VUB develops sensor to avoid blind spot accidents caused by lorries

A spin-off from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the research centre imec have developed a warning system designed to prevent blind spot accidents involving lorries.

Last year, the number of road deaths in Flanders rose by 10 per cent, to a record 136. A large number of these were caused by blind spot accidents involving lorries, as existing warning systems, such as radar sensors, are not always effective.

"In adverse weather conditions, such as rain or snow, vulnerable road users are often less reliably detected," says Bart Truyen, VUB researcher and managing director of spin-off eXia. The Active Sideguard sensor is the world's first system to use low-frequency electric fields to detect vulnerable road users in a lorry's blind spot.

"We are literally saving lives with our research"

The system is also more weather resistant than existing detection systems, "so it continues to work reliably in all situations and on all freight vehicles, helping to ensure the safety of vulnerable road users. We are literally saving lives with our research," says Truyen.

The research took 15 years to complete and received 420,000 euros in funding from the Flemish government.

^{#FlandersNewsService | © PHOTO DANIEL MIHAILESCU / AFP}