The tires of Hitachi Construction Machinery’s mega-dump trucks are
nearly twice the average human’s height, with reach extending over 14.5
meters on delivery.
At global mining sites, that supersize requires maximum intelligence
for drivers on location and safety, and Hitachi and Nissan are
partnering to bring the digital co-pilot visibility of cars today to the
trucks of tomorrow.
Nissan’s multi-camera Around View Monitor (AVM) and Moving Object Detection” (MOD) technology offer greater visibility as well as alert drivers to movement.
Tomohiko Yasuda, Hitachi Construction Machinery’s General Manager and Senior Officer for the Mining & Heavy Equipment Division, says particularly when drivers are starting or stopping, the added monitor visibility is key.
“This kind of super dump truck has extremely limited visibility. There are six mirrors and the driver always must check each of them to get a fuller picture of what’s around. But this is very difficult for the driver, as he must do it each time,” Yasuda said.
“Using the AVM technology, he has a better sense of what’s around. For operators the most dangerous times are starting, stopping and parking. At those times, having a single monitor is very advantageous and safer.”
MOD technology helps supplement a car driver’s vision in situations such as start up, parking or at intersections with audio alerts.
Nissan’s Koichi Iwata, General Manager of Technology Licensing, says bringing greater safety to industrial vehicles is a natural progression from road cars.
“Hitachi Construction licensed our Around View Monitor technology for its big trucks.
In addition to AVM, for extra capability we began discussion on licensing the Moving Object Detection technology,” Iwata said.
“To have Nissan technology as part of this partnership is very gratifying.”
Since introducing the AVM system in 2007, Nissan has steadily expanded its safety technology offerings, which have become a cornerstone of Autonomous Drive technology development.
For Nissan and Hitachi, the technology may become standard in more construction vehicles, making roads and mines safer for all.
