When Li Mu was reborn, China's Internet industry was at its peak, and the concept of Internet+ was also booming. This further prompted almost all industries in China to integrate with the Internet as much as possible, and the same was true for the express delivery industry.
In Li Mu’s impression, Shunfeng and JD.com at that time could provide users with real-time logistics information and real-time location. Users could see where their express delivery was, at which location, who delivered it, and how far the delivery person was from them. , this kind of perfect customer confidence service relies on the real-time interoperability of GPS and the network.
Li Mu hopes that Taobao Logistics can also have such capabilities in this era. In this case, Taobao Logistics will be at least eight to ten years ahead of logistics companies in previous generations in terms of information technology. Although Li Mu does not know much about hardware, he has sorted out the problems himself. Some key points, I feel that to achieve this in this era, the hardware should have enough foundation, but a new product concept is needed to combine these hardware.
That's why he asked Fang Xudong to bring hardware experts over and propose to them some of his unprofessional but far-sighted ideas.
Li Mu said to everyone: "I believe that real-time positioning equipment should not be difficult to implement, because the current GPS satellite positioning module and GSM mobile communication module are both readily available. As long as the two are integrated, the device can be used through the GSM communication module , real-time transmission of GPS coordinates and location information of the container equipped with real-time positioning information, this should be correct, right?”
As a communication expert, Hu Bo immediately nodded and said: "The more popular mobile communication technologies now are GSM and CDMA. They can both realize the function of real-time data transmission you just mentioned. Although the GPS module is relatively expensive, it is It has become popular in many fields, so it shouldn’t be difficult to combine the two into one.”
Li Mu nodded: "Since these two functions can be realized, let me talk about my other ideas."
After a pause, Li Mu said: "The reason why I need to add the support of radio frequency technology to these two functions is that I hope that in the future we will install such equipment on every vehicle, every trailer, and every large express package. , and then install radio frequency technology reading equipment at all logistics nodes to improve our operational efficiency."
"For example, the container we loaded on the Beijing A555 contains ten large parcels. These ten large parcels will be sent to Shanghai for sorting and transfer. Then when loading, these ten parcels will go directly through The radio frequency technology in the car automatically reads, records and uploads it, and then the vehicle goes on the road, and we can monitor the location of the 'Beijing A555' compartment in real time through the GPS coordinate data sent by GSM;"
“When the car’s location is twenty kilometers or ten kilometers away from the Shanghai Distribution Center, the system will automatically hang the car’s information on the large screen next to the staff picking up the car at the distribution center to remind them of this. When the car is about to enter the site, the staff can instantly see its cargo information. It is loaded with ten large packages, and which business points around Shanghai are destined for these large packages. The relevant information is also clear at a glance. In this way, our workers can be ready before the car arrives. As soon as the car comes in, the radio frequency reading device outside the door can immediately determine the identity of the car and the package inside the car, and directly remind us The pick-up worker, this car has arrived, prepare to work immediately, and then immediately after the car arrives, the ten packages can be immediately transported to the loading station that will go to their respective destination business points. In this way, the overall efficiency should be improved. a lot of."
Li Mu's hardware idea is basically equivalent to a GPS tracker plus a device similar to highway ETC. However, Li Mu is not sure whether it is realistic to develop such a device based on the current hardware foundation.
As a communications expert, Hu Bo thought for a while and said to Li Mu: "Mr. Li, this set of hardware is achievable. Let me take it apart first. Because your idea of both sets of equipment includes GPS and GSM, so I Let’s talk about these two pieces first.”
After a pause, Hu Bo continued: "We can directly purchase GPS modules and GSM modules, and then purchase a batch of SIM cards that can run data from the operators, and use their networks for support. This will involve some communication protocols. , but it’s not a problem. The protocols are all open and the cost is very low. By integrating microcontroller technology, it can be easily realized. The basic structure is a GPS chip, a GSM chip and a microcontroller.”
"As for radio frequency technology, because I am not an expert in this field, I am not very sure. However, I have heard that there is a non-stop toll collection system abroad. Although it is not popular in our country, there are already a small number of them abroad. The country is using it, and this technology should be consistent with our needs."
"The principle is based on a radio frequency technology called RFID. This technology generally requires two sets of hardware and one system. One set of hardware is placed in the car, and the other is placed at the highway toll station. Users drive in or out. There is no need to stop on the expressway. When it passes the toll station, the equipment at the toll station will automatically read the information of the equipment in the car, and then record its starting point in the system, and wait until it reaches the destination and leaves the expressway. At that time, it has to pass through the toll station again, and the information is read again. Once the two data are combined, you can know when and where the car got on the highway, and you can also know when and where the car was. Get off the expressway at the location, then calculate the amount that needs to be paid, and then perform a set of cost calculations. I think the principle of this technology is enough to support the needs you mentioned before. We only need to combine this function with the GPS and GSM modules With integration, you can achieve all your needs.”
Li Mu nodded in agreement and said with a smile: "This kind of technology is needed to support it. If technical problems can be solved, then it shouldn't be that difficult to develop such hardware products, right?"
Hu Bo said: "It mainly depends on what kind of hardware and solutions are used, and then integration, and the need to write microcontroller programs. In addition, industrial design must be carried out at the same time. Industrial design sounds simple, but in reality it is still quite troublesome, such as For mobile phones, we have to repeatedly think of ways to reduce the size of the motherboard, and make compromises with the appearance design. After finally encountering a final objection, we can find an OEM for mold production. However, if we only use it for ourselves , the industrial design aspect does not need to be so meticulous, so our entire process can be much faster."
Li Mu said: "This piece of equipment is mainly installed in truck tractors, trailers, containers, and large express packages, so it does not require too complicated industrial design, as long as it is reliable and practical."
As he spoke, Li Mu added: "But the handheld terminal for couriers I just mentioned is related to our corporate image, so it needs to be better designed, with a sense of technology, and a more high-end feel."
Hu Bo said: "The handheld device you mentioned requires a set of code scanning equipment in addition to the GPS and GSM modules just mentioned. However, this is not a problem. Our current system already fully supports the code scanning equipment. The code gun will quickly identify the code and upload it to the server. We have solved this problem a long time ago. Even if it is replaced by a handheld device, it is not very troublesome, just change the data transmission from network cable to GSM mode wireless transmission."
Li Mu nodded: "Theoretically, this is indeed the case, but we can't just develop a blind code scanning device for our couriers. We have to give them a screen and a system so that they can have more Operation space, for example, if we add a mobile phone screen to this set of equipment, he can choose to scan the QR code for pickup, scan the QR code before delivery, or scan the QR code after delivery;”
"At the same time, we also need to make this device a remote business processing terminal. For example, if a user in our building places an order online and fills in the address here to send express delivery, then our server will receive the After receiving his order requirements, we must immediately find the nearest courier through the location of the terminal device on our courier's body, then send him a pickup notification, and at the same time pass the order information to him in the form of a text message. "
"Alternatively, we can automatically screen the delivery process of the courier through the code scanning record of the express package that the courier carries when he sets off. If courier A is still far away from here at this time, but he carries with him the destination in this building Express delivery, and it has not yet been delivered, we can determine that courier A has delivery business in this building, so he will definitely come to this building. In this way, we can give him the priority to pick up the package. , This can minimize our manual waste and make the entire process more efficient."
Fang Xudong immediately said: "Mr. Li, I will organize a new project team today to tackle the hardware devices you mentioned."
Li Mu nodded: "Communicate with colleagues in the patent department and don't let go of any patents that can be applied for during the research and development process."
"clear."
Li Mu said: "Consider this matter as the first key research and development project of our hardware laboratory. While you are developing the combination of GSM and GPS modules, on the one hand, you must make the two sets of modules more compatible and adaptable. , on the one hand, we need to think more about the effects they can produce when combined with other devices. GSM, GPS and microcontrollers. As long as the three are well integrated, we can connect all possible things to the Internet. This is The future Internet of Things era.”
The Internet of Things is just a vague abstract concept in this era. Even Western countries have not embarked on real research and development of the Internet of Things. So when Li Mu talked about the Internet of Things, everyone present looked at a loss. Although they I’ve heard of this concept, but I don’t know how to put it into practice.
Li Mu said: "The set of equipment we installed on the vehicle has actually realized the basic 'Internet of Things'. However, the future of the Internet of Things should not only be one-way transmission of information, it should also have more practical functions." Let me give you an example of the smart function. If I ask you to develop a new type of bicycle lock, this lock does not have a keyhole. Instead, it uses a GSM module and a microcontroller module to control a set of miniature relays, and then connects Insert the GPS module and use a lithium battery as the power source. In this case, the bicycle equipped with this bicycle lock is already connected to the Internet."
Li Mu wanted to popularize the concept of remote unlocking of shared bicycles as a case study of the Internet of Things, but a very big problem is that there are no smartphones now, and there is no mobile phone scanning, so Li Mu modified the logic. , changing the process of scanning QR codes with smartphones to sending text messages via GSM with ordinary mobile phones.
Later, Li Mu continued: "I give this bicycle a unique ID, save the matching information on the server, and then throw the bicycle on the street for our specific users to use freely. The specific logic is: if this The ID of the car is 6666, so when the user sees the car, he only needs to send the 6666 number to our server via SMS. After the server verifies that his mobile phone number is qualified to unlock the car, it will pass the GSM module , sends an unlocking command to the lock on this bicycle, and then the GSM module passes the received command to the microcontroller, and then the microcontroller controls the relay. What do you think will happen?"
Fang Xudong said with excitement: "The microcontroller received the instruction to energize the relay and unlock the car in an instant!"
(End of chapter)