🔥 Gaz on Wheelz: 0→1 Serverless SaaS & IoT Fleet Tracking
Transforming commercial LPG distribution from untracked deliveries and paper ledgers into a real-time, automated cloud management system with vehicle telematics.
3 State Awards
KSCST Funded
100% OTP Guard
Serverless + IoT
Official Gaz on Wheelz cloud application interface (Live on Firebase: mall-e4018.web.app)
🧩 Overview & Origin
Commercial LPG distribution agencies deliver high-value pressurized cylinders (8 kg, 12 kg, 17 kg, 19 kg) to commercial clients like hotels, cloud kitchens, and restaurants. However, agencies historically operated with near-zero control over the delivery chain once trucks left the depot. Sales records and cylinder deposits were scribbled manually in paper notebooks, and fleet operators had no way of knowing whether drivers completed deliveries on time or diverted inventory.
While in my final year of engineering at Sri Venkateshwara College of Engineering (SVCE, Department of Mechatronics, Bengaluru), I observed these operational pain points at a commercial LPG agency. I led our engineering team (Vikas B, Bhuvan H S, Mahesh S, and Ajieeth A under the guidance of Asst. Prof. Ramya P) to conceptualize, architect, and build Gaz on Wheelz: a 0→1 full-stack serverless cloud platform paired with custom vehicle IoT telematics that won 3 State Awards and was funded by the Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology (KSCST) under the 45th Series Student Project Programme.
💥 The Commercial Distribution Cycle & Operational Gaps
The commercial LPG distribution cycle is a continuous closed loop requiring strict accountability at every handoff:
Figure 1: The Commercial LPG Distribution Closed Loop (Manufacturing → Agency → Distribution Truck → Restaurant / Hotel → Empty Cylinder Pickup)
Without cloud synchronization, this multi-stage lifecycle suffered from severe operational vulnerabilities:
- Paper Ledger Vulnerabilities: Sales, security deposits, and empty cylinder returns were recorded on physical books that were easily manipulated, lost, or damaged.
- Blind Delivery Runs: Fleet managers had zero real-time visibility into vehicle positions, speeds, route adherence, or customer arrival times.
- Cylinder Diversion & Ghost Drop-offs: Pressurized commercial cylinders were occasionally diverted or handed over without verification, causing massive financial losses.
- Delayed Billing Reconciliation: Reconciling daily runs, driver cash collections, and GST accounts required up to 48 hours of manual cross-checking.
- Hazardous Leakage Risks: Trucks transported dozens of pressurized gas cylinders with zero continuous leak telemetry.
☁️ Cloud System Architecture
I architected a centralized serverless cloud backbone on Google Firebase and ReactJS, linking all five operational modules into a real-time admin dispatcher console:
Figure 2: Central Cloud Architecture coordinating Inventory, Pricing Customization, Financial Reports, IoT Fleet Management, and Customer Ledgers
📦 Real-Time Inventory Ledger
Tracks depot vault balances (full vs. empty counts) across 8kg, 12kg, 17kg, and 19kg variants. Live delta updates occur automatically when trucks load or return.
🏷️ Dynamic Tier Pricing
Commercial client contracts differ by monthly volume. The system dynamically computes customized refill pricing and security deposit terms per commercial account.
🧾 Automated Financial Reports
Eliminated manual end-of-day tallying. Invoices, delivery challans, and GST ledger records are generated dynamically on every confirmed delivery.
🛰️ Connected IoT Fleet Telemetry
Custom vehicle tracking hardware streams GPS coordinates, vehicle velocity, fuel consumption, and gas leak alerts directly into Firestore in real time.
🖥️ Production Application Interface
Built with ReactJS, the agency portal provides dispatchers with an end-to-end view of all customer bookings, active driver runs, and cylinder reconciliation:
Figure 3: Recent Bookings Dashboard showing live customer orders, order types (Refill vs. New Connection), cylinder weight categories, balance amounts, and completion status
Figure 4: Granular Booking Details modal tracking exact cylinder quantities (12Kg, 17Kg, 19Kg), empty cylinders received vs. empty pending, and transaction balances
📡 IoT Fleet Telematics & Live Tracking
Commercial delivery trucks operate on rigorous multi-stop schedules. To give dispatchers full operational control, we engineered a dedicated IoT fleet telematics subsystem and live map console:
Figure 5: Live Fleet Tracking Map in Bengaluru (Yelahanka / Vidyanagar corridor) displaying real-time vehicle coordinates (KA 00 XX 0000), delivery waypoints 1–4, and live telemetry cards (Distance: 12.5 km, Avg Speed: 45.98 km/h, Fuel Consumed: 10.00 Ltrs, Operating Time: 05:12:36 Hrs)
ESP8266 NodeMCU microcontroller connected to a high-precision SIM28M GPS receiver with an external magnetic mount antenna and LED health monitor.
On-board MQ gas sensor mounted directly atop the cylinder cage monitors for dangerous gas leaks, immediately transmitting emergency warnings to the cloud console.
🔐 100% OTP Guard: Eliminating Fraudulent Deliveries
The fatal flaw in traditional distribution was reliance on driver trust. To solve cylinder diversion permanently, we designed and implemented a dual-ended OTP authentication workflow:
Figure 6: Delivery agent arrives at restaurant → Agent triggers OTP request in PWA → Serverless cloud dispatches one-time secret to verified customer manager → Customer supplies OTP → Transaction sealed in Firestore
Because the driver cannot mark cylinders as "Delivered" without inputting the customer's one-time password, unauthorized cylinder diversion and ghost deliveries were completely eradicated.
🏆 Recognition & Academic Honors
Government Research Grant & State Conclave Awards:
- KSCST Technical Grant: Funded by the Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology (KSCST) under the prestigious 45th Series Student Project Programme.
- 3 State Innovation Awards: Awarded top honors across state-level tech exhibitions for bridging embedded Mechatronics hardware with production cloud software.
- Zero Inventory Shrinkage: Achieved a 100% verification rate during pilot tests, completely preventing cylinder deposit discrepancies.
- Instant Daily Reconciliation: Reduced agency end-of-day bookkeeping from over 48 hours to under 5 minutes through automated ledger tallying.