different drivers in order to provide a full range of variables in terms of mass and speed for each fixed slope profile.
Detailed insights
The end result of this data analysis phase will be to provide detailed insights into vehicle performance and estimated energy consumption for any virtual drive, enabling ITWM to perfect the parameters and algorithms used in its VMC software.
Once the software has been finalized, the campaign will move on to its Demonstrator Development phase.
*ECOTRAVID is an EU-backed project to provide a tool that will significantly reduce emissions from Europe’s vital road haulage industry. It is co-financed by LIFE, the financial instrument of the European Union. The aim of its Virtual Measurement Campaign (VMC) is to develop road haulage software capable of calculating the greenest route for any specific journey in terms of fuel consumption and emissions, by using information on a range of variables such as topography, traffic and driver behaviour. This ECOTRAVID project consortium is an international collaboration composed by 3 members, Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics (ITWM, based in Germany), Collecte Localisation Satellites (CLS, based in France) and Samat Aquitaine (based in France).
2021, 30th June
ECOTRAVID Pilot in Full Swing
The measurement campaign of LIFE’s ECOTRAVID pilot is in full swing, with nearly all of the 40 trucks and trailers involved in the project and operated by transportation and logistics expert Samat now fitted with their onboard terminals.
This pilot measurement phase will help build the Virtual Measurement Campaign (VMC) software developed by Fraunhofer ITWM, which will be integrated into the fleet management platform of project coordinator CLS.
The aim of the VMC software is to calculate and suggest the most fuel-efficient and cost-effective routes for any specific transport mission. To achieve this, it takes into account realistic vehicle models for trucks/trailers and the influence of the driver. Its algorithms also use real-world data, including the course of the road itself, plus influencing factors such as topography and traffic. The simulations enable detailed calculations of consumption and energy losses for specific transport missions, including the analysis of different types of losses (e.g. air, rolling and gradient resistance).
Specific embedded software has been developed and integrated into two different types of terminals – one connected to each truck FMS and one on each trailer EBS– which have been constantly transmitting high-frequency (up to 1 sec) data back to project HQ ever since the pilot’s launch at the start of 2020.This “real-life data” on public roads is used to feed the VMC in order to verify the new models and fine-tune the algorithms and provide a series of route alternatives. In addition to existing distance and time factors, these route proposals are ranked according to fuel consumption and green criteria.
Once the measurement campaign is complete, the project will move on to the demonstration phase, with Samat’s operations manager using the VMC-enhanced system for all daily route planning in order to assess and demonstrate its efficacy. The overall aim of this EU-backed project is to provide a tool that will significantly reduce emissions from Europe’s vital road haulage industry.
The LIFE ECOTRAVID project is co-financed by the financial instrument of the European Union, LIFE.
2020, 16th March
Terminals ready to be installed in Samat’s vehicles (20 trucks and 20 trailers)
CLS has finished the developments that were specified by ITWM for the two types of terminals (one for trucks and one for semi-trailers), so that specific data channels can be retrieved from the vehicles at the right accuracy and time resolution. Once the terminals are ready, the installation in the 20 trucks and 20 trailers provided by Samat has started (mid-December). The measurement campaign phase will then start, by January 2020. The measurement campaign will keep on producing valuable data during the rest of the project. These data will allow Fraunhofer to refine and adapt the VMC algorithms to the environment and context of the road transports by trucks and semi-trailers
