Stop your stolen car dead in its tracks ...

North East boffin who beat the speed cameras in court with his vehicle tracker now set to beat the car thieves.

Car device to put brakes on thieves
Sunderland Echo
9th December 2009

By David MacLean

AN INVENTOR has created a device which he says can halt a stolen vehicle anywhere in the world in seconds.

Dr Phillip Tann, 48, claims his new gadget has the potential to put car thieves out of action and massively reduce car insurance premiums.The immobilisation invention's wizardry is contained in a box less than the size of a matchbox.It allows the owner to remotely send a signal which cuts the ignition as soon as the vehicle stops.

The product has been developed and released by Fleet M8, based at the Hi-Tech Village in Boldon.

Dr Tann said: "We were approached by one of our customers who hire out very expensive motors and they required not only the ability to track their vehicles, but also to immobilise and recover them should they be stolen."

As soon as the vehicle's ignition is turned off the vehicle cannot be restarted and the system pinpoints the vehicle's location to an accuracy of less than one metre. The vehicle can then be recovered by the owner or the police."

"We can remotely immobilise a vehicle from anywhere in the world."

The immobiliser connects to the vehicle's existing electrical system. It allows the owner to remotely immobilise a vehicle using their PC or mobile phone. A user sends a stop signal to FleetM8's server and once the vehicle has come to a stop, the engine is immobilised. When the owner chooses to mobilise the vehicle again a start signal is sent by the FleetM8 server.

A vehicle can be immobilised when it enters a virtual fenced area or by a simple button on their mobile phone and can happen in under one second.

Dr Tann hit the headlines two years ago when his vehicle tracking device proved that he wasn't speeding at 42mph as the police had alleged. He was able to prove it with evidence provided by his prototype device.

He teamed up with motoring expert Neil Herron and they launched the FleetM8 System, which has been fitted to a number of vehicle fleets and most recently to Arriva buses in Scotland.

Enquiries email paul@fleetm8.com or call 0191 519 2379

Vehicle tracker bought by bus company

Sunderland Echo
30th November 2009
Vehicle tracking technology developed by a Wearside company will be used by one of Europe's biggest transport firms.
FleetM8 has landed a contract with Sunderland-based Arriva, which operates in 12 European countries.
The tracking technology will be used on the company's bus fleets in Scotland, allowing it to immediately spot when vehicles end up "crowding" by getting too close together.
FleetM8's tracker was developed by inventor Dr Phillip Tann with business partner Neil Herron, noted for his traffic campaigns.
The technology gained recognition two years ago when Dr Tann recieved a speeding ticket claimed he was doing 42mph in a 30 zone.His vehicle, however, was fitted with a prototype GPS tracking device which recorded both his location and speed, clocking him at 29.177196mph at the time he was alleged to have been speeding.

Revolutionary Vehicle Tracking Technology ... check it out

The vehicle tracker is also available for the individual motorist ... FleetM8 Solo. Check out the website by clicking on the logo.

North vehicle trackers to be sold across India
Dec 12 2008

by Andrew Mernin,
The Journal

A SCIENTIST whose invention saved him from a speeding ticket and a campaigner for motorists’ rights have joined forces to commercialise a new tracking system which will now be sold across India.

North East inventor Dr Phillip Tann and Neil Herron – a well-known regional campaigner for motorists hit by questionable parking and speeding fines – launched a business on the back of Dr Tann’s groundbreaking vehicle-tracking system.

And yesterday the South Tyneside business, FleetM8, announced a deal with India’s SLN Technologies which will see the technology marketed throughout the Indian sub-continent.
SLN specialises in telemetric, tracking and communications technology and is involved in the Indian lunar satellite project Chandrayaan and worked on the control system for India’s moon mission.

Initially FleetM8 will market its products as vehicle tracking devices which can either be used via a mobile phone or attached to the vehicle to track speed and location.

However the company is currently working on a number of other applications for the technology including a child safety device and a mobile golf course-mapping device for golfers.

The technology first gained recognition last year when Dr Tann received a speeding ticket from Northumbria Police which claimed he was doing 42 mph in a 30 mph zone.
However, Dr Tann’s vehicle was fitted with a prototype GPS tracking device which not only recorded the vehicle’s position it also recorded a speed, to six decimal places, of 29.177196mph.
Today’s commercialisation of that device follows the sourcing of around £250,000 of investment by directors Dr Tann, campaigner Neil Herron and financial adviser Byron Longstaff.

In recent years Neil Herron has become a well known campaigner for the successful Metric Martyr’s fight – to be allowed to sell fruit and vegetables in imperial weights – and is also a champion for the motorist in parking and speeding disputes.

Last year he exposed errors in Sunderland’s legal regime which resulted in thousands of motorists being refunded for parking tickets.

As well as India, FleetM8’s technology has attracted interest from several other international markets.

Dr. Tann said: “Within a few years we anticipate that cars and other vehicles will once again take the lead with the integration of sophisticated technology transmitting data to a remote ‘black box’ at such low cost and volumes that will enable a multitude of applications to be utilised.
“Just imagine the road networks as a computer network with traffic lights as switches and roundabouts as hubs and we could end up with super-efficient highways and massively reduced congestion.”

The company is preparing to launch the technology in Australia as a mobile phone application through a partnership deal with Vodafone.

FleetM8 has also gained interest from the States and is in talks with a number of haulage firms who could harness the system to monitor long-distance trips. In South Africa, where vehicle theft and car-jacking is rife, interest has been shown in FleetM8 by businesses who would like to market it as a tracking device to assist in recovering stolen vehicles.

Similarly in Kenya, local authorities have expressed an interest in the technology to prevent the increasingly-frequent hijacking of its postal vans.

Dr Tann is also developing a child-tracking application through either a special clip or a mobile phone download for older children, which is expected to come to market in the new year.

One small step for Dr. GPS one giant leap for vehicle tracking ...

FleetM8 PRESS RELEASE: 11th December 2008







ONE SMALL STEP FOR 'DR. GPS' ONE GIANT LEAP FOR VEHICLE TRACKING AS FLEETM8 TEAM UP WITH INDIAN LUNAR SATELLITE COMPANY

NORTH EAST VEHICLE TRACKING TECHNOLOGY FIRM AND INDIAN LUNAR SATELLITE COMPANY TO LAUNCH IN INDIA

In October 2007 North East inventor Dr. Phillip Tann received a speeding ticket from Northumbria Police alleging that he was doing 42mph in a 30mph zone. Fortunately for Dr. Tann his vehicle was fitted with a prototype GPS tracking device that not only recorded the vehicle’s position it also recorded the vehicle’s speed … to six decimal places.

(left) Dr. Tann with the FleetM8 Tracker

The headlines ‘Inventor wins speed camera battle’ went around the world when the Crown Prosecution ‘withdrew the case because the officer who operated the camera had retired.’

In 2008 Dr. Tann teamed up with Motoring Campaigner Neil Herron to develop a version of the highly accurate vehicle tracking device for the mass market and FleetM8 was created using the unique patented technology. FleetM8 not only monitors the vehicle’s speed and location in real time it also provides a full history of a vehicle’s movements for a twelve month period which can be accessed at any time and reports and statistics produced.

A version, known as FleetM8 Solo, has also been developed for the individual motorist and can provide data to challenge speeding and parking fines as well as monitoring driver behaviour. Alerts and reports as well as geo-fencing are all useful benefits for fleets and the individual motorist alike and users of the device report better driver awareness and behaviour as a result.

Because FleetM8 is effectively a ‘black box’ within a vehicle and can prove pre-collision behaviour as well as the immediate location and recovery of stolen vehicles substantial discounts on premiums are available.The company has expanded, taken on a number of employees and re-located from Birtley to South Tyneside with support from South Tyneside Council and Business Link.

In September FleetM8’s Neil Herron and Byron Longstaff went on a UK Trade and Investment Mission to India and met a number of companies who had expressed an interest in working with FleetM8 and the technology and an interest in taking the product to market in India. As a result of this visit SLN Technologies are to partner FleetM8 in India and take FleetM8s revolutionary vehicle tracking device to market in the whole of the Indian sub-continent. SLN Technologies are no stranger to groundbreaking telemetric, tracking and communications technology as they are currently involved with the Indian lunar satellite, Chandrayaan. having worked on the worked on the control system for the Moon Mission, India’s most prestigious project.




















Anil Kumar at SLN Technologies

Anil Kumar, Director of SLN Technologies said: “We are very pleased to be partnering FleetM8 and looking forward to taking this exciting technology to market in India. We anticipate massive demand for the unique product that Dr. Tann has created and it will be highly beneficial to anyone operating any fleets in India, whether it be trucks, tankers, buses or taxis. We believe that the unique, patented technology will revolutionise the GPS tracking industry and we will be working closely with Dr. Tann in taking new ideas forward using his concept.”

Neil Herron, Director of FleetM8 said: “We have experienced a great deal of interest in Dr. Tann’s patented technology from around the world and SLN Technology impressed us with their set up and understanding of the massiveworld potential.. GPS Tracking applications and GPRS data transmission is set to revolutionise the way remote data can be captured, stored, accessed and utilised and we anticipate that it is set to become the fifth utility service. The FleetM8 and FleetM8 Solo Vehicle Trackers are the first application of the technology to be taken to market, but there are a myriad of applications that can use the technology such as child or asset tracking, mapping out your golf round to replay on your home PC. The secret in the technology is the unique and cost effective way that the data is compressed and transmitted and because of this, the technology has the edge over all the other products on the market.”

Dr. Tann, states: “This is one small step for FleetM8 but one giant leap for the GPS tracking industry. Within a few years we anticipate that cars and other vehicles will once again take the lead with the integration of sophisticated technology transmitting data to a remote ‘black box’ at such low cost and volumes that will enable a multitude of applications to be utilised. Just imagine the road networks as a computer network with traffic lights as switches and roundabouts as hubs and we could end up with super-efficient highways and massively reduced congestion … all because the transmission of data is so low that it will enable route optimisation and analysis.”

CONTACT:

Neil Herron
Tel. 0191 5192379
Mob. 07776 202045
http://www.fleetm8.com/

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

Inventor wins Speed Camera battle

SLN Technologies

India launches first Moon mission