The story continues – Futureproofing Yepzon’s location tracker with cutting edge radiotechnology

Etteplan designed a location tracker device, known as Taival, for Emergence in 2016 whose business and technology were later acquisitioned by Yepzon. The device is now Yepzon™ Solar and it is used for example in sea markers to monitor them and movements of ice in the Baltic sea. Etteplan provided the device’s design, implementation and production-readiness. The solution met the customer’s expectations fantastically.

However, due to end-user and market requirements on radiotechnology, and the support for older networks hindering in the future, Yepzon needed a partner to update Taival -tracker device with cutting edge radiotechnology. The goal was to future-proof and extend the life-time of the product.

Yepzon has the understanding on the required connectivity technologies but they wanted to focus on already ongoing development projects. Hence, Etteplan was the obvious choice due to our know-how on radiotechnology, knowledge of the product, readiness and available resources.

Etteplan’s solution for Yepzon boiled down to Etteplan Device’s product life cycle management module. The module includes services like technical support, software updates, electronics design maintenance, technical documentation, and continuous cybersecurity testing. Additionally, Etteplan is able to provide lab services and product verification under the same roof.

Furthermore, selected parts of Etteplan’s data transfer platform, Banda, which is based on Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) technology, were integrated into the electronics of the device. With Banda an existing product can be connected to the cloud as it enabled wireless data transfer from the device to a cloud service.

“It isn’t a cosmetic facelift but a lifecycle impulse for the product, which ensures that the product’s lifecycle is extended for years to come”, says Jouni Riuttanen from Etteplan. Implementation of the solution is still ongoing and Etteplan’s resources have flowed smoothly into the project. Jouni continues: “We were able to pinpoint to the customer, what are the things that need to be addressed in this project, such as antenna design.”

Etteplan is a true forerunner in radiotechnology: Etteplan has already ensured the functionality of the technologies and the selection of components used in this project in internal development projects. Hence, the customer can be confident that the necessary knowledge and capabilities are already there. This also ensured that the update could be started at the most appropriate time, which resulted in a short time-frame for the project, and zero initial investment for the customer. Hence, Yepzon is able to minimize overall market related risk, and efficiently concentrate resources on its’ core activities. Naturally, the new updated version of the device opens up new possibilities in the marketplace.