Start-up Satsafe makes the regular in-vehicle black box redundant by taking its concept a step further and opening up new opportunities to keep drivers safer in a range of environments. Satsafe is currently working with the expansive Manchester CityVerve project, and with Liverpool City Region’s LCR 4.0 program.
Bye-bye black box……hello Satsafe TelematiCam
Black Box technology is already being used by fleet managers to monitor driving behavior, and is increasingly also used by insurance providers to measure driver performance information that can help reduce insurance premiums – particularly where younger drivers are concerned.
However, technology start-up Satsafe has developed its TelematiCam, a device that’s designed to make the black box redundant. The device works by sending data to a cloud analytics platform where it is merged with other data sets to give a more granular picture of driver behavior than can be provided by standard black box technology.
The TelematiCam combines driving monitoring technology with intelligent in-built GPS, while accelerometers monitor driver behavior. It can also record high definition video.
Safety first
Given the nature of these features, the device has many uses. In the case of a crash, for example, supposedly the GPS data could help pinpoint the location, while the video footage could be helpful to insurers in assessing claims, and to emergency services in determining the causes of a crash.
Meanwhile, the TelematiCam’s ability to detect unusual motions via the accelerometer could be used to identify a crash or other incident. It is then possible to automatically alert the emergency services to the precise location and time of an incident. The speed with which emergency services get to accidents can be crucial, so this can be a life-line to those who may be injured.
LCR 4.0
Statsafe has received support for its technology from the Liverpool City Region business support program, LCR 4.0, which is providing business support to help SMEs innovate in areas like big data, Internet of Things, cloud computing, augmented reality and systems integration.
This support has enabled Satsafe to work with the Virtual Engineering Centre (VEC) and the Hartree Centre in a project to connect the TelmatiCam, a mobile app and a cloud platform, the company claims.
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Manchester CityVerve
Satsafe is also the lead partner for road safety of CityVerve, the UK’s £15m city demonstrator project in Manchester, which is focused on using the Internet of Things to deliver a smarter, more connected city.
Satsafe told Internet of Business that, while it is only halfway through the project, so far it has deployed 40 telematics black box systems with a popular taxi company in the city, which is helping to encourage good driving practices. The black boxes can identify drivers with low scores, which may indicate that they could benefit from re-training, presenting safety benefits for the driver, passengers and other road users.
Stuart Millward Founder and CEO of SatSafe told Internet of Business, “This project is of particular significance for Satsafe as we have already spent two years refining our product for insurers and fleet managers with the support of various programs, such as the European Space Agency Business Incubator, LCR4.0, IoT Boost and more.
“CityVerve is an opportunity to demonstrate how telematics technology can also help other drivers such as minibus/community transport operators, those driving for work and courier companies.”
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