IoT-Enabled Shipping Container with Environmental Monitoring and Location Tracking

Internet of Things (IoT) interconnects physical devices and objects that offer services to enrich the user experience. By 2020, it is estimated that up to 50 billion IoT devices will be deployed to offer new services. For instance, empowering traditional transport systems with IoT ensure greater visibility and traceability to remotely monitor the transported objects. In traditional shipping and freight systems, containers carrying donated organs should be sealed carefully, kept below a certain temperature, and placed in a physically safe place to minimize the chances of damage due to jerking and accidental falling. This paper presents a system of a smart shipping container that uses IoT, Cloud computing, Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol, and Docker images for effective and remote monitoring of shipping containers. During the shipping process, the IoT-enabled container provides continuous monitoring and readings related to temperature, humidity, location, luminosity, vibration, and open/close conditions. Additionally, automatic push alerts and notifications are sent to stakeholders when certain conditions or violations occur. Examples of these violations may include the opening of a sealed container or exceeding a preset maximum temperature. We have designed, developed, and tested the system under various real conditions.