A first-of-its-kind panoramic camera for heavy duty trucks that may one day become standard equipment on heavy duty vehicles has been successfully tested in the UK.
The Brigade Backeye 360 Elite System will enable truck drivers to see cyclists, pedestrians, other vehicles and other potential collision dangers while maneuvering dense urban streets. It uses four ultra-wide angle camera lenses mounted around the vehicle to cover every potential blind spots.
All four images are then combined into a single image that appears on one monitor in the truck’s cab, giving the driver a “bird’s eye” view of everything around his vehicle.
The Backeye 360 uses four ASL360 cameras that were specially designed by Continental. It’s the same camera system that currently is being used on teh team bus of the FC Bayern Munich professional soccer team.
The trial of the Brigade Backeye 360 Elite system on trucks navigating London’s city streets lasted three months.
Among the system’s fans are Andrew Gilligan, London’s cycling commissioner.
“I am pleased to see a marked progress in the use of advanced driver assistance systems on large vehicles,” Gilligan said. “Surround view systems offer a great aid to drivers in incident avoidance, making London’s roads a safer place to cycle, walk and motorcycle. Safer roads for everyone result in the driving down of the human and economic cost of serious incidents on the capital’s roads.”
Cameras that provide 360-degree views to drivers currently are available on some passenger vehicles, but this is the first time the technology has been tested on larger trucks. Because of its success in reducing collisions and avoiding injuries, it is highly likely that similar cameras will become more common in the coming years, especially as the cost of the technology comes down.