CycleEye® – Driver assistance systems for trucks and buses

CycleEye is an advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) for trucks and buses that alerts drivers to the presence of cyclists alongside their vehicles. It is designed to improve the safety of cyclists, especially in cities and on other congested roads.

CycleEye uses a combination of radar and an optical camera to actively detect Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) against a backdrop of other vehicles and roadside clutter.

The CycleEye hardware and software was designed and developed in house by Fusion Processing to achieve the low latency required to provide alerts in real-time.

By actively tracking cyclists moving alongside the vehicle the system can issue an audible warning to the driver when these VRUs are dangerously close.

The result is an audible alerts of VRUs issued to the driver; "cyclist left" or "cyclist right".

Collision avoidance systems can support authorities in encouraging the uptake of cycling and reduce stress for drivers of large vehicles.

Reliable detection technology

The safety of cyclists is a growing concern worldwide as cyclists are forced to share busy city streets with ever more vehicles. Spotting and avoiding bicycles is particularly hard for drivers of buses and lorries, who face cognitive overload as they manoeuvre through congested roads and have a number of blind spots around their large vehicles. Safety concerns prevent some people from cycling in towns and cities who otherwise would do so.

The CycleEye system can distinguish a cyclist from a cluttered background of street furniture and other vehicles, and works in all weathers, day and night, even when visibility is very poor. This avoids any false alerts.

Unlike systems that provide camera views of blind spots, which require the driver to take their eyes off the road to look for cyclists, CycleEye does not increase the monitoring burden on busy drivers. Instead, they are only alerted when a cyclist is detected. Reducing the cognitive load on drivers and removing false alerts can enable drivers to respond faster in potentially critical situations.