In the demanding world of industrial fleet management, robust and intelligent hardware is paramount. GemOne, a company of TVH, envisioned the Onyx: a cutting-edge fleet management solution designed to bring real-time visibility and enhanced efficiency to mixed rental and construction fleets. SOTEC is proud to have partnered with GemOne, contributing our deep expertise in creating high-performance, industrial-grade IoT solutions, like our acclaimed CloudPlug Edge platform, to help bring the advanced Onyx tracker to life.
Understanding the Industrial Imperative: The Vision for Onyx
The GemOne Onyx was conceived to address critical needs in modern industrial operations: knowing where a machine is located, when it’s being operated, and when it’s due for maintenance based on real-time error codes. The goal was a versatile and powerful tracking solution that could seamlessly integrate with industrial equipment of all makes and models, providing actionable insights for rental and construction businesses.
Engineering the Onyx Hardware Success
SOTEC contributed its core strengths to the development of GemOne’s Onyx hardware platform, working in close collaboration with the GemOne team to engineer and realize the sophisticated features required for challenging industrial applications.
- Built for the Field: Robust Industrial Design The Onyx tracker is engineered for durability, featuring an IP67 certification for dust and water resistance, ensuring it can withstand the tough demands of industrial environments. SOTEC’s extensive experience in creating ruggedized hardware solutions was a key contribution to GemOne’s goal of achieving this level of resilience. This involved a collaborative development of the Onyx’s custom housing, where SOTEC partnered with a specialized partner company, aligned with GemOne’s specifications, to meet exacting industrial standards and ensure reliable operation day in and day out.
- Powering Advanced Connectivity Solutions Seamless and reliable data flow is critical for GemOne’s fleet management system. SOTEC’s expertise in connectivity contributed to GemOne’s engineering in realizing several key Onyx features:
- Global Coverage: : The Onyx tracker utilizes 4G LTE wireless communication, with a 2G fall-back mechanism, to provide comprehensive global coverage. SOTEC provided the engineering expertise to integrate these robust communication technologies, supporting GemOne’s need for wide-reaching connectivity.
- Deep Machine Insights via CAN Bus: A standout feature of the Onyx V4 is its sophisticated hardware design for DUAL CAN bus interfacing. SOTEC contributed to the engineering of this CAN hardware connectivity, providing the physical layer and data link capabilities. This carefully designed hardware interface allows GemOne’s system to seamlessly connect to the equipment’s network and read vital machine information, such as operating hours, fuel levels, and error codes.
- Precision GPS Tracking: At its core, Onyx provides precise GPS tracking so businesses know where their vehicles are at all times. SOTEC has a strong track record in integrating advanced location technologies to deliver accurate and reliable tracking capabilities.
- Mastering High-Voltage System Design Industrial machinery often involves diverse power systems. The Onyx tracker is designed to support up to 97V DC, with overvoltage protection up to 120V. SOTEC contributed its capability in designing robust power supply units tailored to these specific industrial voltage requirements, ensuring GemOne’s Onyx could be safely and effectively deployed across a wide range of equipment.
- Enabling Intelligent Control and Security Features The Onyx hardware, with SOTEC’s engineering contributions, provides the foundation for the intelligent operational control and enhanced security features envisioned by GemOne:
- Remote Management Capabilities: An internal relay system within the Onyx tracker enables features like remote ignition blocking and power switching. SOTEC’s expertise in designing hardware with embedded control mechanisms helped to co-create these sophisticated remote functionalities for GemOne’s system.
- Enhanced Security: The hardware platform supports crucial security features specified by GemOne, such as access management for safer operation, geofencing, and theft detection with notifications for unauthorized movement or tracker tampering.
Our Commitment to Quality, Security, and Partnership
SOTEC’s development philosophy is built on a foundation of “Made in Germany” quality, a security-first mindset in device design, and a truly collaborative approach to partnership. For the GemOne Onyx project, this meant working closely with the GemOne team, contributing our expertise to ensure the hardware was optimized for performance, reliability, and the specific needs of GemOne’s target industrial sector. Our focus on secure IoT architecture helped provide peace of mind, supporting GemOne’s goal of ensuring data integrity and device security.
From Engineering to Global Delivery: Manufacturing Excellence for Onyx
Beyond innovative design and meticulous collaborative engineering with GemOne, bringing a world-class product like the Onyx to market requires a robust manufacturing strategy. SOTEC, in close collaboration with our carefully selected manufacturing partners, ensures that every Onyx device is produced to the highest quality standards defined within the partnership. This rigorous quality control extends to ensuring the Onyx device meets global market access requirements, having successfully achieved CE, UL, FCC, and UKCA certifications, making it ready for GemOne’s deployment in key international markets. Our comprehensive oversight of the production process, aligned with GemOne’s requirements, guarantees that the precision and durability designed into the Onyx are realized in every unit. Furthermore, SOTEC’s expertise extends to managing sophisticated logistics, supporting GemOne by ensuring in-time delivery of the Onyx trackers to their locations all over the world, reinforcing GemOne’s status as a global provider of smart telematics solutions. This commitment to manufacturing excellence, certified quality, and reliable global distribution is a key component of SOTEC’s dedicated partnership approach.
Driving Industrial Innovation with Expert Hardware Engineering
SOTEC is proud to have been a key engineering partner, contributing significantly to the successful development and delivery of GemOne’s Onyx hardware platform. This project highlights our ability to apply our specialized expertise to help translate complex industrial requirements into high-quality, reliable, and feature-rich IoT devices. The GemOne Onyx tracker, with its robust design, advanced connectivity, intelligent features, and dependable global availability, is a testament to what can be achieved when a client’s innovative vision is supported by expert hardware engineering and dedicated manufacturing stewardship.
Businesses looking to empower their IoT solutions with cutting-edge hardware for demanding environments can rely on SOTEC’s proven expertise as a collaborative partner in industrial design, connectivity, manufacturing, and logistics.