In addition to its advanced mapping system and pedestrian awareness systems highlighted by the company in a global press event last week (detailed here by Overdrive and more in-depth on OD sister site CCJ), Continental offered a ride in its Innovation Truck — a concept vehicle the company uses to test platforms in development.
The 2014 Mercedes Actros is loaded with futuristic systems the company is fine-tuning for deployment. Though the Actros is a European tractor, the technologies the company showcased translate to the North American market.
As highlighted in the video above, the two systems it showcased to press last week in the Innovation Truck were the 3D Surround View — a camera system that creates a 360-degree view of the truck’s surroundings, which is showcased on an in-cab monitor — and Continental‘s speakerless sound system, called Ac2ated Sound. See details on both systems in the video at the top of the post.
Great improvements coming in this industry. These cameras are going to make things 100 percent more efficient. Being able to see around the entire truck is incredible.
To Gov agrees.
Just more shit to break and go wrong. There is hardly a truck in our fleet of 20, 2014 to 2018 Freightliners and Kenworths that doesn’t have some malfunction with the electronics going on all the time. Gotta love the way that radar will stomp the brakes and smoke the trailer tires out of the blue because it reads something along the road that it shouldn’t. I HATE that radar in the new trucks for a whole host of reasons.
They wanted to put cameras that stare into my face in the cabs of the trucks and I told them that will be my 30 day notice that I’m quitting when and if they do.
My own personal trucks are all pre 94 with mechanical fuel injection and they just keep going and going and they are cheap and easy to fix if they ever do break. Those new pieces of crap cost an average of 2500.00 bucks every time something goes wrong and whoever came up with the diesel exhaust fluid scam probably has a relative that has money invested in it.
They are going the wrong direction in making vehicles that are not user serviceable.
I will never own a truck newer than a 94 and when they outlaw them then that means I’m done trucking.
You,ll never see me being an owner operator, suicide when the break downs start happening. My 2016 Cascadia Evolution has 235500 trouble free miles, had to replace a def pump and a turn signal, hazard relay, that’s it. My truck isn’t governed, I’m at 75 mph 90% of the time.
I get a new truck every two years.
Owner operators make more, not for me though, too many headaches.