Voovoo & Promwad: How We Bring Car Speed Limiters to the European Market

Intelligent Speed Assistant (ISA) designed at Promwad for our Latvian-Georgian client VOOVOO is making its first successes in the European market: the start of the device certification in Poland, a partnership with a large carsharing company OX Drive in Latvia, and the first test supplies in Riga. Now, the automatic speed limiters are being tested on Tesla vehicles. You can read more about the project's progress in this article.

In one of our previous articles, we have already told you how Promwad engineers developed the VOOBOX device to set driving speed limits.

_{VOOBOX. The ISA development was implemented at Promwad (hardware and software)}

The company that initiated the project — VOOVOO — decided to bet on installing its electronic speed limiter in car share vehicles. According to Statista, the number of rental car users worldwide will grow to 616 million people by 2027.

Several factors are driving the rental car market:

• the trend towards implementation of connected tech into urban mobility projects;
• the high cost of cars and their maintenance in some countries;
• open borders and travelling opportunities after the COVID-19 pandemic;
• availability of online booking services.

_{Number of users of car rentals worldwide from 2018 to 2027. Source: Statista, Jun 1, 2023}

However, the number of deaths due to accidents is impressive: according to the European Commission, 20,600 people died in the EU in 2022 — that's the population of a small town! Most accidents are caused by speeding. 40—50% of drivers in Europe regularly break the speed limit.

In case of an accident with a rented car, there is another affected party: the car fleet owner. The average cost of a car accident is 16,000 EUR. If the accident is fatal, the amount exceeds 1 million EUR. Insurance can cover the part or full cost of repair or downtime expenses, but it is wiser to prevent accidents and reduce the risk of car damage due to speeding. According to VOOVOO calculations, the investment of car-sharing companies in its vehicle speed limit controller will pay off in 8—12 months.

_{The VOOBOX board. This ISA design can be used in any car. Source: Youtube by VOOVOO}

Smart speed control devices protect all road users from aggressive driving not only when a vehicle is in motion, but also in the long term. As a result, vehicles wear out less and do not require frequent minor repairs or downtime. And the new anti-theft functions help car owners to preserve their assets.

The speed limit device for commercial vehicles by VOOVOO is not the only one on the market, but it has several advantages that distinguish it from other solutions:

• Simple technology and easy integration.
• Its price makes the technology one of the most cost-effective solutions on the market.

Now, VOOVOO is testing its devices on Tesla cars from OX Drive. This is the first car-sharing company in Latvia with a fleet of 110 vehicles of this brand only. If the test is successful, the smart speed limiters can be installed on OX Drive fleet vehicles.

CEO of OX Drive, Egija Gailuma, says: “The main reason for us to test the VOOVOO technology is safety, that's number one”.

_{A Tesla car from the OX Drive fleet. Source: Youtube by VOOVOO}

This January 2023, there was an accident involving a Tesla from the OX Drive park in Riga. The driver was travelling through the city at about 170 km/h and failed to control the car. There were three passengers in the car. Fortunately, there were no fatalities.

“The VOOVOO technology would have helped us to actually stop the guy in the middle of his drive. And we would have just repossessed the car because he was, unfortunately, under influence. That would have saved us a lot of money, a lot of time and would have been just a better experience for us and also for other customers”, — said Egija Gailuma, CEO of OX Drive.

VOOVOO is obtaining certificates confirming that its smart speed limiter device is operational, fulfils its stated functions and does not harm the vehicle's systems. Such certificates of conformity allow the device to be installed in cars throughout the EU.

The certification testing is supported by the Promwad team, which is responsible for:

• preparing applications for testing;
• solving technical issues during the testing process;
• preparation of technical documentation for the certification laboratory (before and after the tests).

_{The TTM server workflow, incorporating GPS with speed limit warnings}

Now, Promwad engineers are working on an extra feature for the device: the comparison of the vehicle acceleration with a set value. To implement this feature, we are developing a TTM server according to the following principle:

• The server takes acceleration data (G force) from the tracker via GSM and compares it with a set limit value.
• If the set limit value is exceeded, the server sends a command to the tracker to disengage the accelerator pedal. Commands are sent using the Wialon SDK tools.

Also, the VOOVOO engineers independently implemented one more function of the TTM server: locating the vehicle on the map and comparing its speed with the set driving speed limit on that road section. Here is how it works:

• The server receives data on the vehicle location and speed from the tracker.
• The data on vehicle speed limits is received from OpenStreetMaps. The server compares the vehicle's speed at its current location with the authorised limit. If the speed is exceeded, it sends a command to disengage the accelerator pedal using Wialon SDK tools.

Thanks to the development of the TTM server, VOOBOX users will benefit from the following new features:

Speed limit monitoring. The server will be integrated with a map with speed limit areas. The device can work with any custom map, such as Google Speed Map, HERE Maps API, OpenStreetMap, etc.

_{The map shows the current location and the max speed. Source: Youtube by VOOVOO}

Immobiliser activation to block the vehicle’s movement. The TTM server must have a threshold for allowed acceleration, e.g. 0.7G. If this threshold is exceeded several times, the TTM server sends a command to deactivate the accelerator pedal and start forced deceleration of the vehicle.

Tracker grouping to set common settings for several speed limiter devices. This feature is required by car-sharing companies and allows them to set certain territories and speed limits for their clients' journeys.

Enabling the +5 / +10 / +15 modes will allow triggering the pedal, taking into account an adjustment factor — from 5 to 15 km.

Engineering upgrades of the device on Promwad's side will allow VOOVOO to enter new markets and offer in-demand solutions for other companies in the EU.

After the test with OX Drive is completed, our client plans to organise the delivery of their devices to other car-share companies in Latvia, and then enter the markets of Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland.

Now VOOVOO is involved in two other test projects with device shipments in Riga, and the third one will start soon. We will continue covering this promising engineering project and share Promwad’s expertise in our future articles.

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We would like to remind you that speed limiters on new cars are obligatory from 2024, according to the General Vehicle Safety Regulation (EU) 2019/2144. All new cars in the EU will be produced with an integrated intelligent speed assistance (ISA). This measure will help to reduce the number of accidents by 30% and the number of fatalities by 20%.

The expertise of our automotive engineering team allows us to develop various hardware and software solutions that keep you safe on the road. Contact us, and let us help you implement your vision.