Smart cargo container tracking and IT security management: Experimental results

Abstract

The paper presents an experimental study dealing with the tracking of a cargo container including its state in real time. For this study, the device that is attached to the inside of the container door is conceived, designed and created. A ‘do-it-yourself principle’ is used to get a better insight into the behavior of the device during transport and to facilitate later upgrades and further research. The central component of the tracking device is a Raspberry Pi computer. The accompanying appliances are a power source (battery) supported by an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) unit, a Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications modem, a Global Positioning System (GPS) transceiver, a server, a dispatcher/user desktop computer and a virtually smartphone. Five types of sensors for continuous scanning of temperature, humidity, light, tilt and time are included to check the status of conditions inside the container. The dispatcher and user interfaces are provided by a secure web application programmed in Python. The motive for carrying out this experiment was our research curiosity triggered by the existing gap in the mechanisms for tracking a single freight container in the block of containers loaded into a container ocean carrier, for instance. At this stage, the experiment is realized in road transport. It is currently in the process of being ‘cloned’ for maritime transport, as there are some administrative obstacles to obtaining research ethics approval.

While it is not always necessary to track every container in transit, when it comes to dangerous, perishable and high specific value cargo, tracking a single container is recommended for several reasons, including visibility, efficiency, safety and security. As part of the environmental scan, some comparisons are made with existing systems for tracking drums or casks of nuclear cargo in land and sea transport. As the experiment includes a web-based interface and back-end info-communication system, some precautions for Information Technology (IT) security management are briefly considered, as well.