Loqus Solutions is developing a new series of R&D (Research and Development) solutions that continue to build on its highly successful R&D and product development programme that has seen Loqus invest more than e4 million since 2005.
The new project, which is composed of a number of key solutions, seeks to investigate how to further inject “intelligence” in managing fleets of vehicles. Two of the solutions seek to reduce the significant carbon footprint of transport fleets; one is aimed at researching the future of GPS and another at improving the delivery of emergency services.
In detail:
Loqus and similar organisations extract extremely large quantities of data from real-time tracking and engine management information daily. Loqus is researching on how to use this data to model, analyse and report on the environmental footprint of transport fleets and drive change through awareness, possible route and mileage savings and critically establish environmental impact as one of the criteria driving route optimisation.
Loqus has developed complex mathematical models that run on powerful backend servers to deliver major financial savings and environmental benefits to fleet operators that operate scheduled services like parcel delivery. The new project is to investigate how to port these efficiently to create route optimisation techniques for taxis, vehicle recovery, just in time delivery and similar fleets that operate dynamically.
The anticipated Galileo satellite constellation is becoming a reality and Loqus is examining how to exploit the enhancements it promises to bring to location accuracy and the additional services it will provide on top of current GPS functionality.
In large cities, emergency services’ vehicles such as fire engines and ambulances are slowed by traffic. Loqus is studying how traffic signal prioritisation combined with route optimisation can provide a “green wave” to significantly cut down response times.
Loqus Solutions was selected last January as one of the Maltese companies that will benefit from Malta Enterprise’s ERDF European research and development grant, which is part of the “20 million for industry” scheme. Malta Enterprise has recognised Loqus’ drive towards innovation and environmental friendliness and made a European research and development grant available to it of around e260,000 to cover 45 per cent of e580,000 costs that Loqus will incur to develop these solutions.
Loqus Solutions is a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of the Loqus Group (LQS), a Maltese public limited company (formerly datatrak) with offices in the UK, Italy, Libya and Malta. Loqus has around 80 employees, a turnover (June 2009) of e4.8 million and has implemented solutions covering over 10,000 vehicles worldwide. Loqus’ major fleet customers include Express Trailers in Malta; Euro Carparts, Ontime and Geopost in the UK; ACI and Artoni in Italy and Scania in Sweden.
For further information visit the website www.loqusgroup.com or contact Nataša Pantović on [email protected]