You know those little graphic icons on the smart phones that you can touch and instantly connect to a game, flight schedules, NASCAR news, recipes, or even the weather? We know them as “apps,” and there are literally thousands of them.
What if I told you that you now can get similar apps for a dashboard for your reefer control unit? Today at MATS, Carrier Transicold introduced their APX Control System, an option for the X2 series of reefer units. It features such apps as Door Man, Fuel Check, Sleep Mode, Range Protect, Product Shield, Driver Mode and even Virtual Technician.
Our senior technical editor, Paul Abelson and I, along with other Land Line editors, found an array of interesting features in the APX. Professor Paul got pretty excited about it, in fact.
Carrier Transicold takes a modular approach to the control system (you know, that big box normally stuffed full of wires?) – innovating in three areas: hardware architecture, the display or human-machine interface, and software apps.
They took a large control unit and broke out specific electronic functions into modules, with a main control module, a display module, a power control and others. Using the latest in wiring, it’s possible to locate modules strategically around the reefer, on the truck or trailer. The modules are sealed and waterproof.
Paul says it reminds him of the DOE/Caterpillar project, the More Electric Truck, launched about a decade ago. Anyone remember that? The idea was to relocate components from where they were driven to where they would be used. Why, for instance, should an air conditioner compressor be located in front of the engine (where the drive belt is) when its refrigerant is needed in the cab? Driving it "electrically" saves refrigerant, hoses and most important, underhood real estate. The same with power steering, and other accessories.
Well, that is what Carrier did. They broke up the central unit into its constitutional parts and connected them electrically, using multiplexing to separate functions. It’s expandable and allows for greater innovation with the apps. Imagine, for example, getting condition reports through your cell phone. There’s virtually no upper limit to progress with this approach.
In the words of Professor Paul, the potential is fantastic.
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