Truck and Track Summer 2023 www.truckandtrack.com 54 OEM COMPONENTS Aspöck UK, based in Bishops Stortford in the Southeast, have received one of the inaugural King’s Awards for Enterprise in the innovation category, for an invention that is set to change the face of commercial vehicle safety. Aspöck UK (daughter of family run company Aspöck Systems in Austria) are entering their 21st groundbreaking year, and what a way to remember it. The company was set up by managing director and engineer by trade, Lee Rush, in the October of 2001. What began with just three employees has become a slick operation with around 50 members of staff who all help to keep the Aspöck family alive and kicking. Aspöck have been at the forefront of commercial vehicle lighting in the UK and, indeed, Europe for many years, supplying some of the UKs biggest fleets with lighting systems, solar panels and cameras. The company pride themselves on being able to bring unique and innovative solutions to their customers by working in tandem with them. The customer is an integral part of the process every step of the way. However, it is not this area of expertise that has won them their award. Aspöck UK has been recognised for developing the world’s first RADAR-based reversing aid for commercial vehicles with automatic brake function. This innovative product has been in development since 2017, when several Aspöck customers approached the team asking for increased performance on the existing Aspöck Ultrasonic system. Reversing is the most difficult part of driving any vehicle, and with commercial vehicles it can be even harder. When you add in the articulation of a trailer it can be a challenge for even the most highly skilled driver. Most commercial vehicles do not have reverse camera systems to assist the driver, therefore drivers are solely reliant on their own experience and the information provided by their mirrors. The problem lies in a 2.4m-wide blind spot (the width of the vehicle) where the driver must rely on no object entering during the manoeuvre. Reversing is often required in areas where other vehicles operate, in narrow spaces or even where there are pedestrians, and it has not been unknown for collisions to Aspöck UK Ltd wins an inaugural King’s Award for Enterprise in their 21st groundbreaking year
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