Home
>
Our Cases
>
Vehicle Telemetry
<
Our Cases

Indeema's Case Study in Smart Transportation: Intelligent Electric Vehicle Telemetry

bikes-image

Short Overview

Indeema team developed a unique vehicle control and telemetry unit for Electric Bikes (due to an NDA, the company name has been changed). The vehicle control and telemetry unit in electric bikes is essentially a small computer that is responsible for controlling and monitoring various vehicle functions. It receives input from sensors on the bike, such as the throttle position, brake lever, and wheel speed sensors, and uses that information to control the motor and other vehicle functions.

Project Details

  • Industry: Automotive
  • Team: 6 engineers
  • Lifetime: July 2021–September 2022
  • Services: IoT Development, Firmware Development
  • Client’s Location: Germany

Project Background

Founded in 2016, Electric Bikes has the ambitious goal of providing the best electric bikes for everyday use. Since their inception, they have put their creativity and expertise towards expanding their range of products to offer customers the opportunity to enjoy an active lifestyle while minimizing environmental impact. With this in mind, Electric Bikes was determined to strike the perfect balance between hardware and software by combining advanced IoT technologies with their proprietary battery technology and powertrain systems, ensuring rider excitement, safety, and comfort.

What Was The Customer's Request?

  • The client's unique selling point is smart batteries, which are built for electric bikes using their technology. To further enhance the functionality and usability of their electric bikes, the client approached Indeema Software for assistance in developing a bike telemetry unit.
  • The aim was to take advantage of mobile connectivity and efficient automotive MCU technology to add new features that would be beneficial for drivers. The collaboration involved working together to design and develop an embedded application that would enable mobile connectivity, essential IoT features, and over-the-air device firmware upgrades.
icon-image

What Did The Client Already Have?

  • The client came to us with an existing project that consisted of two hardware revisions of vehicle telemetry unit boards and an embedded project framework that had already been configured. Additionally, the client had an existing backend infrastructure with a development server and data visualization capabilities in place. Our team was tasked with building upon the client's existing infrastructure and enhancing it to support the development of an intelligent electric vehicle telemetry system.
icon-image

Solution We Delivered

Where did we start?

Following receipt of the client's initial requirements, the project team meticulously deliberated the low-level technical specifications of the hardware and expertly navigated the complexities of RTOS adoption on the chosen embedded MCU. We then developed a comprehensive development strategy and established clear acceptance criteria. This approach allowed the team to ensure that the final firmware met the client's exact specifications.

solution-image

Our Development Process

  • HARDWARE DESIGN

    The hardware setup and initial embedded project configuration were the first steps in the development process. At this stage, the device's intended use, performance requirements, power consumption, and other factors that can affect the system's overall functionality were carefully considered. The project configuration also included defining the high-level firmware architecture and designing the software components that would run on the hardware.

  • EMBEDDED DEVELOPMENT

    Following that, a real-time application was designed using the thread management API. Several embedded engineers worked together on specific tasks such as cellular modem initialization, device firmware update flow, or queue implementation for telemetry reporting. Contributions from developers were reviewed by the technical lead and merged into the project repository.

  • TESTING & QUALITY ASSURANCE

    Upon completion of each milestone, the QA engineer verified the firmware build against the defined acceptance criteria.

The Team Involved In The Project

Embedded Engineers

3

QA Engineers

2

Project Manager

1

Project Challenges And Our Suggestions

  • One of the challenges associated with vehicle telemetry reporting pertained to the availability of cellular coverage. The team had to anticipate scenarios where the bike's GSM module was unable to connect to the network. To mitigate the risk of low storage space and message loss in the queue, the team employed meticulous application design and precise implementation. Additionally, the team ensured that the device firmware upgrade would not brick the unit in the event of connection loss.

challenges-img

Impact

The Indeema team has effectively engineered a highly efficient and scalable system that precisely aligns with the client's requirements, leveraging their expertise. After the developed modules were installed on the end-user electric bikes, the fleet management capabilities were significantly enhanced. This brought about a new level of features, such as intelligent maintenance, automatic alerts, and advanced customization options.

These enhancements allowed for better management and control of the electric bikes, which improved their overall performance and reduced the risk of downtime. The new modules also provided greater flexibility in customization and helped to ensure that the electric bikes were always operating at their optimal level.

Before And After Cooperation With Indeema

Before:

Before the collaboration with Indeema, the client had a hardware solution in place, but the embedded software code had very basic functionality. As a result, the system lacked many important features and capabilities required for efficient fleet management and intelligent maintenance.

After:

Indeema Software developed a customized embedded application that revolutionized the client's business by enabling mobile connectivity, essential IoT features, bulletproof over-the-air device firmware upgrades, and PC connectivity via USB for configuration purposes.

This highly efficient and robust application replaced the initial embedded software code that had very basic functionality.

Technical Highlights

Technologies

C/C++

ThreadX RTOS

NGINX

Python

Grafana

GitLab

Silicons / Hardware

Renesas RA

Quectel Wireless

Customer Success Stories

All cases arrow right

Do you want to talk about the development of intelligent bicycles with IoT technology?

Customize your cookie preferences

We respect your privacy and use cookies to improve your experience. While you can manage your preferences, accepting cookies helps us deliver the best possible functionality and content.

  • Necessary

    These cookies are essential for the website to work and can’t be turned off. They support functions like logging in and saving your privacy settings.

  • Analytical

    These cookies help us improve the site by tracking which pages are most popular and how visitors move around the site.

  • Advertising

    These cookies provide extra features and personalization to improve your experience. They may be set by us or by partners whose services we use.