The Japanese electronics group NEC supports a wide range of technology projects worldwide. When customers from Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Azerbaijan asked for a solution to digitalization their bus fleets, NEC went in search of a suitable hardware partner and found one in faytech®.

The project kick-off took place in the fourth quarter of 2017. The sample phase was completed in 2018 and the rollout of the touch PCs, which ideally meet NEC's specific requirements, began in over 2,500 buses in 2019.

In record time, the engineers from both companies created a robust interactive visualization and control system based on a faytech® DDU touch monitor, which clearly displays the road map, stops, route and other important information on a small 10.1″ display.

For the driver, the solution is also a digital communication interface that can be used, for example, to report anomalies in traffic volumes to the control center.

Other features of the device, which has E-Mark certification for vehicle components, include a control logic for automatically adjusting the display brightness to the ambient light, a remote control and an RFID reader that bus drivers use to clock in and out.

It was a bit of a challenge for our engineers to design the device in such a way that it would survive the harsh operating conditions undamaged: As the inside of the buses is regularly cleaned with steam jets, the touch PC has full IP65 class splash water protection.

The considerable vibrations that occur when driving on poorly constructed roads are absorbed by an anti-shock system that prevents disconnections to the on-board electronics.

Would you like to know more? Then read about the features and benefits of the solution for NEC in this PDF.