Mercedes-Benz Trucks get MirrorCam instead of mirrors

By CARSIFU | 16 December 2019


STUTTGART: Since the summer, an increasing number of trucks sporting the Mercedes star have been seen on the roads without the typical large exterior mirrors.

Instead, small streamlined camera arms are mounted on the roof frame. What's behind this? Since June 2019, Mercedes-Benz Trucks has been supplying the new Actros with the MirrorCam as a standard feature – as the only manufacturer in the industry worldwide to date.

The digital rear-view mirror not only looks futuristic; the system can also do much more than conventional main and wide-angle mirrors and its performance far exceeds the legal requirements.

Neuer Mercedes-Benz Actros mit MirrorCam New Mercedes-Benz Actros with MirrorCam



READ MORE:
Latest Lexus ES first car to get wing cams
US to test mirrorless, camera-based systems in passenger cars
Six screens, 12 cameras: Audi car tech to run on new Samsung chip

Patrick Hirth is a cab development mechanic at Mercedes-Benz Trucks and has already driven more than 200,000km with the new MirrorCam.

He says: "After a short familiarisation period, drivers experience the advantages of the MirrorCam in many different situations for themselves. Overtaking, manoeuvring, driving in poor visibility and darkness, cornering and bottleneck situations – the MirrorCam makes all this safer and less stressful."

The MirrorCam consists of two cameras mounted on the left and right of the roof frame, two upright monitors mounted on the A-pillars in the driver's cab and control elements in the door module and in the secondary display.

The images transmitted by the cameras are transferred to the two 15.2-inch monitors with a resolution of 720 x 1920 pixels. Like the conventional mirror system, the monitor image is divided into a main and wide-angle field of vision.

Neu: Abbiege-Assistent von Mercedes-Benz Trucks nicht nur ab Werk, sondern auch als Nachrüstlösung erhältlich. New: Sideguard Assist from Mercedes-Benz Trucks not only available ex works but also for retrofitting.


As the MirrorCam cameras are attached to the roof frame and the monitors are located inside the cab, the driver has a much better direct view through the side windows.

The MirrorCam also assists the driver when reversing and the display then changes to a special manoeuvring view. In particular, reversing around corners is made easier as areas further away from the vehicle are also displayed in the usual size.

The distance lines in the display of the MirrorCam are also useful: they help the driver to better gauge the distance to objects behind the vehicle according to the driving situation.

In addition, before moving off, the driver can use the door control panel to position one of the lines to symbolise the end of the vehicle in the display.

Einzigartig im Fernverkehr – die MirrorCam ersetzt den Spiegel Unique in long-haul transport – MirrorCam replaces the mirror


A special highlight of the MirrorCam is demonstrated when cornering with a semitrailer truck: the image on the display on the inside of the corner also swivels, so the driver always has a perfect view of the end of the trailer when cornering.

The high mounting position of the camera arms not only ensures excellent visibility, it also gets much less dirty in this position than the lower glass mirror. The water-repellent coating of the camera lenses also means less dirt.

"I much prefer driving with the MirrorCam now. The system is quite simply superior to conventional main- and wide-angle mirrors in crucial situations," said Hirth.

 

Keywords