Blind Eye

For any given product there’s what Mike Coyle calls a “showstopper”-something the product does or doesn’t do that halts a sale.

For Coyle and his company, Transportation Safety Technologies, the showstopper for its Eagle Eye obstacle-detection system is its availability on tractors only. “A tractor has substantial blind spots,” says Coyle, “but customers are telling us they want a warning device they can mount on a trailer so the driver can see it from the cab. We’re working on it.”

Coyle says a prototype is being developed with American Freightways that consists of two or four rear-mounted sensors and a warning indicator mounted on the left front corner of the trailer. The display, which consists of green, yellow, and red LED lights, would be visible in the driver’s left rear-view mirror.

The lights will warn the driver of objects that are 10 to 20 feet directly behind the trailer. On the display, a green light would signify no obstacle, yellow an obstacle within five to 10 feet, and red when an obstacle is closer than five feet away. A sensor within each sensor triggers a heater when the temperature falls below 37 F to help keep snow, ice, and grime from rendering the system ineffective.

The ultrasonic sensors work like SONAR, bouncing sound waves off objects and measuring how long they take to return. “The sensitivity of the sensor is a real challenge,” Coyle explains. “You want to be able to detect the toddler who’s sitting on the curb, but not the cracks in the pavement. You have to tune the sensor to get the best sensitivity you can without false alarms.”

The product also has to be rugged and priced right. “We want to be able to offer a payback of less than a year in the savings due to avoiding backing-related accidents,” Coyle says. “We need to come in at a price of $600 US or less.”

Price is a real issue, especially when competing systems are available for under $100. “The states of Washington and New York have passed laws requiring better visibility behind the vehicle. That’s fine, but laws like that bring a lot of new competitors marketing $89.95 specials that just don’t do the job,” Coyle says.

He says American Freightways is currently testing about 10 of the trailer units. “Then we’ll make adjustments and take it to market.”