As Mobile Electronics celebrates its 25 years of delivering content to its industry, the magazine has decided to look to the horizon rather than into the rearview mirror. We’ve brought you “The Road Ahead,” a series of articles that examine emerging in-vehicle technology. We’ll kick off the series with a look at an innovative back-up camera system that provides a 360-degree view of the vehicle.
Backup cameras have been an aftermarket product offering for quite some time, and the category is still growing. The camera plays a big role in the overall safety of the automobile. The goal is to remove the blind spot behind the car using a rear-facing wide-angle camera that provides an image on a display screen for a reversing driver.
As vehicle sizes increase, so do their blind spots. So let’s look at a new and innovative technology being premiered by an automaker.
To further enhance the overall safety of the vehicle, Nissan took a giant step forward by adding three more cameras to the backup camera feature on the 2008 Infiniti EX35, the first U.S. production vehicle with the technology. Nissan, which emphasizes the system is designed for convenience, also added it to the 2009 Infiniti FX. .
The system is called the Around View Monitor (or AVM), and it provides just what it claims. It was developed for Nissan by Sony Corp. and Xanavi Informatics Corp., an OEM partner that also provides Nissan its navigation technology. There are no current plans to offer it in the aftermarket, said Kyle Bazemore, a senior manager with Infiniti communications. .
You may wonder how Nissan fits four monitors in the dashboard. That’s where the technology of this new solution really shines. The all-around image is provided by the use of four individual cameras mounted on the front grill, rear hatch and side mirrors, and projected onto one screen. The image isn’t achieved by displaying four separate boxes, such as the image you might see on a convenience store monitor. Visual data is processed and displayed as a single image, allowing the driver to see a 360-degree view of the automobile, as well as an image of the vehicle from above showing the surroundings. .
This image makes it easy for the driver to position the vehicle for parallel parking. The all-around view enables the driver to simultaneously view the position and distance of obstacles near the front, rear and sides of the automobile and provides additional audible information through the use of sonar sensors in each corner for additional driving assistance. With a simultaneously all-around view, the driver can easily navigate the two most worrisome blind spots in the rear and front of the vehicle. .
While operating the automobile, the driver can now see an image from above on the left, and a front or rear view on the right. The front and rear views alternate depending on the gearshift position. This allows the driver a complete view of the vehicle and its surroundings. The side view of the left side is displayed with the rear view that allows the driver to easily observe both the rear and front left of the vehicle while maneuvering for parallel parking. .
The driver also has the option to choose between the top view and the left-hand side view and, at the same time, the system continues to provide assistance by warning the driver via a beeping alert when an obstacle is close by. .
Currently this solution is available only as factory equipment from an automaker. It should be only a short time before it will be packaged for sale as an aftermarket upgrade. As an aftermarket product, it would require the installation of four super-wide-angle and high-resolution cameras in strategic areas around the automobile. .
An installer would need to mount cameras on or around the side mirrors, in the front grill and at the rear of the vehicle. I would expect the aftermarket to offer a hardwired solution and a wireless solution for vehicles where running video cables may be difficult. The camera images could be displayed on a separately installed screen or integrated into the existing factory display. .