I.D. Systems, Inc. [IDSY] has completed development of its wireless asset management system that can be used to track vehicles operating in airports and has begun to market the AvRamp system to airports.
The New Jersey-based company was recently awarded a small contract by Quatrotec, Inc., for a pilot deployment of AvRamp at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The limited deployment–just three vehicles–is part of a larger effort by Quatrotec to test out best practice security solutions for U.S. airports for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Quatrotec, which provides technology and professional services to the transportation industry, is integrating radar, real-time imaging tools, radio frequency identification- based systems, and wireless dispatch technology to provide a decision support system for airport security at SFO.
“AvRamp is an important piece of our solution as it provides a wide range of effective command and control functions for aircraft ground support equipment,” says Lee Deal, vice president of engineering for Quatrotec. “Because this equipment operates in close proximity to aircraft loaded with passengers and fuel, it is vital to have real-time visibility of, and exercise control over, the equipment.”
AvRamp consists of a small card proximity card reader equipped with a touch-key pad that is installed inside a vehicle. The system provides several layers of security by only allowing vehicles equipped with AvRamp to be operated by authorized users, who first activate a vehicle by using a proximity card and PIN code assigned to each operator. AvRamp also allows airport security staff in a command and control center to monitor the movement of each vehicle and to remotely shut down a vehicle if deemed fit. The system can operate with virtual fences that allow the vehicle to be shut down if it crosses certain boundaries.
I.D. Systems also touts the asset tracking benefits of AvRamp, which allows airlines and airport support providers to monitor and manage the use of their vehicles.
Large airports have thousands of support vehicles operating on the premises, with the keys left in just about all of them all of the time, Kenneth Ehrman, president and chief operating officer of I.D. Systems, tells TR2 at the American Association of Airport Executives Aviation Security Summit this week.
I.D. Systems already has various customers for its asset tracking technology, including Wal Mart and the U.S. Postal Service. AvRamp was developed with $4 million in grants provided by TSA through the Federal Aviation Administration. The TSA funds allowed the company to tailor its system to operate in a complex airport ground environment. The system has also been tested at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and the Jacksonville, Fla., seaport.
The company’s next goal is to take it beyond a pilot project and into a larger airport deployment, Ehrman says. I.D. Systems is targeting domestic and international airports.
A secondary offering of I.D. System’s stock raised $70 million, allowing the company to bolster its sales and marketing staff to push AvRamp into the airport market.