Hitachi Automotive Systems has announced that its stereo camera, which enables the detection of pedestrians at night, has been adopted by Suzuki Motor Corporation for its Carry light pickup truck. The vehicle features updated specifications to enhance safety, with sales beginning this month in Japan. The Carry is the first light pickup truck with a stereo camera that can detect pedestrians at night.

With Japan's rapidly aging population, many users of light pickup trucks such as farmers are now elderly. As a result, there is growing interest in vehicles equipped with advanced safety technologies, such as pedestrian detection and protection systems, as well as collision avoidance braking systems. Hitachi Automotive Systems says it is helping to meet these needs through the development and supply of its stereo camera with night time pedestrian detection functionality.

With the partial specification change, the Suzuki Carry is now equipped with Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) functionality, such as lane departure warnings, lane sway warnings and lead vehicle start alerts. Additionally, the model is equipped with the function to detect pedestrians at night, supporting collision avoidance braking, the same function that has been adopted by Suzuki for its Solio, Solio Bandit, Every and Every Wagon models. The function utilises Hitachi's unique machine learning technology, where large numbers of images are input as training data into the stereo camera, making it possible to detect pedestrians at night with a level of precision previously impossible.