The assistance system that detects hazards before they arise

What if people, industrial trucks and the infrastructure could communicate with each other?

Wherever industrial trucks are in use, a complex interplay between man and machine exists. The Linde Safety Guard is an innovative monitoring system which provides an early warning of potential hazards.

Wherever industrial trucks are in use, a complex interplay between man and machine exists. The Linde Safety Guard is an innovative monitoring system which provides an early warning of potential hazards.

Material handling operations like loading and unloading trucks can encounter potentially hazardous situations. Industrial trucks and staff working together in close proximity can be challenging and difficult to control. In the worst-case scenario, this can lead to injury or property damage.

Every aspect of any material handling application demands constant vigilance by all personnel involved: blind corners, low visibility areas and distracting noises are all ever-present safety risks in intralogistics and manufacturing working environments.

A timely warning: the Linde Safety Guard

Linde Safety Guard is an innovative assistance system which increases safety for both truck operators and pedestrians in the vicinity of the truck. Active alarms triggered in the event of a hazard mean that everyone involved can react immediately. Depending on the application and the equipment, the Safety Guard system warns of imminent danger through acoustic warnings, flashing LED lights or vibrations. Hazards can then be dealt with before any physical injury or collateral damage occurs.

This unique safety system was developed by the start-up Comnovo, which was acquired by Linde Material Handling in July 2017. The system has been incorporated into Linde Material Handling’s industrial trucks since early 2016. Since then, the system has proven itself across a wide variety of industries.

The Linde Safety Guard system increases the safety of all staff involved in internal traffic. It can see around corners and through walls, reduces speed automatically and can be programmed to suit any hazardous scenario.

The Linde Safety Guard uses warning zones to prevent accidents. Transmitters are positioned on industrial trucks, walls, racking and even carried by the personnel themselves. This ensures rapid detection, early warning and avoidance of hazardous situations.

If a pedestrian and a truck look likely to collide, then both the industrial truck and the pedestrian are warned simultaneously. A receiver in the truck indicates how many pedestrian staff are approaching the danger zone and from which direction. The pedestrian is warned by the receiver. This also works through walls and racking.

Speed restriction zones can also be pre-defined and programmed, so that the system automatically reduces the truck’s speed in these zones and also warns the truck operator. This minimises accidents between trucks and personnel in areas like production, order picking areas and busy intersections.

All this is only possible because the Linde Safety Guard system is able to precisely determine the position of marked objects or personnel with an accuracy of 10 centimetres and the warning zones are individually adjustable. This level of precision also helps to prevent false alarms. Moreover, a broadband radio signal in the 4 GHz range (UWB) helps to ensure reliability by eliminating interference from WiFi, Bluetooth or RFID.

The system can be adapted to meet any safety requirements. It consists of individual modules and can be tailored to the respective hazardous situation on individual sites.