XVision may be just what oil patch needs

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (March 20, 2002) — Speaking at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky., Bendix’s director of new ventures said that the new XVision, infrared nighttime driving system may be the answer oil patch truckers have been looking for to operate after dark.

Andreea Raaber said that field testing for the XVision in Canada, which represents about one third of the total number of tests for the product, show that the increased distance of detection significantly improves productivity by extending hours in the oil patch industry.

Another North America-wide human factors study, which measured driving performance, detection of objects, recognition of objects, detection of cab events, detection of surprise events, driver preference, and subjective workload, included 24 drivers completing 96 laps for 200 miles on a closed track. Drivers were subjected to both staged and surprise events to measure their response, and data was then collected using both objective tools and subjective interviews with the driver.

The results of the experiment demonstrated 11 seconds of additional reaction time for detection of objects like pedestrians at 60 mph. Objects were detected at distances at over 1500 feet, and were completely recognized at around 1400 feet. The study also said that drivers found the product displayed the images clearly, and did not add to driver distraction in the tasks of maintaining lane position and speed.

Raaber was also asked by Today’s Trucking if XVision could also be used to see the road and objects through heavy fog, and if the company was interested in marketing the device as such a tool, considering the number of high-profile, fog-related accidents and pileups on North American highways in recent years. Although she said XVision helps detect objects in bad weather conditions like fog and mist, she did say that Bendix does not recommend relying on the device to travel through fog. The reason being that fog may alter the temperature in the heat-sensing radar and blur the images. She did say XVision is road proven for other weather conditions that do not affect temperature like sand or dust storms.