LAS VEGAS. Preco Electronics has introduced a product that it said will turn any in-cab monitoring system into an active safety solution. The company unveiled its PreView VideoLink II this week at the World of Concrete show here.
PreView VideoLink II provides an overlay to any existing in-cab camera and monitor system, the company said. It converts an existing monitor into an active-safety solution that provides both audible and colorful visual alerts. The result, it added, is active driver assistance to mitigate or avoid collisions.
“In-cab cameras and monitors are becoming standard, however they are still a passive solution that requires the operator to be viewing the monitor to be effective,” said John Fadgen, engineering manager at Preco Electronics. “PreView VideoLink II turns the solution from passive to active and allows an organization to extend the life of that camera/monitor system.”
According to Tom Loutzenheiser, vice president of business development, VideoLink is part of the next-generation solutions that company is developing. Those solutions include more sensor integration as advanced safety systems on vehicles become more abundant.
“How can we tie all these systems together?” he asked. “All the sensors have different limitations. One sees a human while another says, ‘it could be a human, but it could be something else.’”
Loutzenheiser mentioned the addition of side-turning technology, which is being piloted in Europe and could be standard there within two years. The technology uses side-detection radar to help vehicles identify potential objects in blind spots while turning, for instance a bicyclist or person walking and not paying attention.
“We’re tying into the CAN bus so we can get vehicle speed and turning angle,” Loutzenheiser explained. “If the radar can get that information, then we can make algorithms for the situations.”
The VideoLink system builds upon the company’s PreView system, which is available to U.S. over-the-road fleets, but is more commonly purchased by vocational fleets. PreView uses radar to identify objects along the side of the vehicle and provides an audible alarm inside the cab when there is an obstacle.
The company has also released a wireless version of the system that Loutzenheiser said is perfect for aftermarket installation. It is also expected to be popular in refuse applications, as running wires through the chassis on refuse trucks can be complicated, he noted.
There are several models in the PreView line, including back-up systems.
Preco Electronics has a long history of safety advances. According to Doug Whitfield, director of marketing, the company was founded in 1947 and developed and patented the first back-up alarm in 1962. It provided its first telematics system to Caterpillar in 1975 and by the mid-1990s licensed its first radar technology that resulted in the Preview collision mitigation system.
It also partnered with Eaton to develop the Vorad system before that was sold to Bendix. The company continues to build a system for Bendix that is sold as the Blindspotter.
