Hitachi heavy trucks to share Nissan technology

Hitachi Construction Machinery (HCM) has obtained the licence for camera image processing technology that has been jointly developed by Japanese car manufacturer Nissan and satnav maker Clarion. It will be used on its rigid dump trucks and ultra-large mining excavators. Clarion is majority owned by Hitachi.

The multi-camera Around View Monitor (AVM) and Moving Object Detection (MOD) technology offer all-round visibility and alert operators to movement on job sites.

The AVM offers an overhead view of the machine’s surroundings in real time by composing images from four exterior cameras. The monitor installed in the instrument panel displays the position of the machine and lines to assist parking. Based on the AVM technology, which is already installed in Nissan cars, HCM has developed an overhead-view monitor with Clarion for use in its dump trucks and mining excavators.

The MOD technology analyses images of moving objects from the four AVM cameras. It alerts the driver to any changes in the machine’s surroundings.

Hitachi said that safety on the job site was “a key development theme” for the company.