It may look like it at first glance, but we assure you, the impression is deceptive: There is no gambling here. We design and develop – even when toys are in play. Accordingly, what our two dual students Lucas Weckermann and Lukas van der Stok have been working on over the past few months is not just a leisure activity for big boys, but a software project within the Master’s degree programme, in which the tracking of trucks via Transport Management System (TMS) is simulated using self-driving model trucks.
For this purpose, Weckermann and van der Stok designed a miniature road map on which they can drive small toy vehicles with the help of magnetic strips and sensors and at the same time locate them via our TMS WinSped. In order for the miniature trucks driven by servo motors to stop, flash and turn at intersections, the two computer science students have installed magnetic strips that specify the route. Magnetic sliders on the steering axles of the small trucks keep them on track. Magnetic sensors are also located at certain points along the route. They send position data to a Raspberry Pi computer, which in turn communicates with the TMS WinSped.
Weckermann: “Just like in real life, the vehicles collect telematics data, which is displayed in real time on the programme’s user interface.” Splendid, this parkour en miniature!