This product could save thousands of lives!
While the theme of the IAA Transportation was undoubtedly e-mobility (which has the potential to save the planet), a British company called Brigade Electronics focused on something even more important: saving lives. At the exhibition, the company introduced its latest camera solution with artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the CAREYE Safety Angle Turning Assistant.
Legacy of safety
Brigade’s history is somewhat fascinating. It was founded in 1976 by a chap called Chris Hanson-Abbott, who was inspired by the strange beeping sound he heard emanating from the rear of a small truck on a street in Tokyo.
Back then, reversing safety had not been addressed outside of Japan – but Chris decided to introduce it in the UK. With support from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), Brigade launched its first reversing alarm at the 1976 Commercial Vehicle show in London.
The company’s stand wasn’t exactly a resounding success; Chris and his team didn’t make one single sale! And… just to make things worse… the publicity from the show culminated in the Department for Transport announcing that reversing alarms contravened the Construction & Use Regulations – and were thus illegal.
Fast forward to 2022 and things are somewhat different for Brigade Electronics. It has grown into a global market-leading provider of safety devices and solutions for commercial vehicles and machinery. And – thankfully – its stand at the IAA Transportation was a far cry from its 1976 Commercial Vehicle exhibition booth…
New tech
One of the reasons for the company’s successful stand – and indeed the success of the business in general – is its obsession with saving lives through the use of technology.
We are a dedicated team of people that are passionate about saving lives by providing commercial vehicle and mobile machinery drivers, fleet managers, and manufacturers around the world with safety systems, data and services that help improve efficiency and prevent collisions between vehicles and pedestrians, cyclists, other vehicles, and objects. We love to pioneer new technologies and then develop and refine them into industry-leading, high quality and reliable solutions for our OEM and aftermarket customers,” a company spokesman notes.
The CAREYE Safety Angle Turning Assistant is one product that has resulted from that passion. Thousands of pedestrians and cyclists are killed or hurt in road accidents around the world each year. According to Brigade, an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) like CAREYE can prevent one in three of these accidents.
Trialled on behalf of Brigade by its customer Geier & Söhne Transportgesellschaft GmbH on one of its Mercedes Actros vehicles, the CAREYE uses AI to detect pedestrians, cyclists and other objects.
Warnings are issued either actively with an audible and visual red alert if a person or object is at risk of being hit, or passively with a visual yellow alert if, for example, a person or object is moving away from the danger zone – dramatically reducing false alerts.
The CAREYE is active all the time when the vehicle is travelling at a speed below 30 km/h. It boasts an extended blind spot monitoring area up to 10 m long and 4 m wide, including the blind spot at the front corner of the vehicle.
The system is fully functional in low light (above 2 LUX ambient light) and difficult weather conditions. It is available for retrofitting to existing vehicles. Furthermore, the system is available for both right- and left-hand drive vehicles.
Winning ways
CAREYE has been rated as a clear winner by Europe’s largest motoring association, the ADAC (General German Automobile Club). ADAC performance tests have demonstrated its optimum performance and outranked other similar vehicle safety devices on the market. ADAC cited CAREYE’s reliability for not producing false alerts, the visual feedback for drivers being clear and easy to understand, and its quick reaction times for detecting people and objects.
No false alarms
John Osmant, Managing Director of Brigade Elektronik GmbH, explains that the accuracy of CAREYE’s AI advanced algorithm makes false alerts almost impossible. “It provides the driver with absolute peace of mind that they can manoeuvre their vehicle with the utmost safety. The system is able to differentiate between cars, trucks, people, bicycles and static objects, such as trees or bollards. Movement and the expected direction are then calculated, making the system extremely reliable,” he notes.
In addition to CAREYE, Brigade also showcased its market-leading 360-degree camera, the Backeye 360, and IP cameras, as well as its range of remote fleet management solutions and its Mobile Digital Recorder at the IAA Transportation.
Brigade Elektronika has a South African office situated in Centurion. Contact details: 012 644 0137 or 083 564 8401 and email fritz@brigade-sa.co.za or nicoline@brigade-sa.co.za.
