One of the features of Slamcore Aware that is really grabbing the attention of intralogistics and manufacturing facility operators is its ability to detect people as they move among vehicles in busy environments.

Slamcore Aware, retrofitted to existing intralogistics vehicles – anything from forklifts to tuggers – gives that vehicle the ability to ‘see’ its surroundings. Not only is that valuable in providing real-time location information, but it also has a significant role in improving safety whilst enhancing efficiency. 

NOT JUST WHERE, BUT WHAT

Using sophisticated algorithms and AI, Slamcore Aware not only detects objects but can classify them. It can, therefore, detect a person and distinguish it from other obstacles such as pallets, shelving or other infrastructure, or other vehicles. This means the vehicle operator has more information about their surroundings. Slamcore’s advantage is that by using camera data, it can provide far richer and higher quality information of what is around a vehicle. It does this ‘at the edge’ with no need for an internet or cellular connection. Whilst LIDAR, UWB, and other existing location sensors can provide an accurate estimation of where objects are in relation to a vehicle, they do not autonomously identify what those objects are.

SAFETY FIRST

Safety is a critical concern in these workplaces, so accurate and reliable person detection is of great value in reducing rates of accidents. The data provided by Slamcore Aware can not only augment driver awareness systems by identifying the presence of pedestrians around a vehicle, but through APIs to suitable fleet management systems, will be shareable with other vehicles. In this way, drivers of blindsided vehicles (such as those approaching a tight corner) can be alerted to the position of people who are ‘seen’ by another vehicle. The Slamcore Aware unit can be easily retrofitted to any manually driven vehicle to provide these enhanced safety features. Data can be provided to driver information and alert systems, to facility-wide planning and safety systems, and even used to trigger programmed responses such as automatic braking.

SPEED AND EFFICIENCY

Efficiency and speed of operations can also be improved. Rather than enforced stops or slowing of vehicles for any obstacle, person detection can support variable responses to different objects. Forklift drivers can be warned to slow when approaching or passing pedestrians but enabled to proceed as normal past inanimate objects.

In addition to providing real-time information on obstacles, Slamcore Aware can help build accurate data on the position, movement, and routes of vehicles over time. As such, it can help managers identify bottlenecks or other unforeseen routing issues that slow down operations or increase the risk of accidents. Using this information, new and more efficient routes can be planned for people and vehicles. In increasingly mixed environments where manually driven vehicles share the road with pedestrians and potentially autonomous vehicles, a common visual representation of the space that can be understood by machines and people establishes the foundation for safer and more efficient operations. 

ADDS INTELLIGENCE TO EXISTING FLEET VEHICLES

Slamcore Aware scales with the size of the fleet, no additional changes are needed to infrastructure, and the Slamcore system can work alongside and complement other location and mapping technologies. Although autonomous mobile robots and guided vehicles (AMRs and AGVs) are increasingly present in some factories and warehouses, manually driven forklifts and similar vehicles remain the mainstay of the industry. Equipping the machines you already rely on with the ability to ‘see’ and identify people ensures that they can be fully integrated into a safe and optimized management system.   

To find out more or to enquire about a trial, please contact us.

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