AUTOEQUIPS Leads Shift to Camera Monitor Systems in Commercial Fleets

AUTOEQUIPS, a global leader in integrated safety solutions for commercial vehicles, has been at the forefront of the regulatory shift towards camera monitor systems (CMS) as a replacement for traditional mirrors. Founded in 2000, the company operates from facilities in Huizhou and Taiwan, covering an area of roughly 32,000 square meters, with close to 100 patents and processes aligned with ISO 26262 and ISO/SAE 21434. AUTOEQUIPS has been preparing for this transition for some time, developing its CMS mirror replacement system to meet UN R46 requirements across the range, validated by more than 269 million kilometers of accumulated road testing since 2019.

Regulation has accelerated the shift towards CMS. UN R46 has progressively defined the technical and type-approval requirements for camera-monitor devices as indirect vision systems, giving OEMs a clear path to replace Class II, IV, V, and VI mirrors. The EU General Safety Regulation has also raised expectations around field of view and vulnerable road user protection, creating conditions for CMS to work alongside other safety systems. Together, these developments are moving CMS from a premium optional equipment toward broader platform adoption.

Compared with traditional mirrors, a camera-and-display architecture offers significant advantages in blind spot coverage, all-weather clarity, energy consumption, and the ability to extend into active safety functions. AUTOEQUIPS CMS uses a dual-camera arrangement with wide-angle optical design, combining main view, wide view, close-side view, and front close-range view configurations to cover the areas associated with Class II, IV, V, and VI mirrors. This results in a reduction in blind zones along the rear flanks and immediately around the vehicle body.

Weather and night performance are also clear differentiators. Glass mirrors collect rain and condensation and offer no defense against glare from following headlights. AUTOEQUIPS camera units integrate PTC/ resistive-film automatic heating for defogging and de-icing, and pair anti-glare treatment with night-sensitive imaging to keep the displayed image usable when conditions deteriorate. Aerodynamics and running costs complete the picture. Bulky mirror arms generate drag and noise; the compact exterior camera housings sit closer to the body, helping lower drag and energy use while reducing the likelihood of impact damage in tight lanes or at bus platforms.

In bus and truck applications, the displays are typically mounted near the interior A-pillars, close to the driver's natural sightline, so that checking the rear view requires a shorter glance. For operators, the combined effect is a safety improvement that also supports cost control. AUTOEQUIPS lenses use high-end anti-reflection coating that reduces surface reflectance to below 1% while achieving optical transmittance above 90%. Lower surface reflection means fewer ghost images, and when combined with HDR, exposure control, and downstream image processing, it improves visibility in direct sunlight and against strong light sources at night.

The imaging chain delivers 1920×1280 resolution at 60 fps with 120 dB high dynamic range, and includes LED Flicker Mitigation (LFM) to suppress the flicker and banding that pulsed LED headlamps and traffic signals otherwise produce on screen. An AI-ISP layer handles the harder cases: the extreme contrast at tunnel entrances and exits, and low-light scenes down to around 0.01 lux, with real-time exposure adjustment and noise reduction aimed at true-to-life color reproduction. In practice, this is what prevents a truck driver from facing a blown-out white frame when exiting a tunnel, or a solid black patch when a following vehicle switches to high beams, highlights are held back while shadow detail is lifted. The processed image is presented on displays rated around 1,000 cd/m2 for sunlight readability, with stable, low-latency output consistent with R46 expectations.

The camera units carry IP69K protection, allowing high-pressure wash-down, and operate across a -40 °C to +85 °C range. High-hardness optical glass is used at the lens surface to resist sand and grit impact as well as abrasion from automatic car-wash brushes. Signal integrity relies on automotive-grade FAKRA connectors and GMSL2 high-speed serial transmission, supporting long cable runs with low latency and strong electromagnetic immunity, validated against CISPR 25 Class 3 and ISO 16750 vibration testing at 5G levels. Redundancy is designed in rather than added on. Each side module uses a dual-camera architecture, so if one optical channel behaves abnormally, the system can maintain core field-of-view output instead of exposing the driver to a blind spot through a single point of failure.

From long-haul trucking in sub-zero regions to hot, humid city bus operation, AUTOEQUIPS reports continuous stable operation exceeding 10,000 hours, figures that fleets care about, because it correlates with fewer vehicles off the road waiting for parts. The platform embeds an AI blind spot detection algorithm capable of identifying vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists at distances up to approximately 35 meters in complex road environments. FOTA support covers remote firmware updates, log upload, and health monitoring, which helps fleets reduce maintenance overhead and diagnose issues without a workshop visit.

Equally important for OEMs is the engineering relationship. AUTOEQUIPS supports pre-sales solution design, deep OEM customization, and global after-sales response, and has built long-standing cooperation with a number of well-known commercial vehicle brands. During UN R46 and GSR type approval work, that support extends from HMI interaction design through to CAN bus protocol integration, the details that usually consume schedule. Shortening that path helps partners bring compliant models to market sooner.