POSCO Develops Forklift Collision Prevention Technology

This photo provided by POSCO shows the company’s employee demonstrating forklift safety lights.

POHANG, June 6 (Korea Bizwire) — An automatic stop technology has been developed to prevent forklift collisions.

South Korean steel giant POSCO said it had developed the automatic stop technology for forklifts in collaboration with the Research Institute of Industrial Science & Technology, Posco Group’s Future Technology Research Institute and local small and medium companies.

Safety technology applied to forklifts, in general, is limited merely to sending a warning notification to drivers in case there is a risk of collision.

Starting from November last year, the research team developed automatic stop technology through the application of image recognition technology and automatic stop control on the basis of artificial intelligence (AI) deep learning.

The new system can identify people and objects separately, while being able to calculate the exact distance between the forklift and a person on the basis of images taken by a sensor installed on the forklift, and generate an alarm sound.

In addition, if the forklift approaches nearby workers, the new service automatically stops the forklift even if the driver doesn’t press the brake.

An alarm sound is generated when the distance is less than 6 meters. At a distance of 4 meters, the forklift starts slowing down, and at a distance of less than 2 meters, it automatically stops.

In addition to the automatic stop technology, lights installed on the forklift illuminate the danger area around the vehicle.

If workers enter the danger area, the lights turn red, allowing them to recognize the risk and get out of the danger area by themselves.

M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)