Market leader in vehicle safety systems

Introduces ZoneSafe: an alert detection system with RFID

Ensuring the safety of personnel on construction sites, workshops, warehouses, distribution centers and so on is a difficult but necessary task. Vehicles and moving equipment often operate in an environment where personnel also walk and other machinery or vehicles drive. Ensuring safety is often challenging. Brigade Electronics is introducing a great solution for the above sectors in June this year: the ZoneSafe. This is a detection system with RFID, using tags to create a detection zone. People or objects wearing a tag that are in the detection zone are detected and alerted, as is the driver of the vehicle.

The base unit and antenna (with a range of 3-10 meters) can be quickly and easily placed in and on the vehicle.

"You can imagine when a driver of a vehicle is so focused on his task, or there is poor visibility or noise and then an accident is in a small corner," said Jeroen Levert, business development manager at Brigade Electronics. The company specializes in vehicle safety systems with the goal of preventing accidents and saving lives. There is a specific solution for every industry and every type of vehicle. In the construction industry, for example, the Backeye^®360 - with a 360-degree all-around view and radar obstacle detection. In the waste sector, this is often combined with an MDR and there are also companies working with traditional cameras and monitors. The ZoneSafe is extremely suitable for the logistics and distribution sector but certainly also for the construction industry. In fact for all companies and projects where vehicles and people are working in the same place or space and therefore there is a risk of accidents.

ZoneSafe uses radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to create detection zones around the vehicle. The antenna detects RFID tags that can be worn in vest or helmet.

How does it work?

The base unit and antenna (with a range of 3-10 meters) can be quickly and easily placed in and on the vehicle. ZoneSafe uses RFID (radio frequency identification technology) to create detection zones around the vehicle. The antenna(s) detect RFID tags that can be worn by workmen in vests or helmets or placed on objects on the construction site. "When the detection zone detects a tag, the driver of the vehicle automatically receives a visual and audible alert via the base unit in his cab. The detected tag gives a vibrating warning signal to its wearer so he knows that a vehicle is approaching. Ideal even in bad weather, poor visibility, blind spots, obstacles or even when hearing protection is worn." Levert adds: "There are no restrictions on the number of tags or antennas on the base unit."

Preventive

"It works very preventively," Levert knows, "because persons are much more aware of the risks. That awareness alone prevents many accidents. People used to be inclined to take the shortest (but not necessarily safest) route across a construction site, but now they know: I have this tag and I don't want to be detected. And if you do find yourself in the danger zone, there is double the attention span with you and the driver, which can prevent an accident." The ZoneSafe system is readable through a dashboard. The dashboard is a cloud-based management system that works with the ZoneSafe system to identify, monitor and record all tag activity. "That gives a lot of insight and when you run analysis on it, security can be managed even more optimally, bringing our goal of 'optimal security for everyone' another step closer." The Zonesafe has been available since mid-June.