Introducing the camera that can see round corners

Ford is introducing a new camera technology that can see around corners, even when drivers cannot, in a bid to alleviate the problems involved with exiting blind junctions and help avert accidents. The innovative Front Split View Camera, now available as an option in the all-new Ford S-MAX and Galaxy, displays to the driver a 180-degree view from the front of the car, using a video camera in the grille. At a blind junction or exiting a driveway, the camera enables drivers to easily spot approaching vehic
June 26, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
278 Ford is introducing a new camera technology that can see around corners, even when drivers cannot, in a bid to alleviate the problems involved with exiting blind junctions and help avert accidents.

The innovative Front Split View Camera, now available as an option in the all-new Ford S-MAX and Galaxy, displays to the driver a 180-degree view from the front of the car, using a video camera in the grille. At a blind junction or exiting a driveway, the camera enables drivers to easily spot approaching vehicles, pedestrians or cyclists.

The technology is activated at the push of a button. A one-megapixel camera in the front grille enables drivers to see a real-time 180-degree view, both left and right, on the vehicle’s eight-inch colour touchscreen. Drivers can track road users that approach on either side and pass in front of the vehicle. The camera, just 33 millimetres wide, is kept clear by a specially designed retractable jet-washer that operates automatically when the windscreen wipers are activated.

Data recorded by the European Road Safety Observatory SafetyNet project indicated that approximately 19 per cent of drivers involved in accidents at junctions experienced obstructions to view. In 2003, the UK Department of Transport said that vision affected by external factors contributed to 11 per cent of all road accidents.

To ensure that the technology worked, Ford tested the camera in varying light conditions on different types of roads from congested urban streets to tunnels, narrow alleyways, garages and areas with cyclists and pedestrians.

“We have all been there and it’s not just blind junctions that can be stressful, sometimes an overhanging tree, or bushes can be the problem,” said engineer Ronny Hause who worked on the project. “For some, simply driving off their own driveways is a challenge. This is one of those technologies that people will soon wonder how they managed without.”

“Pulling out at a blind junction can be a tricky manoeuvre for new and experienced drivers alike. The best approach has traditionally been to simply lean forward to get the best view whilst creeping forwards with the windows wound down to listen for approaching vehicles, but cyclists are a particular risk as they can’t be heard,” said Keith Freeman, an AA Quality Training Manager in the UK who also trains young drivers as part of the Ford Driving Skills For Life programme.

“This technology will certainly make emerging from anywhere with a restricted view so much safer and the experience less nerve-wracking for those behind the wheel,” Freeman added.
Location Based Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Ford equips autonomous cars with night vision
    April 13, 2016
    Ford recently conducted tests at its Arizona proving ground to determine how autonomous cars could navigate at night without headlights. According to Ford, it’s an important development, in that it shows that even without cameras, which rely on light, Ford’s LiDAR, working with the car’s virtual driver software, is robust enough to steer around winding roads. While it’s ideal to have all three modes of sensors, radar, cameras and LiDAR, the latter can function independently on roads without stoplights.
    Read More
  • Redvision upgrades VMS1000 system
    October 28, 2019

    Redvision has updated its VMS1000 open-platform control system which it says can be used for traffic management and vehicle counting.

    Stephen Lightfoot, technical director at Redvision, says the new object-linking feature can be used to configure “a logical flow between cameras on screen” while the field-of-view-direction depiction feature is for “fixed cameras and PTZs on maps”.

    “Additionally, over 300 camera brands and 10,000 individual camera models are integrated with the VMS1000,” he adds.

    Read More
  • ANPR - cost-efficient traffic management, enforcement and more
    January 23, 2012
    Geoff Collins of Vysionics Intelligent Traffic Solutions talks about the near-term prospects of ANPR. The continued absence of a champion for its cause is preventing digital enforcement technology from delivering the true levels of cost-effectiveness of which it is capable, according to Geoff Collins, sales and marketing director of ANPR specialist Vysionics Intelligent Traffic Solutions.
    Read More
  • Development of cooperative driving applications for work zones
    July 17, 2012
    The German AKTIV project is researching several cooperative driving applications for use in work zones. PTV's Michael Ortgiese details progress. The steep increases in traffic volumes predicted back in the early 1990s have unfortunately been proven to be more than accurate. In Germany, the AKTIV project continues to look into cooperative technologies' potential to reduce the impact of those increased traffic volumes and keep traffic moving despite limitations in infrastructure capacity.
    Read More

Highlighted Content