The Oshkosh Defense MRAP M-ATVs (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicles) were designed to keep troops safe from small arms fire and roadside bombs, but now they can protect against a more common threat – car accidents
The company unveiled new safety systems this week at the Association of the U.S. Army Annual Meeting that tap into technology already available on consumer vehicles, but are specially designed for its military machines.
Its Forward Collision Warning and Surround View systems aim to give operators an extra set of eyes in urban settings – seven of them, to be exact.
One forward facing camera keeps an eye on the road ahead looking for stopped cars and pedestrians. If an obstacle is detected, it sets off a series of alerts that includes bright lights on top of the dashboard and vibrations through the driver’s seat, both well-suited to the often loud cabin of the MRAP.
Meanwhile, six wide-angle cameras situated around the perimeter of the vehicle provide a 360-degree view, offering enhanced situational awareness as drivers try to navigate tight spaces in the twenty-foot long, 15 ton trucks. Operators can toggle between the feeds or get a virtual birds-eye-view, similar to that offered in various consumer vehicles built by Nissan, Land Rover and others.
The systems were derived from the company’s TerraMax Unmanned Ground Vehicle Technology, which is being developed to deliver fully autonomous driving and remote control of vehicles for use in mine clearing and cargo convoy operations.
Along with installing it on new MRAPs, the company says the Forward Collision Warning and Surround View systems can be retrofitted to existing vehicles.