ASSET MONITORING: Kapsch CarrierCom is planning the first trial deployment of KUBE, an industrial internet of things device which can be used to collate and preprocess data from a range of asset monitoring sensors before using existing GSM-R networks to send the information to an infrastructure manager’s data hubs. Staff on the ground can also access data directly from KUBE devices.
According to Jochen Nowotny, Vice-President of Product Management, Research & Development, Delivery & Support at Kapsch CarrierCom, KUBE was developed as part of work to evaluate how the company can make more use of its expertise in mission-critical telecoms.
A full laboratory demonstration system is now running, and a proof of concept deployment is to be undertaken on a railway in western Europe this year. The company hopes to deploy a ‘few hundred’ KUBE devices by the end of the year, and has an ‘ambitious target’ to deploy 20 000 over the next few years.
Nowotny said KUBE was developed specifically for the rail industry, unlike other IoT products which are repurposed from other applications. Kapsch CarrierCom’s focus is on the secure communication technology rather than the sensors, and users will not be locked into using only Kapsch CarrierCom systems, Nowotny added. KUBE is intended to work with asset monitoring equipment from any manufacturer, and third parties can also develop applications which will use its connectivity.
The main focus is on infrastructure, but rolling stock applications are also envisaged, with some operators in eastern Europe having expressed interest in using KUBE to monitor the temperature of wagons.
