FlatTurtle Blog

Proof of Concept at Etterbeek Station

FlatTurtle and Stoomlink working together

About a month ago, we embarked on a proof of concept at the Etterbeek NMBS station in collaboration with Stoomlink.com (recently rebranded to Belgian Mobility Company). They handle the content while we manage the hardware and connectivity.

Multimodal transport

The goal of the project is to give travelers all the needed information at a single glance: you’ll be able to see your transit information when disembarking the train and heading to a bus or tram. Run or walk?

Reliable Hardware

We’ve implemented an outdoor casing that is resistant to water, sun, and even freezing temperatures around our FlatTurtle screen. This displays mobility information for all four mobility companies in Brussels, ensuring visibility and accessibility under all conditions—perfect for Belgian weather.

Our solution utilizes industrial fanless devices running on our TurtleOS.

TurtleOS

TurtleOS is a robust and stable system we’ve developed and refined over 12 years. Running on Debian Linux, it is customized to our digital signage needs, offering extensive remote management and proactive alerting. If a screen goes offline, our service desk gets paged, allowing us to investigate or schedule repairs promptly.

While this is the first time we’re offering our platform as a service, we’re excited to see where it goes. We’re looking forward to a fruitful collaboration with Stoomlink.

Connectivity

By leveraging 5G connectivity, we avoid reliance on corporate lines and policies, maintaining full control over our internet connection. This autonomy is crucial for delivering reliable and consistent service. We’re very happy with the link quality in Brussels, and so far everything has been working smoothly.

Feedback

Feedback has been very positive. Stay tuned for more updates as we progress through this exciting proof of concept. We’re looking forward to deploying this across the 53 stations in and around Brussels.

Contact

As always, you can reach out to FlatTurtle via our contact page. Do not hesitate to WhatsApp us directly if it’s urgent.


P.S.: I’m glad the working team agreed to use bigger screens (easier to view in high density areas, considering the height) — but this also makes ours officially bigger than the Railtime screens. 🥳

– Yeri