An invention from the minds of tinkerer and North Carolina-based driver Chris Barbeau (pictured below) and Judy Chute got its crowdfunding campaign under way recently at Kickstarter.com for the DUDAD (yes, pronounced doo-dad) — otherwise known as the “The Truck Drivers Wireless Audible Green Light Notification Device.” Its main parts are a wireless light sensor, which attaches to an adjustable pole, and wireless receiver that, when the sensor detects the green light at a shipper or receivers dock blazing on to signal the end of a loading period, goes off like an alarm to wake the driver up back in the cab.
Chris BarbeauBarbeau pitches it as an effective way to eliminate unecessary interruptions — or extensions, as it were — of sleep during extended loading periods. You can run through the basics of the device in the video below, and there’s more information at DUDAD.net.
To check out the funding campaign they have under way to ramp up production of the devices, and see the various rewards they’re offering for those that contribute, visit this page on Kickstarter.com. A $120 contribution level amounts to a pre-order of the DUDAD at 33 percent below retail and 16 percent below wholesale, the makers say. They’re shooting for a$30,000 goal at the crowdfunding website.
