Event Monitoring: PTO and Auxiliary Inputs

Capture Real World Events

GPS Trackers have the capability to capture real world events through what's called auxiliary inputs or digital I/O. These discrete on/off events, such as opening and closing doors or turning motors on and off, if wired with relays or switches can send a signal. The GPS tracking device monitors these auxiliary inputs and either includes the information on the regular reports, or if a change is detected, a special message is sent to our servers.

The real power of event monitoring, with GPS tracking devices, is that the data is captured, along with all of the regular GPS data. This allows you to review the data in a couple creative and interesting ways.

Event Monitoring: Analysis Phase

The real value of event monitoring is achieved through the tools available to analyze the data. In our system, the information transferred to our server is available for review in several different ways.

Maps & Alerts

On our maps, the state change (when the input went high or low) is indicated by a special icon. If enabled, an alert can triggered causing an email to be sent.

Reports

Our report subsystem has been optimized to add value to the event monitoring functionality. The data can be reviewed in several formats. The simplest report is the auxiliary input report which provides three views of the event data: graphical, summary and detailed. All indicating how long the device reported high and low. The detail provides a full readout regarding when and where the GPS tracking device sensed the vehicles inputs changing. Neatly summarized with calculated duration.

The auxiliary input / idle report shows the overlap between auxiliary usage and idle stops. Some customers expect short stops and want to be able to assess the length of time on task. Again, the duration of usage is calculated, the location is easily viewable on a map to confirm/validate the use.

Monitor almost Anything

What events can be monitored is almost limitless. This broad definition includes many devices from dome lights indicating door openings, winches, hydraulic actuators, to PTO devices, and even tilt sensors. Collectively, we call these auxiliary inputs.

Power Take-Off (PTO)

PTO is simply a device attached to an engine that transfers power to an auxiliary device attached to it. Some examples of a PTO are the winch from a tow truck, a hydraulic pump that operates the boom of a trash truck, or the mixing drum of a concrete truck. All of these devices can be monitored by our Auxiliary Tools feature of the GPS tracking software to record when a specific PTO event began and ended

Door Opening

Say you transport sensitive cargo and need to be notified if the cargo door on the trailer is opened. This can be accomplished with the Auxiliary Tools. An electronic reed switch on the door can be monitored. Whenever the switch goes on or off, a voltage change occurs in the output circuit of the GPS tracking device. The change is sensed by the tracker which in turn sends the appropriate message to the Tracking software.

Alarm System

For those vehicles that have alarm systems, the Auxiliary Tools can be used to notify, in real-time, when it is triggered. This is handy, especially because the alarm system is already monitoring so many different inputs like the doors, the hood and trunk. Some alarm systems can even detect when glass is broken. Use our Auxiliary Tools to catch a thief or vandal in the act. You may even prevent your truck or van from being stolen.

Aux Inputs: The Value Add

The combination of GPS Trackers with PTO and auxiliary input event monitoring enables research and evaluation of the information like never before. Now, its easy to know how long a device was used, how often it was used where it was used. This can be used to prove to a customer the time and location that a pickup or service occurred. It can be used to validate that work was done or even to prove that the equipment was used when it should not have been used.