Preventing side collisions

Artificial Intelligence is going to play an increasing role in vehicle safety

Preventing accidents between vehicles and road users has been Brigade Electronics' main field of activity for nearly half a century. A wide range of tools are used to make roads and work environments safer. For example, in narrow streets, pedestrians and cyclists quickly run the risk of being hit sideways by a truck. To prevent this, Brigade has developed a separate solution: Sidescan Predict.

Let us take as an example the collection of household waste. For the driver of the often large and wide household waste trucks, tools to prevent accidents are of great importance. Obviously, the same is true with large construction equipment. Driving a large vehicle through narrow streets poses risks. With the presence of pedestrians, cyclists and nowadays the many rental scooters and fast bicycle couriers, keeping an overview becomes increasingly difficult.

Fortunately, technological developments have been rapid in recent years. For example, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is playing an increasingly important role and work is becoming more efficient through the use of, for example, filling sensors, intelligent meters and radar technology.

But no matter how smart these systems are, most accidents between a vehicle and road user still happen (too) often because of human action or insufficient visibility of the surroundings. The driver of a garbage truck must have eyes in the front as well as the back of his head. In short, as long as the self-driving garbage truck is not yet a reality, the driver of the garbage truck remains responsible for safe driving and therefore needs tools to avoid accidents. This is where the Sidescan Predict comes into play.

Predictive system

Sidescan Predict is a new system, which can predict whether a sidescan accident involving a person driving or walking is about to happen. Using sensors and Artificial Intelligence, Sidescan Predict continuously collects a variety of data, such as a vulnerable road user's speed and distance from the vehicle. Additional technology is built into the system to collect information about speed, direction, acceleration and rotational speed of one's own vehicle. This data feeds an algorithm, developed by Brigade itself, to quickly and accurately calculate the risk of a collision with cyclist or pedestrian next to the vehicle.

Visual and audible alerts

Sidescan Predict uses visual and audible alerts. It does so in three steps increasing in strength. The first step 'Moving object detected' provides a yellow visual warning, but without sound to minimize driver distraction. The second step 'Danger of collision' is activated if, for example, a cyclist comes close to the truck. The warning light lights up yellow and at the same time the system gives an audible signal to be vigilant. The final step 'Predicted Collision' gives a red light and a high-pitched audible warning, with the clear message that the driver must take immediate action to avoid a collision.

Automatically enabled at low speed

Sidescan Predict automatically engages at speeds below 30 kilometers per hour and is active with or without turn signals. The system is designed for garbage trucks, bucket trucks, dump trucks, mixers, coaches, buses and fire trucks, among others, with a minimum length of 5.2 meters. This length is required for the six sensors mounted on both sides of the vehicle. The sensors have a detection range of 2.5 meters.