‍Client: Visy Packaging

Location: Melbourne

Project: Birdseye vision for improved safety & recording systems to store video footage

Visy use articulated loaders to move product at their Pulp & Paper facility, as these large loaders manoeuvre well in tight places. However, working in restricted zones can translate to restricted vision and blind spots for drivers or machinery operators.

To assist with driver vision, Truck Rear Vision installed Provision 360° Birdseye Systems with 4 cameras mounted on the articulated loaders; forward and side cameras mounted on the perimeter of the cabin roof and a rear camera mounted on the end of the bonnet, provided an unobstructed view. 360-degree vision systems work best when fitted to a square shape, like a truck and when mounted high or at the outer edge of a vehicle for a clear view of the vehicle surrounds. This can be difficult to achieve when fitting construction equipment, however our team of technicians have over 25 years of experience working with a wide range of vehicles. To reduce pre-delivery times, we fitted these articulated loaders onsite, at the JCB dealership.

Visy are conducting a trial with the Birdseye system to measure improved workplace safety. The loaders are working continuously in an environment that may, at times have reduced visibility. These cameras provide a 3-metre perspective of front, rear and both side views of the vehicle to highlight obstacles. The operator is provided with a real-time surround view of objects and pedestrians around the vehicle, with an LCD monitor combining all four views onto a single screen. The 360° system reduces blind spots to facilitate safer vehicle movement and the Visy trial integrates a Vacron SD Card Recorder to store video footage on an SD memory card.

Customising the two systems on the articulated loaders delivers increased safety measures and provides an operator training tool. Incidents are recorded and reviewed for potential productivity improvements or adjustments to workplace safety procedures. The video footage may also be used to highlight potential incidents and provide continuous improvement training for vehicle operators.

‍Client: Melbourne Docks

Location: Melbourne

Project: Custom Built 4-Camera Vision System for Heavy Lifting

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The Melbourne Docks Hyster H52 is a specialised piece of equipment. It’s a heavy-duty forklift with a drop leg container attachment and it’s designed to lift unorthodox containers. For example, skids that don’t have the usual top lifting points so the arms of the Hyster attachment utilise the lower mounting holes in the base of each unit for lifting.

Operator vision is restricted and views are obstructed, causing difficulty in aligning the arms to lock into the container’s mounting holes. The Melbourne Docks realised that productivity and safety would be improved by enhancing the operator’s view of these locking mechanisms.

We used a ProVision Heavy Duty 4 camera system, with a 10.2” split screen monitor and mounted a camera at the end of each arm. This provides operators with a clear view of the mounting holes on all sides of the container, from their cabin.

We purpose built several components for this installation, including the design and build of 300mm pulleys that integrated with the existing hydraulic hose pulleys. This allowed us to run special, heavy duty camera cables carrying two video signals, along the forklift arms. Due to the size of the forklift we installed this Vision System at the Docks, using an Elevated Working Platform to manage the height of the forklift mast when installing the pulleys. The result has increased productivity and improved workplace safety.

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‍Business: Logistics Transport Firm
Industry: Agricultural
Transported Product: Harvested Crops
Vehicles: B-Double Trucks
Location: Northern Queensland

Objective of Installation:

‍This logistics fleet transports harvested produce from the farmer to the food processor. Deliveries are time sensitive. Jobs require sizable volumes of raw produce to be loaded and transferred, for processing. The fleet uses large B-Double trucks and the narrow, winding roads of this northern Queensland region are shared with tourist traffic.

Due to the truck size, road conditions and a load of consumables, this logistics firm wanted a vehicle-based recording system that would enhance road safety and offer opportunities to improve productivity.

Requirements of the Fleet Vision System:
The fleet required a camera system that offered recording functionality for an ongoing reviewing process. The system needed to support 4 camera perspectives in and around the vehicle.

The recorded views cover the front and side views of the vehicle along with a view of the driver, in the cabin. The in-vehicle camera records driver behavior and allows fleet management to monitor issues in relation to fatigue or distraction. The video footage also embeds data for time, date, speed, G-forces and location.

200Product Specifications:
Vehicles run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week during peak harvest, so the fleet chose Vacron recorders with 500GB memory to capture video from the 4 camera locations. The Vacron system offers in excess of 21 days of stored data, before overwriting the footage.

This provides ample time for incidents and/or complaints to be reviewed and reported.

Safety Benefits:‍

All fleet vehicles carry a contact phone number for the Food Processor and a truck identification number. The logistics firm can access the recorded footage for a specific vehicle number and review driver behavior if complaints are received. This footage can verify whether a complaint is justified, management can then take corrective action and report the outcomes to their customer.

This transport business found that using in-vehicle recording devices increases driver accountability, allows fleet management to monitor compliance with company safety procedures and provides proof of innocence if a roadside complaint is unwarranted.

Productivity Benefits:
The driver camera is an integral tool in determining why incidents occur and provides opportunities to both improve performance and reduce potential safety risks. Recordings can reveal possible distraction or fatigue and the footage is a great support tool to use when driver counselling or further training is required.

When complaints are unwarranted and the complainant insists on taking the matter further, the video footage is used to provide indisputable proof of the fleet driver’s safe driving behavior. In some cases the video showed clearly that a member of the public’s own driving behavior had placed themselves, the truck driver and other road users at considerable risk.

As the video footage provides examples of real-time, industry specific incidents, this business uses it as a driver training tool, to improve operating procedures and to develop new driver policies.

Policies & Positive Outcomes:
With the installation of fleet cameras and recording devices, operational policies were created to protect the privacy of drivers. Establishing protocols around what triggers the viewing of a recordings, alleviated driver concerns of being continually monitored.

Recorded information gives fleet management easy access to data; to assess a complaint from the public, a roadside incident or as a support tool if the fleet is seeking compensation from others. Recordings provide many advantages, including opportunities to improve business productivity, to increase vehicle safety, enhance driver performance and provide a rapid resolution to incidents.

As fleet owners need to safeguard their business against the new Chain of Responsibility laws, the in-vehicle recording systems provide a way to improve driver accountability and performance.

The safety and productivity benefits offered by fleet focused Mobile Digital Video Recorders, delivers a fast return on investment and Truck Rear Vision Systems can tailor a solution that will suit the needs of your vehicles and industry requirements.

Industry: Materials Handling
Vehicles: Forklifts
Vision Solution: Custom designed multi-camera installation

Objective of Installation:
To provide forklift operators with a clear vision of the four gabbing jaws on a forklift attachment, used to pick orders. When picking and packing stacks of wire mesh for delivery, forklift drivers were operating with impaired vision. This resulted in a high rate of damaged product, which affected the sale ability of stock, leading to stock write-downs and margin erosion.

A multi-camera system was required; one that was adaptable enough to operate within a confined space and within the mechanisms of a forklift mast. The installation of a vision solution provided the customer with productivity gains and delivered cost benefits.

Design Considerations:
Each forklift has an attachment to the forklift mast that holds 4 gabbing jaws. Operators need to accurately line these jaws up with the grab points on a stack of wire mesh. Without a camera system the operator cannot clearly see all 4 grab points at the same time.

Essential considerations for this project included the available mounting locations for cameras, a requirement for mirror and true image perspectives and narrow camera angles. A large 10.2” monitor provided the operator with a split screen view of the 4 camera angles. Cameras positioned for rear perspectives, transfer a mirror image to the monitor for easier operating of jaws to the left and right. While a close-up perspective of the gabbing jaws allows simpler alignment of the 4 jaws with the grab points on mesh stacks.

Build Considerations:
The forklifts are multi-purpose and the attachment holding the 4 gabbing jaws needs to be removed when not in use. This required a simple connection point for camera cables, between the forklift mast and the gabbing jaw attachment. The connection needed to be robust, to withstand regularly handling.

The forklift mast is removed when the forklift is transported to other locations. This required an additional connection point between the fork and the mast. Due to the number of connection points and the support requirements for a 4-camera system, simplicity was key to the cabling set-up; for ease of use and servicing.

Rather than working with 4 camera cables, Truck Rear Vision Systems customised the wiring to allow two cameras to share wiring within a single cable. Only two cables were then required on the telescoping mast of the forklifts. This worked well with the limited space of the mast.

The connection from the forklift mast to the gabbing jaws’ attachment utilized heavy duty suzi coil, as used to connect prime movers and semi-trailers in the heavy transport industry. The plugs and sockets are robust, easy to handle for fitting or removing the attachment and offered enough connections to suit the installation.

Installation:
The camera system was fitted when the forklift was at the OEM’s dealer, prior to delivery to the customer. Each component of the system was installed separately, for easy assembly on site.

The 10.2” monitor was installed on the fork truck with associated wiring and cable connections. Then the hybrid 2-cable system was fitted through the mast, with special attention paid to setting and adjusting the cable tension. The objective was to provide enough tension for the cable to remain taught and out of the way, as the mast telescopes, while not over tensioning the cable and damaging the integrity of any wiring. TRVS has a special, heavy duty cable manufactured to specification, to ensure longevity in such applications.

Cameras are then mounted on the attachment. They are fitted and adjusted using a test monitor to check, compare and secure the relative camera views. This ensures the system plugs directly into the monitor once the forklift is assembled on site and is ready to operate.

To ensure hassle free assembly on site or when the forklift is dismantled for transport, all cables are labelled for easy identification. This allows anyone to connect the system quickly and easily. Attention to detail during the design and installation stages resulted in hassle-free on site assembly and an operating system that did not require additional fine tuning.

The TRVS’ specialty is custom vision solutions with very specific fit-for-purpose requirements. To discuss your business requirements, contact us admin@truckrearvision.com.au

‍Client: Goldners Horse Floats

Location: Melbourne

Project: 8 Channel Drive Recording System improves Driving Safety & Monitors the condition of horses in transit.

Goldners handle over 27,000 horse movements around Australia each year. Offering short or long-haul trips, their vehicles transport horses for breeding, competition, sales, racing or pleasure. With over 70 years of experience Goldners’ have perfected the art of horse transport with a focus on equine safety and wellbeing. This focus led to the installation of a fleetwide Drive Recording System with cameras installed inside each transport vehicle to view every row of horses within a float.

Each Truck and Trailer combination has 5-7 cameras operating inside and outside the vehicle. With the addition of a reverse camera at the rear of each float and a forward-facing camera in each Prime-Mover that tows a float. TRVS standardised the systems for greater flexibility and used two heavy duty suzi coils to transfer camera wiring between trucks and trailers. This allows Prime-Movers and Floats to be interchanged in any combination to optimise fleet operations.

Our Vacron 8 channel drive recording systems were chosen for the Goldners’ installation. They integrate video, audio and GPS to deliver a geographically recorded, fleet-wide monitoring and incident management solution. It’s a flexible system that we further adapted to integrate existing cameras within floats, where possible as a cost saving for the client. The system is built to be durable and resilient, as Goldners’ vehicles can travel to remote locations and be exposed to extreme weather conditions.

This installation enables drivers to monitor the condition of horses while travelling, to ensure their wellbeing, to record any activity within the float and to capture any incidents occurring outside the vehicle, while it’s in transit. The Vacron recording system met the brief; capturing detailed trip information and delivering peace of mind for Goldners’ and their customers.