NimBus 2.0: major product update

Month after month, we release updated versions of Wialon Hosting and Wialon-based applications, and once a year, the updated Wialon Local makes its users happier. And all this is not only thanks to our committed work.

Your reviews, wishes, feedback, and comments that you leave on the Gurtam forum or share in emails to personal managers are what we focus on in developing our products. Today we are ready to please you with a new major NimBus update and kindly invite you to participate in a public beta test.

Why you need this update

Over the life of the NimBus product, specific user requests could not be satisfied in any way. The existing system architecture and tracking module logic either made it impossible or provided it on the condition that users would have to be engaged in many inconvenient actions. 

For example, the circular routes’ option was available but with limitations, since:

• the first stop can’t be considered as the last one;
• the route should be split into two parts, which complicates operational work on the Online tab.

 And such an option as the automatic assignment of one unit from a set was not available at all.

What’s new?

The updated NimBus is dedicated not only to solve the problems outlined above. The product architecture was redesigned so that there will be an opportunity for further functionality development based on this update. But now let’s get to a detailed overview of what the new NimBus can already boast of.

System-unit communication

Now NimBus uses a new message processing strategy, according to which the system continually receives and analyzes messages from units bound to routes or assigned to rides manually. This will allow for more flexible processing of situations when it is not known in advance which unit will go along the route.

Auto-assignment

Automatic assignment of a unit to a ride implies that the system selects one unit from several ones (bound to a route) and assigns it to a route. After assigning the unit, tracking proceeds as usual.

How it was

Previously, there were only two ways to assign a unit to a ride:

• a user can manually assign it on the Rides page, individually for each ride;
• a user can assign it on the Schedule tab on the Routes page.

The first option is suitable for operational work, when the assignment is carried out by specialized personnel, for example, dispatchers. The second option is good for very stable vehicle fleets: when the same units go on the same routes and schedules.

But what if, for example, there are no planned assignments, but there is a list of units assigned to the route?

How it works now

To handle highlighted issues, in addition to the existing methods, we have added the automatic assignment of a unit to a route upon entering the route’s first stop geofence.

The new functionality works as described below.

1) The units are assigned to the ride, and the Automatic assignment of the units check box is activated. 

2) The rides for such a route will be created upon the ride activation time or entering the stop geofence. In this regard, we have also added a new type of ride activation – upon entering a geofence.

3) When creating a ride, the system will assign the unit to the ride from the list of bound units. If there are several active rides, the unit will be assigned to the next ride.

The new automatic assignment option allows avoiding manually assigning units when a fixed set of units is bound to a route. 

Circular routes

A circular route is a route in which the first stop coincides with the last one but has a different visiting time specified in the schedule.

How it was

Previously, there were the following problems with this functionality:

• incorrect recording of visits to stops;
• untimely completion of rides.

How it works now

In the updated NimBus, a route can be looped in two ways:

 a) when creating a route using the Circular route option;

b) when editing a route using the Loop option.

 The route can also be looped using the map. 

The major change is the ability to use the first stop as the last one, specifying individual visit time for the first and last stops in the schedule. Thanks to this, the system now considers what time of visit the message received from the unit is closer. Also, it determines whether the unit is ending the previous ride or simply is approaching the first stop by a convenient road.  

Please note that for reports, the time of visiting such a stop will be recorded twice: at the beginning and the end of the ride.

Moreover, we have got rid of one more problem. Now, when a unit arrives at the first stop and crosses other stops on the route, the system will not record these visits with a significant advance, which means that there will be no rides ended untimely.

Routes with intersections

A route with intersections is a route that intersects or overlaps with itself.

How it was

Previously, there were the following discrepancies in the system operation. The unit was displayed correctly on the map, but the linear diagram sometimes didn’t display the unit properly. The system relied only on visiting stops, so when driving in a forward direction, the last stops on the route could be recorded ahead of time. Although we recommend creating individual routes for such cases, this method was still not convenient for all users.

How it works now

The new algorithm compares the time of receiving messages from units with the time of visiting each stop specified in the schedule. It allows carrying out rides of such routes more correctly and prevents recording the last stop visit ahead of time and untimely end of the ride.

Thanks to the new features NimBus will significantly extend the system application scope in the Wialon partners’ projects:

• the standard functionality (tracking, notifications, reporting, etc.) can be used to control the rides on circular routes and routes with self-intersections;
• one of several bound units can be automatically assigned to the planned ride.

NimBus update public beta testing

The new NimBus features are at the beta testing stage and have become available to every user since December 15. You just need to use the toggle in the depot settings (the Administration tab).

We encourage all NimBus users to get acquainted with the update and actively share their impressions, comments, and suggestions.

Feel free to send your questions about NimBus to the Gurtam forum or Victoria Suskova, our Product Manager. With your feedback in mind, we will get the complete version of the new NimBus ready and launch it in early 2021. Stay tuned for further product news! 

What's next on the agenda?

The main and strongest advantage of the released update is greater opportunities for further NimBus development. And although we are just releasing an updated product version, we already have thoughts on how to improve it.

Thus, we are planning to create a ride without linking it to time or schedule. Even with auto-assignment, there is a binding to the time (schedules) in the current update. And we aim to enable creating rides simply upon entering the geofence. But to activate such an option, we needed that global NimBus revamp outlined in this article.

We kindly remind you that the second edition of the Gurtam meetups is already fully streamed for the Wialon partner community. Keep up with the online meetings’ schedule on the Gurtam meetups’ page and join the meetup dedicated to the current NimBus update. As always, we are looking forward to seeing you online!