OnEfficiency.DriverAssist captures and analyzes driver behavior to improve driving style. Source: Voith Digital Solutions
OnEfficiency.DriverAssist is a comprehensive platform that provides transparent and easily implementable insights about how to increase fuel efficiency. The new Voith solution motivates drivers to improve driving behaviors, while enabling operations managers to boost fleet efficiency.
The increasing demand to reduce fuel consumption through intelligent driving behaviors is one of the challenges faced by managers in local public transport. In the past, bus fleet managers relied on the capabilities of their drivers. As smart driving is a significant contributor to limiting fuel consumption, lowering emissions and improved travel safety, the emendation of intelligent driving techniques has become even more important. To address this need, Voith developed a tool that supports drivers’ efforts to reduce fuel consumption by advising and motivating them over the short and long term.
Reduction of operational costs and driver motivation
The Voith OnEfficiency solutions for mobility applications increase fuel efficiency in two ways: by technical enablement based on advanced configuration of the transmission, and by people enablement based on motivating the drivers to improve their driving behavior.
“During intensive and extensive real-life trials, Voith developed OnEfficiency.DriverAssist, the latest tool in our Smart Services portfolio. It is a tool that presents drivers with a mission. Their goal is to drive in the most efficient way and they are rewarded when they do,” said Johannes Ilg, Vice President of Service Product Management at Voith Turbo.
Real-time feedback about driving behavior to improve driving style
The tool captures multiple driving parameters from the vehicle. The generated data is collected by the Voith SmartBox 2.0 and displayed to the driver for real-time feedback on acceleration, deceleration and idling. During their route – at every bus stop and at the end of every trip – the driver receives a summary feedback, which informs the driver about his or her daily performance regarding multiple aspects of driving performance.
Furthermore, OnEfficiency.DriverAssist provides clear aggregated management reports that help identify areas where drivers could benefit from more training and reveal potential areas of improvement. The service further offers an environment that recognizes and rewards success, and then motivates the drivers to optimize their driving style over the long term.
Increase in fuel efficiency based on transparent insights
The drivers’ visualization is done by a special Voith application, which is easy to install and runs on common Android devices. The drivers are assisted by an intuitive user interface with an appropriate hint about how the driver’s actual behavior affects the vehicle’s current fuel consumption. At the same time the operations manager receives data relevant to managing the fleet.
For example, fuel consumption and overall performance are available – not only for the current route but also for those in the past. The German public transportation company Reutlinger Stadtverkehr (RSV) was one of the first to test the new Voith platform. “The drivers are interested in this technology,” said Mark Hogenmüller, managing director of RSV.
The goal is to utilize OnEfficiency.DriverAssist to achieve a driving style that promotes gentler handling of the vehicle and reduces fuel consumption, meaning that it increases the overall operational economy of the bus. The measured savings are significant: a 10% reduction in fuel consumption so far.
Capturing and analyzing data on a comprehensive platform
Intelligent monitoring helps improve driving skills and performance, which also reduces fuel consumption. The data analysis goes even further than creating maintenance schedules. Using intelligent data algorithms for performance calculation, OnEfficiency.DriverAssist collects all relevant data from the vehicles and has a secure data connection to the IIoT platform OnCumulus. Voith has also implemented an avatar system that anonymizes the data of all drivers, thereby protecting the privacy of each user.
OnEfficiency.DriverAssist will be available at the end of 2018.
