Mary has over 20 years experience as the editor of our Malaysian sister magazine, The Tyreman. Based in Kuala Lumpur, she writes articles for us on the Malaysian and other South East Asian markets.
Phone: (60) 3 7781 1323
Seeing Machines Guardian System Offers Real-Time Driver Fatigue Detection
Guardian South East Asia introduced its high-tech Guardian System in the recent Logisware Malaysia 2017 at Setia City Convention Centre (SCCC), Shah Alam. Dedicated to the products, services and technology in Malaysia’s logistics and warehousing industry, the trade exhibition was held from 28th to 30th September, 2017.
“Fatigue is a silent killer on our road. Guardian system is developed by Seeing Machines, a leader in computer vision technology. It uses advanced computer vision technology to detect and minimise driver fatigue, distraction events and related accidents before they happen. With Guardian, you can protect what matters most: your people, your reputation and your bottom line,” said Business Development Manager Clarence Chew.
How does the system work? Chew explained that Guardian worked in real-time, using advanced sensors and image processing technology to track eyelid closure, blink rate and head position to identify a fatigue or distraction event. When an event was detected, he said, the driver received immediate in-cab audio and seat vibration alerts that helped prevent an incident.
For additional protection, Guardian also featured a forward-facing camera with wide angle lens, giving complete visibility of the road ahead. Armed with this information, the user’s team could access all risks factors, including other drivers on the road, to mitigate liability and protect the driver.
“When Guardian detects a fatigue or distraction event, the in-cab driver facing sensor transmits data for immediate analysis by technicians at our 24/7 Safeguard Center in the USA. On verification of a fatigue event, the agreed Fatigue Intervention Plan is implemented and your nominated manager is notified within 120 seconds.”
Chew also stressed that Guardian respected driver privacy. Thus, it was not a CCTV and the footage was only recorded during an event.
“Guardian not only helps to reduce risk, it generates business intelligence to drive continuous improvement. Leveraging the data from Guardian-enabled fleet allows you to identify risk and continuously improve your safety policy and practice. In addition, the system also includes Global Positioning System (GPS) and speed measurement functions.”
Guardian system was widely used with 15,000 vehicles installed worldwide, mainly in Australia, United Kingdom and USA. In Asia, he said, the company started introducing the Guardian system since last year.
“In Singapore, we have some users from the public bus and logistics segments, and we have installed the system to 3,000 vehicles in Thailand, mostly in the oil and gas sector. As for Malaysia, some oil and gas transportation companies are currently using our system.”
According to Chew, the system had demonstrated that it could achieve more than 90 per cent reduction in fatigue and distraction related driver events based on worldwide deployment experience.