Smart City: High Performance Computing and Heavy Equipment

In the second of our four-part series on the smart city, we're turning our attention to fleet management and heavy equipment.

While human transport networks are certainly important to the development of the modern metropolis, we also need to consider other forms of vehicles. Heavy equipment is vital in construction, the delivery of public services, agriculture, and other areas. And the way we interact with this equipment is changing.

From tractors and combine harvesters to backhoes, excavators, refuse trucks, and cranes, heavy equipment is often viewed as unsophisticated. These solutions are considered noisy and unsightly – best kept out of view. And yet, they are integral to society – we simply can't exist without them.

The development of the smart city is challenging this view. Through the deployment of AI edge computing technology, heavy equipment fleets are growing increasingly intelligent, elevating them beyond the status of mere machines.

With this AI computing technology installed, these machines are also becoming more sustainable. Smart technology reduces fuel consumption and manages waste, which in turn reduces its impact on the environment.

Safety, efficiency, and effectiveness are improving, too. High-performance computing components – supporting AI-enhanced systems – reduce the likelihood of accidents or mishaps. Urban and suburban environments become much safer for everyone concerned. Meanwhile, smart mapping and route planning help heavy equipment get the job done more efficiently, generally improving our spaces.

Brought together, AI components and high-performance computing technology are revolutionizing heavy equipment fleet management and deployment. Read on to find out more about some of the components that are making this happen.

Modern fleet management demands far more than just reactive management. Today, a proactive, data-driven approach is needed for effective fleet management. At the heart of this shift, Avalue's IoT solutions provide the foundation for a truly smart fleet management ecosystem, offering real-time data collection and analysis to enhance safety, efficiency, and sustainability.

By integrating rugged and reliable telematics systems like VMS-APL, fleets can monitor everything from driver habits and behaviors to vehicle performance and fuel consumption. This rich dataset, processed by AI edge computing, allows managers to predict potential equipment failures before they occur, reducing downtime and maintenance costs. The same system can also be used to optimize routes and driving methods to improve fuel efficiency and reduce the fleet's environmental impact.

Additionally, these IoT solutions enhance operator safety by monitoring for signs of fatigue, allowing for smarter shift planning and alerting managers when symptoms begin to emerge. For a complete in-vehicle solution, rugged multi-touch monitors from the ARC series, such as the ARC-10W00 model with its wide temperature support and IP65-rated front panel, can be used to provide drivers with critical information and interactive tools, all while withstanding demanding operational environments that a fleet vehicle entails.

The future of agriculture lies in data-driven decisions. Avalue’s high-performance computing components are at the heart of this revolution, enabling precision agriculture to boost yields and combat global food shortages. By deploying rugged and reliable embedded systems, farmers and stakeholders can process vast amounts of data (from geography to crop biology) to gain actionable insights that a human could not.

For instance, components like the VMS-CFS are designed to operate in the harsh conditions of a farm, including resistance to vibration and shock. The rugged, fanless vehicle telematics system collects critical data and offers high-performance computing for fleet management, asset tracking, and other in-vehicle applications. The data collected is then used to reduce waste and energy consumption, increasing all-year-round production and dramatically reducing the industry's carbon footprint.

For in-cab use, rugged PCAP multi-touch monitors from the ARC series, such as the ARC-10W33, provide a durable and intuitive interface for farmers to interact with the system, manage equipment, and visualize data in real-time. This combination of rugged computing power and user-friendly display technology is essential for making precision agriculture a practical reality in the field.

Fleets of heavy equipment – whether supporting public amenities, private construction projects, business-to-consumer supply chains, or precision agriculture – are going to be key to the development of the smart city.

Here at Avalue, we provide the components these fleets need to achieve more for society as a whole. This includes cutting-edge AI edge components, high-performance computing infrastructure, and much more.

To discover more, browse our product pages today and find what you need, or reach out to our team for support and assistance.