ACCESSORY PRODUCTS
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New Wireless Telemetry
System For Mobile
Equipment
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New from Lofa Industries is an integrated
GSM/GPS wireless cellular phone-based
telemetry system designed to work with
electronic engine controllers. The
telemetry module can monitor,
record, report and alarm for
any requested information available on the
CANbus.
Lofa Industries Inc., Atlanta, Ga.,
has introduced a new integrated GSM/GPS cellular phone-based telemetry system designed to
work with electronic engine controllers.
The new CANplus Messenger is designed to monitor application-specific
parameters present on the CANbus
and send real-time engine readings
and GPS location to the Lofa server-based monitoring application. The
CANplus Messenger is designed to
be integrated into any CANbus control system via a plug-n-play connection into the existing CANbus. Lofa
said the telemetry module can monitor, record, report and alarm for any
requested information available on
the CANbus. An alterative OEM version is also available for Lofa’s
CANplus 750 series panels as a plug-n-play module that embeds into the
panel’s enclosure.
The CANplus Messenger can be
used for more than just engine moni-
toring, Lofa said; it provides non-engine based machine parameters as
well. Lofa offers additional input/output
modules that allow for these various
machine-related parameters to get on
the CANbus and into the Messenger.
This communications platform is unbiased, communicating with any unit,
the company said, regardless of
brand, allowing the equipment owner
to remotely monitor engine-specific
parameters, alarm conditions, as well
as GPS mapping information.
In the event of equipment malfunctions, equipment owners and
end users can be notified from the
web via computer-generated voice
phone messages, text messages
and/or e-mail, which are sent to a list
of predetermined phone numbers
and e-mail addresses. Users can
also view remotely monitored assets
via the CANplus Messenger, using
the web-based GIS application provided by Lofa.
Peter Herbrand, president of Lofa,
said, “The CANplus Messenger not
only provides a simple, rugged and
easy-to-install solution to monitoring
remote commercial and industrial
equipment, but allows users to determine when assets have actually been
operating or when they are about to fail
— even before the operator knows.”
Further, the unit features exception
reporting to Internet-based applications as well as event and data logging that can be set for minute-by-minute updates if desired. Periodic
update transmissions are sent automatically to the web-based tracking
system for historical reporting and
can include service interval notifications when desired limits have been
exceeded. The CANplus Messenger
can be configured remotely from any
computer on the web via the tracking
system interface.
This telemetry system also includes GPS tracking at no additional
cost, Lofa said. With GPS tracking,
equipment owners can quickly locate
their machines by viewing the equipment on an interactive map that includes street addresses. An alarm
notification can be sent to the owner
if their equipment movement goes
outside the boundaries of predetermined geo-fencing or if the equipment is moved without the owner’s
knowledge. dp
