Stolen bike with Nano Tracker instantly traceable to homes and garage boxes
During the corona-lockdown thieves kept a low profile, but in recent weeks the number of bicycle thefts has been skyrocketing again, notes Fris Nederland. Today the recovery company introduces the first tracking system that allows it to start tracking immediately after the theft. Via the app, the bike owner receives an alarm signal as soon as the bike moves and within ten minutes the report is relayed to the nearest Fris detection team. The location determination is also so accurate that the transmitter on the bike can be traced inside buildings. Through cooperation with insurers, manufacturers and bicycle stores, the Nano Tracker can contribute to reducing bicycle theft in the Netherlands.
600 million Euro damage
Every year, more than 550,000 bicycles are stolen in the Netherlands. Per day about 1,500. In 2018, of the more than 68,000 registered bicycle thefts (via police reports), only about 2,500 were solved, according to the most recent figures from the CBS.
Peter van den Brink, director Fris Nederland: “Apart from the fact that a stolen bicycle is extremely inconvenient for the owner, the financial damage of bicycle theft has also increased enormously. Expensive and electric models are very popular for recreation, but also increasingly as a sustainable alternative for commuting. We have noticed that thieves are primarily targeting e-bikes, delivery bicycles and racing bikes. As a result, bicycle theft already costs our society 600 million Euro per year. We can almost always find a stolen bicycle with a Nano Tracker. Moreover, the system also has a preventive effect because bicycles with a visible transmitter are less likely to be stolen.”
How the Nano Tracker works
The Nano Tracker of Fris Netherlands contains a motion detector that other track & trace systems do not have. The theft is therefore not only noticed when the owner sees that the bike has disappeared, but also the moment the bike starts moving without the owner’s intervention. This is because the owner immediately receives an alarm in a special smartphone app. By reporting the disappearance in the same app, it arrives at the Fris control room. The stolen bicycle can be tracked in real time using the LoRa telecommunications network (Long Range Wide Area Network) and within ten minutes Fris has called in the nearest detection team. As soon as this team approaches the stolen bicycle, it tracks it down with a specially developed directional receiver. Usual directional receivers operate at a distance of 50 to 100 meters from the searched object. But because of the increased signal strength of the Nano Tracker, a Fris detection team can track the stolen bike from as far as 900 meters to the nearest meter. Even inside houses, garage boxes and other buildings.
If a bike is outside and not attached to anything, the team takes the bike and delivers it back to the owner. If a bike has a declaration or has been put inside, Fris engages the police to get it back.
Racing and cargo bikes
The new Nano Tracker of Fris is fully developed and produced in the Netherlands. The transmitter will be marketed in three models of a few centimeters in size: a semicircular one for regular frame tubes, a semicircular narrow one for racing bikes and a flat one for cargo bikes. In addition to private individuals, the system can also provide a solution for shared bike and rental companies. To find stolen bikes but also to monitor the entire ‘fleet’. The Nano Tracker is also suitable for other vehicles such as motorcycles, cars and boats. For further information, please visit: frisnederland.nl/track-trace
