Bendix starts trial testing of Intellipark electronic parking brake control

The cutting edge of technology in the world of trucking runs through the J1939 communications network. It’s the heart of your wiring harness, and it’s what keeps the many components that run your equipment talking to each other. And that’s where you’ll connect with some of the latest products and enhancements from Bendix.

Bendix Intellipark electronic parking brake control is now moving into fleet trials with an expected launch in 2019. Intellipark helps prevent rollaway and runaway crashes by automatically setting the brakes if the driver exits the vehicle while it is not parked. The system uses information available on the vehicle network to allow the parking brake to be released only when the driver is in full control of the vehicle.

Intellipark also delivers features such as “trailer auto-park release,” which can automatically release trailer brakes when the vehicle is moving. The “park-at-speed” feature helps the driver to maintain control if the parking brakes are applied while driving.

Since Intellipark is electronic, it is also positioned for integration with BendixWingman Fusion, enabling the use of the parking brakes to further enhance driver assistance functions.

Bendix engineered Intellipark for use with any air-braked vehicle, including tractor-trailers, single-unit trucks, motor coaches and school buses. It’s designed to help drivers mitigate a variety of unsafe situations.

In addition to new features, Bendix has also introduced significant updates to the latest generation of BendixWingman Fusion, adding highway departure braking, ACB (active cruise with braking) Stop & Driver Go, ACB Auto-Resume, and multilane emergency braking to its features, along with even more enhanced collision mitigation and braking capabilities.

Bendix also introduced the latest version of BlindSpotter, which uses a new side-mounted radar unit – typically installed on the passenger side of the vehicle but also available for driver-side mounting – to alert drivers to vehicles or objects in adjacent lanes. When connected to the vehicle’s J1939 CAN (controller area network), its new radar operates over a significantly wider field of view than the previous version, allowing it to “see” farther toward both the front and back of a combination or single-unit vehicle. It can see up to 2.5 times farther in each direction compared to the previous generation of BlindSpotter.

(Illustration courtesy of Bendix)

Despite the new innovations – radar and CAN connectivity – the new BlindSpotter maintains the look, size, position and mounting hardware of its radar and in-cab display units, making it easy to upgrade from the current version or retrofit the entire kit.

The new BlindSpotter provides a wider, 150-degree range of coverage capable of detecting objects up to 20 feet in front of and 20 feet behind the BlindSpotter radar. The coverage zone extends up to 10 feet to the right of the vehicle. BlindSpotter minimizes false alerts by operating in two modes: highway speeds and lower speeds. When connected to the CAN and at highway speeds, the sensor filters out stationary objects like guardrails. The slow-speed warning mode – active at less than 20 mph, such as during city driving or in parking lots – narrows the range for alerts and does not filter out stationary targets or infrastructure.

“As with any advanced safety system, BlindSpotter isn’t a substitute for a trained, professional driver practicing safe habits – and it doesn’t replace the need for side and fender-mounted mirrors, or for drivers to check them before changing lanes,” said Fred Andersky, Bendix director of customer solutions – controls. “All trucks have blind spots: This is a proven, reliable technology to help keep an extra set of ‘eyes’ on them.”

That’s a lot of safety technology enhancement for you to consider whether you’re spec’ing a new truck, or looking to upgrade some of the options on the truck you’re already driving.