SACR uses 3D video to improve a driver’s awareness of the environment. The SACR sensor pod includes a high-definition video camera and laser range finder. One or more sensor pods can be mounted on a vehicle. SACR fuses video and range input from the sensor pods in real time to build a 3D computer graphics model of the vehicle’s surroundings.

Features: 

• A geometrically correct “virtual driver’s windshield” can be shifted to different points around the vehicle. This makes it easier to view the outside the vehicle and compensates for a driver’s offset from the sensor’s physical location.
• Widening the field of view allows the driver to see more of the vehicle’s surroundings at a glance.
• Drivers can zoom into and out of images to better see points of interest and even “fly around” the outside of the vehicle. An overhead view is especially useful for teleoperating UGVs (similar to driving a radio-controlled toy car).
• Video memory allows the camera to “see through” the vehicle, showing areas that would ordinarily be blocked by parts of the vehicle. This is especially useful for seeing the ground immediately in front of, underneath, or in back of the vehicle – none of which are easily observable from fixed-mount cameras.
• One 3D video feed can produce multiple views for multiple operators.
• Maps, autonomy plots, and other mission-critical information can be superimposed on the 3D video image.