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Human-Machine Interfaces (HMI) is used extensively in the cabs of heavy-duty OEM equipment both on and off-road, and allows a person to interact with a machine, like an instrument panel, the joystick, the steering wheel, the brakes, the knobs and buttons of the infotainment system, Etc.

How does Side Defender®II differ from the Sentry® blind spot monitoring system? Are the systems designed to be used in tandem with one another on a vehicle? What applications are each system best suited for?

PreView Side Defender®II and PreView Sentry® were designed as blind spot monitoring systems. Each is equipped to handle different proximity detection needs and scenarios within the heavy-duty industries.

 Anytime large vehicles occupy the same space as pedestrians and bicyclists, bad things can happen. When a fatality occurs, it is usually because an individual falls into the exposed space along the sides of high-clearance trucks and get crushed beneath the rear wheels. On construction and mining sites, companies are able to limit the interactions between people and trucks. On the average road or city street, though, such control is virtually impossible. The combination of truck blind spots and distracted driving, walking, and even bicycling is a recipe for disaster. For decades, many countries have had ordinances in place that require large vehicles to be equipped with side guards covering this open space along the sides of vehicles. Only in the last few years have these ordinances started to appear in cities across the U.S., but there is growing momentum.

Technology can be a wonderful thing, especially when applied to heavy-duty vehicle safety. At first, the process of determining which products will be beneficial can be overwhelming, but after doing some research and finally taking the plunge you will realize how much safer your fleet and work site can be.

This year’s Consumer Electronic Show (CES) marked over 50 years of showcasing innovative technology to the world. There were more than 3,900 exhibiting companies, over 300 conference sessions, and 170k+ attendees from 150 countries. Needless to say, it is a very overwhelming experience!

PRECO Electronic's PreView Sentry™ has been recognized as one of the Top 100 New Products of 2017 by Construction Equipment.  Selected by the editorial staff, Construction Equipment Top 100 is the longest-running awards program of its kind in the industry and recognizes the most significant new products announced each year. PreView Sentry™ is the only collision avoidance solution recognized among the Top 100 new products.

We are excited to announce that PreView Sentry collision avoidance data can now be accessed on the Geotab Marketplace. Both on- and off-road fleets will now benefit from the integration of PreView Sentry with Geotab’s open-platform telematics solution. The integration captures critical data related to blind zone collision avoidance and near miss information. 

Our team at PRECO is growing! David Hofacker recently joined us as our new Product Manager and we invited him to introduce himself to the masses and share his thoughts on why we do what we do.

Here’s what he had to say:

I’ve been working on the business side of technology for more than twenty years and knew of PRECO’s reputation for good people and strong employee culture. I knew that PRECO’s founder had invented the back-up alarm way back when and I knew that the company had been around for quite a while. I’ve learned much more in the last few weeks.

Being in and around moving vehicles, regardless of their size, has inherent dangers built in. Today’s highways and city streets are more congested than ever, with a heavy mix of traffic interacting with bicycles and pedestrians.

Add in distracted driving—which has been on the rise—and you’ve got a recipe for potential disaster. Sadly, accidents and fatalities on highways involving trucks, and those in cities involving pedestrians and bicyclists colliding with trucks, have been on the rise.