A guy on the Odyssey forum bought one of these and installed it in his back bumper, doing for $30 what dealers charge $300 for. He said it works! http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showthread.p...light=REVERSING

Don't know if such a thing has a use in the trailer world, but I thought I would post it, raise it up the flag pole, and see if anyone salutes!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...s_promot_widget

Interesting! The one thread mentioned that the Nag-Lady speaks at several distances and the last two are three feet and crash -- That range is the one where it would be most useful to me.

Brought to you by those folks at The BRAILLE Driving School.
Shouldn't it be installed on the TRAILER's bumper?
Reference to Charles Watts Avitar

I wonder how well these things work with little things, like trees, utility bollards, etc... They probably do really well warning against big things like buildings, cars and moose but both of the trailers I bought had evidence of deciduous collision.

This must work on the same principle as my garage light system which tells the wife to stop before going too close to wall but my system works with lights.
I know that after any power surge or loss of power my system needs to be re-calibrated. Also I would wonder if the 50 Degree angle of detection is enough..or even true???
I would much rather the situation then ask for if I needed it from a friendly camper neighbor then to rely on a machine.
Gerry the canoebuilder

Hey, Herb, how did you know it wasn't coniferous... bark or leaf evidence left behind?

More seriously, I agree that there's a big difference between the detection needed to help people parallel park or not back over their kids and the kids toys, and judging the distance to stuff like the trailer coupler or a pole.

I can't see a proximity system mounted on the tug as being useful for backing up to the trailer, but perhaps it could be useful as an extra (not primary) method of avoiding damage if it were mounted to the back of the trailer, rather than the tug.

An alignment aid in a garage, like the safety system which stops a garage door from closing if something is in the way, might be based on a light source and sensor in a fixed location: when something "breaks the beam" between them, that's the signal that the designated location has been reached.

The backup warning systems which have become common as new-car options (the $300 referred to in the Odyssey forum) are set of ultrasonic proximity sensors: they send out ultrasonic "pings" and listen for the echo, just like a crude sonar system. They can measure how far the object is from the sensor, and the alarm is just a comparison with a set distance. You could have a reading (in centimetres or inches or whatever) from these things if you wanted... they're not triggered by a very specific location.

The product described here looks like an ultrasonic proximity system.

Actually, I could use it on the FRONT of my Odyssey which has low-hanging plastic parts that all seem to be 1" lower than standard parking curbs, not to mention logs and rocks at campgrounds!

Me too. <scr-aa-aa-aa-ape>