COVER STORY: PROXIMITY DETECTION AND SAFETY SYSTEMS
Improved Safety Through Advancements in OBJECT DETECTION LEICA GEOSYSTEMS, PART OF HEXAGON
Technology advancements are better enabling machines to see their surroundings to improve safety in heavy equipment applications. By Sara Jensen
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afety is vital for those working on construction sites, mines, farms and other applications, in which heavy-duty off-highway equipment is utilized. As machines have become larger, and manufacturers move further toward automating systems and machines, the need to detect objects and improve overall safety has increased. Advancements in sensors and other components used in various types of safety systems are improving detection capabilities and alerting machine operators when there may be a person, animal or inanimate object in their path. This capability will be particularly important as machines become more automated because they will need to be able to see their surroundings and know they are traveling a safe route.
New technologies improve detection capabilities GPR Inc. has developed ground positioning radar (GPR) technology to aid with assisted driving and autonomous capabilities in a variety of vehicles and equipment. Unlike GPS and lidar,
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Using its collision avoidance system, Lecia Geosystems can program geofenced obstacles and no go zones in two dimension to protect environmental green zones or any general temporary avoidance zones.
which provide information on the sky and surfaces around a machine, GPR’s technology captures subsurface data. This data can then be used to enhance a vehicle or machine’s capabilities in various ways, said Tarik Bolat, CEO of GPR Inc., which is working with some of the largest automakers in the world. Data is captured by ground penetrating radar developed by GPR, which is placed underneath the vehicle or piece of equipment. Bolat said it has a completely different design from forward-facing radar technology used today. As the radar is driven over the ground, it captures reflections and gathers information on aspects such as soil type and density, utility infrastruc-
OEM Off-Highway | MARCH/APRIL 2022
ture, concrete and more. “That basically creates a very rich fingerprint we can derive a lot of important information from,” Bolat said. He said the cornerstone application for this technology is vehicle positioning. It can tell a vehicle or machine where it is located at a centimeter level, regardless of anything that might be happening on the surface over which the vehicle is traveling. Things can change on the ground’s surface which can cause issues for vehicle positioning but the subsurface stays intact, including in different weather conditions. The GPR technology could also be used on construction equipment to help verify what might be under-
