innoDepX’s Real-time Monitoring of Truck Loads Utilizing a ToF Sensor

Truck transportation has an important role in the core of logistics, but there are various challenges. Examples include a shortage of drivers, the environmental impact of fuel use, and traffic congestion exacerbated by logistics trucks. Although there is progress in autonomous driving technology and truck electrification, traffic regulations and infrastructure development are failing to keep pace. To address these problems, there is an increasing need to improve delivery efficiency. It is also becoming urgently necessary to select optimal routes and introduce advanced delivery management systems.

Time of Flight (ToF) image sensors offer great potential to solve these challenges. Here we introduce case studies of ToF sensors used in transportation.

Real-time monitoring of delivery status and efficient route planning

The logistics industry faces challenges such as reducing environmental impact and eliminating the traffic congestion caused by trucks. In fact, research shows that about 20~35% of trucks are driven unloaded. This problem is especially evident when trucks carry a full load to a destination and then pull an empty container on the way back. In addition, trucks may partially deliver a load to a destination and then drive on without refilling that empty space. Without real-time tracking of a load's delivery status, it becomes difficult to plan efficiently in terms of routing and accepting new loads in transit.

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) systems for fleet management^*1 are evolving, but currently they are limited to tracking truck locations with GPS and monitoring fuel sensors. These systems are useful for data analysis after a delivery is completed, but they cannot track the load status in real time nor make transportation plans based on it. It is also difficult to analyze the “loading capacity per mile/kilometer” of each delivery, which reflects the actual efficiency and cost of the route.

*1) Fleet management is the efficient operation and management of a fleet of vehicles owned by a company or organization.

Improving transportation efficiency with CubiVision™

After several years of development, iDX proposed CubiVision, a solution using AI-based 3D cameras to solve efficiency issues in truck transportation. This solution combines a ToF camera that measures packages inside the truck in 3D, AI data processing, and wireless communication (BLE, Wi-Fi, 4G/5G LTE).

The system covers distances of up to a standard 40 feet or up to 57 feet with a customized version. It detects package volume in real time and calculates the load rate. A single ToF camera can obtain 3D distance information of packages and visualize the load capacity. Unlike RGB cameras, the ToF camera can shoot in dark conditions, eliminating the need for lighting at night or in low-light berths (loading and unloading areas) or inside shipping containers. A unique optical system can sense long distances from the camera's position to the other side of the container without blind spots. The AI-based CubiVision algorithm performs detailed analysis and volume calculation of 3D data and transmits the results to the cloud via wireless communication along with infrared images. The data can then be used to determine the optimal route based on the real-time loading status and location of each truck. Smart fleet management significantly improves transportation efficiency and lowers fuel costs.

CubiVision has already been adopted by one of the largest fleet management SaaS solution providers in China. According to verification at an actual logistics site, transportation efficiency has been improved by more than 20%.

CubiVision is a trademark of ISSA Technology Co., Ltd.

Sensor with CubiVision

The camera provided by iDX is equipped with Sony's iToF sensor (type 1/4.5, approximately 0.3 megapixels). This sensor has a high-sensitivity, low-noise structure and uses high-speed pixel technology such as multi-layer wiring. Improving light collection efficiency and enabling high-speed processing for distance measurement achieves accurate and stable ranging performance. Sony's technology contributes to iDX's goal of "Smart," "Save," and "Safety" in logistics and fleet management.