SmartDrive Systems has announced the launch of the SmartDrive Transportation Intelligence Platform and SR4 hardware.
The new platform helps coach and bus fleets improve safety and efficiency, as well as manage an entirely new set of business challenges arising from the progression of more autonomous technology on the vehicles. The SR4 camera hardware delivers the compute power required for computer vision, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving applications – all in a small, flexible footprint.
SmartDrive said more automation in the vehicle can cause some drivers to over rely on technology to intervene instead of depending on their safe driving skills, and that more devices in the vehicle and on the windscreen create more distraction. It added that new security threats create new data and privacy challenges and increasingly, passenger transport operators question whether they are prepared.
Steve Mitgang, SmartDrive CEO, said: “We architected this platform to enable the future of intelligent transportation while delivering passenger fleets significant value today. It will help our customers solve a long-standing business challenge – disparate, siloed information stemming from a myriad of disconnected on-board devices that increase operational costs without delivering commensurate value.
“Building on our track record of innovation and commitment to system openness, the introduction of this ground-breaking new platform provides fleets a solution capable of true convergence and serves as a foundation on which to build as new and enhanced technologies are adopted in the next three to five years. At the same time, it delivers superior capabilities and impressive enhancements to our video-safety programme that set the standard for what fleets should expect from their solution investment.”
According to the company, the key capabilities of the SmartDrive Transportation Intelligence Platform include:
- More power in the smallest hardware footprint available – less than half the size of its predecessor;
- More multi-camera support for 360 degree visibility – directly connects to up to nine cameras and integrates with those from third parties;
- Solid-state drive offering three levels of storage up to 512GB;
- Six ports enabling data integration and triggering from other on-board systems;
- Mixed fleet capability leveraging both new and pre-existing hardware;
- Tamper-resistant hardware; and
- SmartChoice Video Safety Programme, allowing fleets to choose among various levels of protection and camera configurations to fit their needs.
Supporting the platform, the SR4 hardware offers a purpose-built controller, significantly smaller road and interior-facing cameras which minimise impediments to the driver’s field of view, a separate sensor bar that allows more flexibility in camera placement, a keypad that enables manual event recording and a wireless key fob, putting the power of manual recording in the hands of the driver whether inside or outside the vehicle.
