Forklift Detection Sensor: There are 4 Sides to Forklift Visibility, Your Forklift Driver Can Only See One at a Time.

A forklift detection sensor protects your workforce. Whether your lift truck operator drives in reverse or overlooks the forks, your operator can only view one side at a time. Forklift drivers are not truck, bus or taxi cab drivers whose job is focused on one thing: operate the vehicle. As a result, regular vehicles move in mostly a forward direction, the driver is aware of their surroundings with mirrors because they are performing one task…driving.

Forklift drivers need to be multi-taskers. Forklift drivers are required to lift large pallets, drums or heavy materials that obstruct the fork view and therefore, need to be proficient driving in reverse. By the way, the driver also needs to be aware of what’s going on with the other 3 sides as pedestrians and workers are in constant motion.

What is a Forklift Detection Sensor?

A forklift detection sensor is an electronic device that detects or senses the presence of people or obstacles in the path of a moving vehicle to increase forklift operation safety. A modern forklift detection sensor typically uses machine vision, however there are traditional solutions that may rely on radar, sonar or a combination of expensive RFID tags.

Old Concepts in Forklift Visibility

Over the years, articles have been written on how companies can reduce accidents by improving forklift visibility. The articles gave these ideas:

• • Reduce distractions
  • Increase lighting
  • Reduce aisle and dock clutter
  • Annual vision test
  • Use cameras to guide forklift tines
  • Rear-view mirrors

The reason for these ideas is to support the driver and make better decisions when near pedestrians, racks, product and equipment. These are also to increase awareness and improve safety. Well, we wouldn’t keep reading fatality and injury reports while also submitting product, facility damage claims if these old ideas worked.

Forklift Detection Sensor: New Ideas in Forklift Visibility

There are multiple forklift detection solutions in the market that work on lift trucks to automatically detect the presence of objects and augment forklift operator visibility.

Traditional forklift detection systems include:

Now, the industry is looking for AI-based smart sensors that can differentiate between pedestrians and other objects. As a result, false alarms go down and forklift safety goes up.

The S3 Pedestrian Detection System is one such machine vision based AI forklift detection sensor that does exactly what it says. If a pedestrian comes within the predefined distance, it will sound an alarm and provide visual cues. What’s more…it can be configured to detect and alarm for racking, dock doors and other obstacles in your facilities!