In an exclusive interview with John Osmant, Managing Director, Brigade Elektronik Germany, Rajesh Rajgor finds out the company’s vision towards bolstering camera monitor system with AI
The fleet safety equipment line-up from Brigade Electronik GmbH was on display at IAA Transportation 2022. It not only included Careye Safety Angle Turning Assistant, its most recent AI-powered camera system but also its 360-degree camera, the Backeye360, and IP cameras, as well as its range of remote fleet management solutions – external and internal cameras, Brigade’s mobile digital recorder and cloud connected service, Bridge.
Johnn Osmant, Managing Director, Brigade Elektronik Germany, said: “The accuracy of Careye’s AI sophisticated algorithm virtually eliminates false alerts and gives the driver complete confidence that they can manoeuvre their vehicle safely. The system can distinguish between vehicles such as cars, trucks, people, bicycles and stationary objects like trees or bollards. The technology is quite trustworthy since it then calculates movement and the anticipated direction.”
Communication at IAA
For several years the market in Europe has been dominated by detection systems such as ultrasonic and radar. However, one of the negatives with such systems is that they detect people, cyclists and also items on the side of the road. Brigade Elektronik is confident that with their artificial intelligence products the systems will be able to accurately detect if it’s a person or a piece of street furniture and then warn the driver appropriately.
“We have seen over the years that a lot of false alerts from ultrasonic and radar will actually induce the driver to start ignoring the warning because every time he looks, there is nothing. With AI-supported systems, the flexibility they offer in setting up the warning zones and the strength of the associated acoustic alert, coupled with the improved accuracy of detecting only the Vulnerable Road User, will greatly improve driver acceptance. We are merging the most advanced artificial intelligence with our years of experience with cameras,” he explained.
Expectations from European Market and Exports
It appeared that the artificial intelligence is exactly what the Europeans are looking for at the moment. With shortage of drivers and people’s emphasis on safety for new drivers, fleet managers are looking for solutions that aid driver safety as well as improve a fleet’s efficiency. “One of the implications of the pandemic is there is now a shortage of skilled drivers in the industry. A lot of the new drivers coming in are less experienced. They need more support to make sure that they avoid accidents.”
“Brigade Elektronik’s vision is that we want to save lives. We want to avoid accidents and this can be done by providing higher technology support to new drivers or inexperienced drivers and particularly in busy built-up areas,” he added. A majority of vehicles on the road are lorries and particularly in Germany, articulated lorries. A lot of the transport now is going down on to smaller vehicles and hence it is in the paramount interest of fleet operators to look for products that ensure 360-degree view of the surrounding while the vehicle traverses through busy streets.
Indian Market
As a company, Brigade Elektronik is also active in in mining and construction. On a construction site with lots of workers and vehicles moving really fast, there is a need for excellent camera monitor detection systems. The vision clarity and depth of the camera view offered by Brigade Elektroniks is much better than ultrasonic. The other interesting aspect of artificial intelligence is that it has an element of predicting what could happen. “When vehicles move faster in a mining environment with a lot of workers around, the driver would need to know if a worker is walking towards his vehicle and if he turns, is the worker coming into his line of sight.”
“A camera can do that far earlier than a mirror and that’s the advantage,” Osmant added. Brigade Elektronik is already active in India in the mining environment. “There are a number of Indian OEMs as well as a number of European OEMs with Indian subsidiaries that are active in the Indian market carrying our products. We have been following with interest the technical developments within the market, particularly with regard to radar regulations. It will be an interesting market to penetrate further with artificial intelligence and camera detection systems,” Osmant concluded.