Total Vision® Products now carries or will carry cameras for just about any application for Big Rigs and trailers. We just finished a 9 camera install on this 2007 Kenworth T660 truck. This vehicle and it's trailer has the following cameras and options;
Starting at the front of the truck is the NoseCam. On the left is a photo of the installed camera, on the right is a monitor screen shot of the view from that camera. The NoseCam puts eyes where you need them and allows you to see the width of the front bumper, right up to the front bumper. No more taking guys in wheel chairs for 50 mph joy rides, or wiping out front bumpers and fenders because the vehicle is so big you can't see where you're going!
| Kenworth NoseCam. Monitor view is to the right. |
Obligatory 'guy stuck in the
grille in a wheel chair' monitor shot (you can even see the
grille!). Even the box in the upper right of the shot was not
visible from the driver's seat.
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Next up are the side mirror cameras. In this application we used standard RV stationary type cameras with serious IR emitters. Left side is shown, right side is on the way. We do something differently with side mirror cameras. Instead of using wide angle lenses that make something 30 feet away look like it's 120 feet away, we use close field of view lenses that bring everything much closer up in the monitor so you can actually see what you're looking at, what a novelty!
| Driver's side MirrorCam | Monitor view from Driver's side MirrorCam |
Next up is the HitchCam. When the local Kenworth dealer sent the 53 foot trailer to us for cameras, the factory driver, driving a Bob Tail truck, took about 5 attempts to position the truck exactly right under the 5th wheel pin. This guy is a good driver, but even good drivers have trouble with this sometimes. This camera is positioned next to the generator looking back at the 5th wheel connection, and is low enough that the driver can see exactly how high the pad is or isn't, compared to the height of the trailer. If you look at the picture in the monitor you can see the pad is just touching the bottom of the trailer. All you have to do when you see that height is adjust the truck suspension accordingly with the air switch and back up until it engages. One shot, no help needed.
| HitchCam looking at fifth wheel hitch. |
Monitor view of HitchCam. The
pad is just touching the bottom of the trailer.
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Next up are the Trailer SideCams. Positioned high and at the front of the trailer looking back, these cameras give the driver eyes on the blind side of the trailer when backing up. It's recommended and always good to use spotters but sometimes they're not around, and sometimes they're not paying attention. These cameras make it much easier when no one is around to help, and even when they are. These two cameras combined with camera number 7, the trailer TailCam, make backing up a big rig much easier, faster and safer, for people and equipment.
| Driver's side trailer SideCam. Low profile. | Monitor view of driver's side trailer SideCam. |
| Pass side trailer SideCam. Low profile | Monitor view of passenger side trailer SideCam. |
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Driver's side trailer SideCam from about 20 feet back.
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Pass side trailer SideCam from
about 20 feet back.
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Next up is the trailer TailCam. This camera is not only good for backing up to a dock and stopping a half inch away, it is also great in traffic, especially for those situations when you pass a vehicle and have to pull back in quickly to let traffic behind you by. You can see clearly when it is safe to pull back in without cutting off another vehicle. It's also great for just backing up in general. It is located half way up the passenger side of the trailer door opening, just below the second hinge from the top. It is positioned so that when you open the door, the door just swings out and around the camera. We'll post a close up photo of the TailCam soon.
| Trailer TailCam. Monitor view is to the right. |
The TailCam sees the width
of the trailer, plus about two feet on the pass side and about
10 feet on the driver's side. The dumpster in the photo is about
35 feet behind the trailer.
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The eighth camera in this system is mounted in the cab looking out the front windshield. It is connected to a mobile DVR and records anytime the vehicle ignition is on. Photos and screen shots of it will be posted the next time the vehicle comes in.
The ninth camera is part of the Lane Departure Warning System, or LDWS for short. The LDWS module can be seen to the right of the yellow dot on the upper center area of the windshield. This module contains a camera that reads the stripes on the road as you drive. When the LDWS is activated, if the vehicle begins to drift out of it's lane without a turn signal on, the LDWS alerts the driver with an audible alarm and a verbal message that tells the driver the vehicle is drifting. If the vehicle continues to drift, about at the moment it crosses the lane marker (this sensitivity is adjustable) a second audible alarm is sounded as well as a second verbal message that tells the driver the vehicle is leaving it's lane. The verbal messages are mutable, the audible alarms are not, although the unit can be wired so that you can turn it on and off. We do that so the unit can be turned off in city traffic. A great safety feature, we believe these units will be very common in the future.
There is also a mobile DVR built into the unit which contains a three axis accelerometer. If there is an abrupt change in G force from any direction, as in an accident, the recorder will save the preceding 20 seconds of video before the event and 20 seconds of video after the event. Once the event is recorded, the unit will verbally notify the driver the event has been recorded. The driver at that point may chose to save the video by doing nothing, or, he can delete it. The unit can be modified to not record video at all or changed in other ways to accommodate driver or company wishes. Look for these types of systems in new vehicles of all kinds coming soon. We believe the combination of cameras and LDWS systems will be of such value to the trucking industry that insurance premium deductions will be offered in the future to vehicles having these systems added. In the case of the LDWS systems, there is talk that the government may make them mandatory on all new passenger vehicles and trucks in the next two to three years. We're not ordinarily in favor of mandatory anything but in this case it might be a good thing. It will depend on how they handle the video recording aspect.
Also included on this truck is a PressurePro® Low Tire Pressure warning system. This gives a precise display of pounds of air pressure per tire, complete with low pressure warning alarms on all tires. We'll post photos of that the next time the truck comes in. We'll also be posting pricing on all these various cameras and systems very soon. Thank you for your patience.
