Case Study: POYNTING PUCK-5 Antenna Contributes to the Safety of Dutch Road Inspectors

The Background

Road workers are very vulnerable in the first minutes after a highway is closed due to road maintenance or to secure an accident. In these first few minutes the traffic is still coming fast because there is no traffic jam yet.

Rijkswaterstaat, part of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, wanted safer work conditions for their employees in these situations. They approached Dutch manufacturer, EBO van Weel, to create a smart solution to help improve the safety and security of their employees.

EBO van Weel developed a Vehicle Management System (VMS), named Autodrip 2.0. This VMS has a full colour display and is mounted on the back of an incident vehicle, so it is visible from 500 meters away. This display can be controlled remotely by the road supervisor using an app on a tablet or smartphone.

The Challenge

The Vehicle Management System is dependent on reliable communications and connectivity between the vehicles and the tablet used by the supervisor. Not only do they need connectivity during the operation of the unit, but also when it is folded down for transport and moving from one site to the next.

The Autodrip 2.0 is mounted on pick-up-trucks or trailers and there is limited space available for antennas. Therefore, the solution needed to be compact and robust to withstand harsh environments

The Solution

EBO van Weel partnered with MCS B.V., POYNTING Antennas’ business partner in The Netherlands and Belgium, to create a system to remotely manage the equipment installed on the vehicles of Rijkswaterstaat.

The MCS B.V. solution consists of a Teltonika RUT-955 router and the POYNTING PUCK-5 antenna. The PUCK-5 is a 5-in-1 solution, providing 2 x 4G/5G antennas (MIMO connectivity), 2 x dual band Wi-Fi antennas and 1 x GPS/Glonass antenna in one compact, robust and vandal resistant housing. This compact antenna is easy to install and provides superior performance when compared to similar sized antennas. The antenna is ideal for mounting on a vehicle and are E-mark and ECE 118.2R certified, so fully accepted by the automotive industry.

Justin Koster, specialist in traffic software at EBO van Weel, has extensively tested various antennas on their GSM, 4G and Wi-Fi signal at the premisses of EBO van Wheel in Rhoon, the Netherlands. The POYNTING PUCK-5 antenna has been tested and compared with regular GSM puck antennas and separate antennas for GSM, GPS, and Wi-Fi.

The POYNTING PUCK-5 antenna came out as an absolute winner in the test. “With the POYNTING PUCK-5 antenna I could walk 50-100 meters from the vehicle and still had a Wi-Fi signal. This is of course influenced by buildings or trees. The good GPS and Wi-Fi signal of this antenna is a lot stronger than that of the antenna we used previously. The POYNTING PUCK-5 met all our requirements”, says Justin Koster.

The Result

With this solutions Rijkswaterstaat now has information on the location and status of all the devices. The solution provides:

  • Remote access to the vehicles from the central traffic management centre using the cellular network.
  • A Wi-Fi hotspot created on the vehicle that is used for communication with nearby devices such as tablets, computers, and phones.
  • Precise location of all vehicles that allows the control centre to send the closest vehicle to assist at road incidents and accidents.

Since January 2020, 150 antennas are used on the inspection vehicles with plans to increase to 250 antennas.

The Customer Said:

“Everything stands or falls with the connection. If we have no connection, the system is not online, and we and the customer cannot access it remotely. So, I am always very critical of the connection. People often find the modem the most important for the connection. But the antenna provides the connection so that the modem can do its job. The role of the antenna is still very undervalued and underestimated.” Says Justin Koster.

About EBO van Weel:

EBO Van Weel develops, designs and manufacturers truck bodies, traffic systems, traffic software solutions and vehicle trailers since 1963 for the Dutch and International markets. Since the start EBO van Weel is driven by innovation and high-quality solutions. 

Please visit www.ebovanweel.com if you are interested in the solutions of EBO van Wheel,

About MCS:

MCS is a long-term strategic partner of POYNTING Antennas. MCS is the IoT and antenna technology specialist. MCS facilitates its business partners and system integrators with industrial IoT solutions and private communication networks.

MCS’s telecommunications and RF specialists will be happy to advise you individually on the right antenna choice for your project. Do you want to know more about how POYNTING antenna solutions can help you solve your connectivity challenge and help you to improve on your quality of service and reduce costs, then please contact [email protected]) or www.mcs-nl.com.

MCS is a long-term strategic partner of POYNTING Antennas. MCS is the IoT and antenna technology specialist. MCS facilitates its business partners and system integrators with industrial IoT solutions and private communication networks.

MCS’s telecommunications and RF specialists will be happy to advise you individually on the right antenna choice for your project. Do you want to know more about how POYNTING antenna solutions can help you solve your connectivity challenge and help you to improve on your quality of service and reduce costs, then please contact [email protected]) or www.mcs-nl.com.
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