ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems)

AI dashcams

Driver monitoring system (DMS)

A driver monitoring system points inward. Using an infrared cabin-facing camera so it works at night and through sunglasses, it tracks head pose, eye state and posture to infer whether the driver is attentive. It is the counterpart to ADAS, which points outward at the road. In fleet equipment the two are usually sold together in a single dual-facing unit, and the terms are often used loosely as though they were one feature.

AI dash cam

An AI dash cam is a connected vehicle camera with enough on-device processing to run computer-vision models against the video stream in real time. Road-facing models typically cover following distance, lane departure and forward collision risk. Driver-facing models cover distraction, phone use, drowsiness, smoking and seatbelt use. The device decides which moments are worth keeping, saves a short clip either side of the trigger, and uploads it with the matching GPS and sensor data. The word AI describes where the analysis happens, not a difference in image quality.

Harsh braking

Harsh braking is one of a small family of accelerometer-derived driving events, alongside harsh acceleration and harsh cornering. A telematics device measures the rate of change in speed and raises an event when it crosses a threshold set in the platform. Thresholds are configurable, which means the same driving can produce very different event counts on two systems, and event counts are not comparable between vendors unless the thresholds are known.

Tailgating detection

Tailgating detection, also called following-distance monitoring, is an ADAS function. The camera identifies the vehicle ahead, estimates the distance to it, and divides by current speed to produce a headway figure in seconds. When headway drops below the configured threshold for a sustained period, the device warns the driver in the cab and flags the event. It is measured in time rather than metres because a safe gap at 30 km/h is dangerous at 100 km/h.

Fleet safety camera

A fleet safety camera differs from a consumer dash cam in management rather than optics. It is centrally provisioned, connected over a mobile network, tied to a vehicle record, and configured from a platform rather than a device menu. Footage handling, retention and access are set once for the fleet. Most units are dual-facing, combining an outward ADAS view with an inward driver monitoring view, and most carry GPS so events arrive with position and speed attached.