Seon’s Inertia Sensor: Small Box, Big Punch

Great things often come in small packages, and Seon’s Mobile Surveillance Inertia Sensor provides a great example. The tiny box – a smart device that vastly improves the detection of sudden acceleration, braking, impact or abrupt cornering of a vehicle – integrates with the Seon Rogue™ Seon Trooper®, Seon Explorer™ digital video surveillance systems. It can help train drivers, protect against liability claims and help recreate accident situations.

As an accelerometer or impact sensor, the Inertia Sensor works similarly to those found in airbags on personal vehicles. However, it doesn`t need an impact to activate. Instead, it is activated by a rapid change of vehicle speed.

The Inertia Sensor is always ready to record an unusual incident, such as abrupt bus braking, acceleration or turns that can lead to complaints or injury claims. The Inertia Sensor is an objective witness to help a transportation agency separate legitimate claims from nuisance complaints. It is a valuable tool to help control the rising costs associated with incidents and insurance claims, and it can prevent fraudulent claims before they get started.

The Inertia Sensor will trigger special record modes preset on the Seon DVR when sudden movements are detected. The special record mode will capture vehicle information as an on-screen video overlay. It is also possible to program the unit to increase frame rate and video quality settings for a preset amount of time to give you even better recording quality. The Inertia Sensor will ensure every important moment is captured in the highest quality. When reviewing an incident, the data can be found and downloaded easily and quickly.

The Seon Inertia Sensor is the leading impact sensor in the mobile surveillance market. The trigger threshold range is wide, from 0.1 G to 5.0 G, it measures “front-to-back” and “side-to-side” acceleration, and it measures abrupt lateral movements. While the threshold is wide, it can be finely adjusted in 0.1 G increments. Such features are designed to protect and train. The Inertia Sensor has proven to be a tool that has both immediate and long-term impact. Transportation directors can rely on the accurate and precise data if ever an insurance claim is filed or an incident occurs.

To expand the Inertia Sensor beyond its obvious post-incident applications, an audible alarm has been incorporated. If acceleration thresholds are surpassed, there is immediate feedback given to the driver via sound. During training or in-service, this can be an invaluable feature. Imagine, drivers not just knowing what their limits are, but also the exact moment those limits are passed. This can lead drivers to feel more comfortable and allow them to drive more intuitively than before.

Customers have found that by setting the Inertia Sensor to trigger at somewhere between 0.4G to 0.7G, they can help their drivers understand when they may have braked too quickly, pulled out of a bus stop too abruptly, or turned a corner without slowing down appropriately.

As part of an ongoing training plan or annual in-service, both supervisors and operators can review selected video footage captured during Inertia Sensor-triggered events and use the video clips as a tool to create strategies for the operators to anticipate the situations that force them to accelerate or decelerate too quickly.

One Seon customer – Southwest Metro Transit in Eden Prairie, MN – uses the driving philosophy that a smoother ride makes better business sense. A smooth ride gives passengers a positive impression of the service – which helps Southwest Metro Transit maintain and grow ridership, as well as save on fuel costs. Low fuel costs and maintaining and increasing passenger rates are an essential part of any transportation agency’s success.

Much like professional athletes or any performance-based occupation, the objective review and discussion of video evidence can be useful for new drivers, and it can help experienced drivers improve their skills.

The Seon Inertia Sensor is one small device that will make a big impact on your fleet. Improve driver skills, gather specific incident measurements, and have a more complete record of what is happening on your buses with the Seon Inertia Sensor.