CamCar
‘Situational awareness’ (SA) is something which the best fighter pilots in the world say gives them an edge when involved in air-to-air combat. SA allows them to know what is going on all around them and act accordingly. The same thing applies to drivers and if they have good SA, they could avoid accidents. But the design of a car creates inherent problems that prevent them from being aware of the traffic situation all round. Even with mirrors, there are still blind spots and even the forward view can be obstructed by large vehicles ahead.
With the CamCar, cameras are mounted in strategic positions around the car to expand the driver’s visibility. Two small cameras with lenses about the same diameter as a pencil are installed in the door mirror housings which provide a 22-degree angle of coverage each. That creates a field of view measuring 116 metres wide at 300 metres. The images from these two cameras can help the driver see around a large vehicle, providing early awareness of an obstruction along the side of the road, or of another car coming out of a junction – something which is presently only possible by asking a passenger to stick his head out of the window!
To eliminate the blind spots along the sides of the car, particularly in the rear three-quarter area on the driver’s side, there are tiny rearward-facing cameras mounted on the bodywork just ahead of the doors. These cover 49 degrees of view each without loss of depth perception.
Finally, there is the area directly behind the car. In Japan, some companies have already fitted cameras to their production models which give drivers a view of the back as an aid to reversing. The idea is nothing new as bus drivers have had it for a long time. In the Ford concept vehicle, a huge Lincoln Navigator, the idea is advanced by having four mini-cameras which cover 160 degrees of view in total – far wider than a normal rearview mirror.
And when night falls, the black-and-white images are not dimmed because there is a low-light capability built in. “It’s not a starlight camera, like what the military uses, but it can give clear images with lighting levels that are lower than what the systems on buses work with,” explained Gary Strumolo, a senior staff technical specialist involved in the project. “We are working on using the ‘NightEye’ low-light technology with the other cameras as well but need to get rid of the flare from headlamps and other bright lights.”
Besides reversing in confidence, there will also be assurance that the driver will be aware if a small child is squatting behind the vehicle. For those who want to tow things, the camera will also help guide the vehicle to an almost perfect position for hooking up.
All the images are shown on a modified instrument panel which has three monitors. Presumably, these will become multi-function displays which also show the usual operating information (speed, fuel level, temperature, etc) as well as camera images at the touch of a button.
So will the traditional mirrors be gone? Mr Strumolo said that in the short-term, he does not see them disappearing. “They will still be used because that is a proven system but as the reliability of electronics increase, we may then see mirrors being phased out,” he predicted.
But in the concept, it appears that the researchers forgot one more crucial viewing angle – that of other vehicles approaching at right angles at a junction where the view is obstructed by plants or walls. Very often, drivers will edge out slowly and sometimes, they may go too far out and get hit. A camera on either side of the nose would therefore be useful.
