Mobile Eye?

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

I've been thinking about getting a "Mobile Eye" system for my coach.

Have any of you ever considered it?

For safety or just driver assistance.

Pretty slick system; detects pedestrians, even at night.

https://www.mobileye.com/en-us/technology/how-it-works/

Cost is around $1,200. You might think it's expensive, but, if it helped you avoid an accident or worse hit someone in a dark circumstance, you'd swear it was priceless.

What do you think?

[brianh]

I looked into Mobileye as an option to add these safety features (ADAS as they're referred to). I ended up buying a PW Ascent, and lane departure and collision warning systems are built in options. If I had gone with the model I was considering that didn't have those features, I don't think I'd have gone with a Mobileye though. You can find these features in many modern dash cams for a fraction of the cost. Do some Amazon or Google searching for "dash cam with ADAS" and you'll find plenty of options for well under $300. Plus these dash cams have features to automatically save a recording if a shock is detected, which could be very useful in the event of an accident.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by brianh

I looked into Mobileye as an option to add these safety features (ADAS as they're referred to). I ended up buying a PW Ascent, and lane departure and collision warning systems are built in options. If I had gone with the model I was considering that didn't have those features, I don't think I'd have gone with a Mobileye though. You can find these features in many modern dash cams for a fraction of the cost. Do some Amazon or Google searching for "dash cam with ADAS" and you'll find plenty of options for well under $300. Plus these dash cams have features to automatically save a recording if a shock is detected, which could be very useful in the event of an accident.

I don't know.. are you comparing comparable products.?

I noticed that Mobile Eye is conspicuously absent from this list, see link below.

Why is that?

https://dashcamerasreviews.com/dash-cam-adas-system-top-9-dash-cams/

[InterBlog]

As with other products, I am annoyed that there is no holistic approach being demonstrated by the manufacturer. Each product does one thing (or claims to), while nothing is comprehensive in the way that it logically ought to be.

Why would I buy an active monitoring product like that, with cameras and hardware and software and all the rest, unless it also offered the corresponding passive monitoring function (additional cameras and DVR for security)?

The manufacturer is already X percent of the way toward a comprehensive goal - why not go the distance? Or at least offer it as an option.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

As with other products, I am annoyed that there is no holistic approach being demonstrated by the manufacturer. Each product does one thing (or claims to), while nothing is comprehensive in the way that it logically ought to be.

Why would I buy an active monitoring product like that, with cameras and hardware and software and all the rest, unless it also offered the corresponding passive monitoring function (additional cameras and DVR for security)?

The manufacturer is already X percent of the way toward a comprehensive goal - why not go the distance? Or at least offer it as an option.

I can see what you're saying... I guess that the monitoring is more important than the recording.... ?

Seems like these guys, Mobile Eye, have a pretty big presence in the market.,. must be doing something right?

[InterBlog]

Not so much "doing something right" as "insufficient free market development". This is a rapidly-evolving area, and turn-key solutions have not yet emerged to fit the obvious needs. It reminds me a little bit of the time before iPhone when everyone had completely different cell phones, the before time when no innovative smart phone solution had yet risen to the top.

I think we'll see good improvements in the next year or so, though. Especially where commercial truck fleets are concerned, there's just too much liability, too much money on the line for producers to not step up and offer products that speak to loss prevention objectives.

[avanti]

I am not so sure that this market is EVER going to develop much beyond its current state. I suspect that it is going to be rapidly overtaken by OEM features built into the vehicles. High-end vehicles already have ridiculous numbers of cameras, radar units, and other sensor to support the safety and convenience features that are rapidly working their way down the price curve. Most of them don't yet use these capabilities for more controversial purposes such as video recording as theft deterrent, but that will come.

My understanding is that Mobile-Eye is primarily a provider of technology to the OEM market, and that these retail products are just a side line. I suspect that the latter market is destined to shrink over time.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Avanti, you wrote,

My understanding is that Mobile-Eye is primarily a provider of technology to the OEM market, and that these retail products are just a side line. I suspect that the latter market is destined to shrink over time.

Please explain.... they have been around since 2007

https://www.mobileye.com/en-us/about-mobileye/

It is certainly a good way to get this technology into older vehicles.... not everyone wants to go out and purchase a brand new car to get that.... let alone an RV....

I don't see RV manufacturers installing these anyway...

[avanti]

Originally Posted by Roadtrek Adventuous RS1

Avanti, you wrote,

My understanding is that Mobile-Eye is primarily a provider of technology to the OEM market, and that these retail products are just a side line. I suspect that the latter market is destined to shrink over time.

Please explain.... they have been around since 2007

https://www.mobileye.com/en-us/about-mobileye/

It is certainly a good way to get this technology into older vehicles.... not everyone wants to go out and purchase a brand new car to get that.... let alone an RV....

I don't see RV manufacturers installing these anyway...

Huh? What do you want me to explain? Please read the first paragraph of your link.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by avanti

Huh? What do you want me to explain? Please read the first paragraph of your link.

Do you really think that the market is shrinking for this on older vehicles? Your argument is that these are primarily only on new cars and trucks?

I find that really hard to believe given how many are out there right now.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by Roadtrek Adventuous RS1

Do you really think that the market is shrinking for this on older vehicles? Your argument is that these are primarily only on new cars and trucks?

I find that really hard to believe given how many are out there right now.

Please don't troll.

[booster]

Personally, I think that the aftermarket may hit a wall with the technology as much from liability questions as from implementation and market. If you just make a 3D camera system you are providing information to be acted on by the driver as wanted. As soon as you go beyond that to alerts, interventions, etc, you start to get into an area where a bit of bad data could cause a bad driver reaction.



I could be wrong, but I think the aftermarket would have to be much larger than I see it to support that kind of risk.

[Scottnelson@srmg-link.com]

bicker, bicker, bicker.... ��good info though. we have mobile eye & it wks well. like it.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by Scottnelson@srmg-link.com

bicker, bicker, bicker.... ��good info though. we have mobile eye & it wks well. like it.

Scott, thanks for this information...

I've been thinking about it... I'm sure it has to be calibrated differently for a large vehicle like a Class B vs. a car....

You have the 630 model?? I was quoted around $1100 plus tax installed and it can only be installed by a certified dealer/ installer.

What about do you like? Do you dislike anything about it?
And what was the deciding factor to spend the money on this?

I'm mainly interested in the night driving and pedestrian /cyclist situations. They've harder to see at night....is the night vision of the mobile Eye that good....

----MARK

PS- what vehicle did you have it installed in. Sprinter?

[InterBlog]

I had considered what Avanti said, yes. It was a point well made.

However, the issue that I think will drive the market is this - the sheer diversity of rolling stock that will need some of the tech we are discussing here (troll posts by others aside). I suspect that it is too much diversity for any standardized OEM measures to completely suppress the market for component-ization.

I've seen this kind of customization happen on the industrial and commercial sides. These guys are partly invisible to those of us "recreational" folks, but they represent a big market. They buy stripped-down utility vehicles and THEY decide how they want them upfitted, typically with their specific end-use in mind. They don't want to buy bells-n-whistles base stock - it's a waste of money for them.

So, I think (hope?) that there will be a sufficient number of market drivers (pun intended) to continue maturing the market. Not from the recreational side, but from other directions.

[booster]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

I had considered what Avanti said, yes. It was a point well made.

However, the issue that I think will drive the market is this - the sheer diversity of rolling stock that will need some of the tech we are discussing here (troll posts by others aside). I suspect that it is too much diversity for any standardized OEM measures to completely suppress the market for component-ization.

I've seen this kind of customization happen on the industrial and commercial sides. These guys are partly invisible to those of us "recreational" folks, but they represent a big market. They buy stripped-down utility vehicles and THEY decide how they want them upfitted, typically with their specific end-use in mind. They don't want to buy bells-n-whistles base stock - it's a waste of money for them.

So, I think (hope?) that there will be a sufficient number of market drivers (pun intended) to continue maturing the market. Not from the recreational side, but from other directions.

It is interesting that you mention the industrial/commercial side of this, as I have been through lots of the kind of situations like you mention with industrial equipment, not vehicles. Vehicles would probably be in the commercial side you mentioned.


Using "off the shelf" components that weren't manufacturer specifically recommended for the application is extremely common in manufacturing facilities and is how we could get competitive advantage when the competition was using standard production equipment.



There are a few issues that always needed to be addressed up front when we did this stuff as essentially all of the liability consequences would usually transfer to our company and away from the manufacturer of the parts. Other than rather small and safe stuff, all the projects would get passed through the safety guy for approval and in some cases even to an attorney to due risk assessment of it. Most of the time is was just formality, and it would go right through, but sometimes it had to be a rather high up sign off if the gains were worth the exposure.



I would equate the add on safety systems to the above type things in a lot of ways as Interblog states. A company like UPS certainly has or can get the skill set to design and build a camera, early warning, emergency braking, whatever else system for the big brown box trucks which appear to be a UPS product in all ways. It is also likely they have either self insure reserves our huge liability policies to cover issues. They would just have to do the cost/benefit/risk analysis.


The mass market would be radically different, I think, as the manufacturer would be totally responsible for approving a huge multitude of makes and models and years of vehicles if they are going to sell many units. They would also have to somehow assure that the installers, be it DIY or dealers know all there is to know about all those models. Tough business model for what is likely to be a relatively small market. If they just chose to manufacture the parts and give no application approval I don't know if they could avoid liability or not. Perhaps there is an attorney here who could make a better guess.



As cars have evolved, the aftermarket has been written off as dead many times, but has always been able to adapt. That very well could happen again with this next wave of technology, too. Offshore companies are much more likely to sell stuff without any fear of consequences as they just disappear if problems arise so that is a real possibility with a lot of things.

[InterBlog]

I phoned up a commercial / industrial vendor this morning, spouted off my entire Cadillac wish-list, all of my perfect-world video surveillance components inside AND outside, stationary AND moving capacities, local AND remote data management. And he was kind enough to spec and prepare a written quote, which he delivered to me at $3,900 for equipment only, no quote for installation labor. Plus $20/month for dedicated server space and cellular link.

Alright!! Tell me - who among you just involuntarily shot coffee out your nostrils from snorting in surprise over that little unexpected data point? LOL.



It eludes to yet another complexity, though: these systems are being engineered for trucks that are rolling 70 hours a week, 50 weeks a year. My usage scenario is different, and that matters. I need 2 to 3 months a year, 24 hours a day, essentially. And then the other 9 or 10 months of the year, I need it NOT to be racking up incremental charges.

Anyway, I need to do more research, obviously. But it never hurts to get a quote for reference.

[booster]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

I phoned up a commercial / industrial vendor this morning, spouted off my entire Cadillac wish-list, all of my perfect-world video surveillance components inside AND outside, stationary AND moving capacities, local AND remote data management. And he was kind enough to spec and prepare a written quote, which he delivered to me at $3,900 for equipment only, no quote for installation labor. Plus $20/month for dedicated server space and cellular link.

Alright!! Tell me - who among you just involuntarily shot coffee out your nostrils from snorting in surprise over that little unexpected data point? LOL.



It eludes to yet another complexity, though: these systems are being engineered for trucks that are rolling 70 hours a week, 50 weeks a year. My usage scenario is different, and that matters. I need 2 to 3 months a year, 24 hours a day, essentially. And then the other 9 or 10 months of the year, I need it NOT to be racking up incremental charges.

Anyway, I need to do more research, obviously. But it never hurts to get a quote for reference.

Was this surveillance only or did it include active vehicle warnings and such, like blind spot, cross traffic, pedestrians.?

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by booster

Was this surveillance only or did it include active vehicle warnings and such, like blind spot, cross traffic, pedestrians.?

There are no active warnings, AND, the other issue is that the design ethic focuses on nailing the driver for wrongdoings. So some of this expense is tied up in design features that have no relevance to my situation, namely measures intended to prevent the system from being defeated by a fleet driver who does not appreciate the boss looking over his shoulder. The hardware was intended to be as tamper-proof as possible, and the system engages in continuous recording over the time span of hours, such that if something nefarious or incriminating transpires, the driver can't simply keep it running until the offending evidence gets "taped over".

That's all well and fine for a commercial fleet drivers, but it's putting the tech focus in areas that are not relevant to my risks.

There's also no motion activation possible with that vendor's system, because I guess truckers don't need that stuff. There's active control available over a cellular connection, but it's not possible to have the system go dormant but then kick on, start taping, and send you a video snippet if someone happens to break into the vehicle.

Which brings me back around to the Canary, which I've grown to appreciate even more. Those things actually perform those functions, and the street price right now is as low as $60 (plus you need an air card subscription if using one in a mobile context). If someone is going for maximum bang for minimum buck, it's not a bad choice.

For us, there's also a meta-convenience associated with Canary - every time I get back to the van from attending some function, the Canary sends my husband a chirp because it records a motion-activated snippet before I can manage to reach its location to turn both it and my air card off. So if I'm urban boondocking in another city engaged in some work function late at night, my husband does not need to either send me a text or do Find My Friends to ensure that I've made it back to the van safely. The Canary lets him know automatically - he sees the chirp from his location back in Houston, because all of our Canaries report to both of our phones (we have multiple units in multiple applications).

[RossWilliams]

In the long run, we are all dead. I'm hoping in the interim that we have self-driving technology. My guess is that there will be an instant secondary market for retrofits of existing vehicles once that technology is generally available. Most kids born today will likely never drive a vehicle.

We have a way to go. Last I heard, Uber's technology for detecting pedestrians had so many false reports they decided to have the vehicle ignore them and run people over. Apparently it wasn't even worth warning the attendant/driver. I think I would ask anyone offering this feature some hard questions about its reliability and whether you are really buying a false sense of security.