SonaSafe forklift proximity warning

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SonaSafe is a machine operator awareness system that is fitted to vehicles, such as forklifts, and other plant to identify the presence of crew and other vehicles in the vicinity of the vehicle.

A loudspeaker in the vehicle cab advises the vehicle driver by means of a spoken voice. When a SonaSafe message is received a blue light is also activated in the loudspeaker, the vehicle FM radio loudspeakers may be disconnected and or an external light or solenoid activated.

The SonaSafe system may be configured to control other functions, in the presence of specific crew or other vehicles, such as automatic braking or machine immobilisation.

All crew wear a rechargeable personal detector unit (PDU) that is unique to that person. This unit may be programmed with the individual crew member’s name. The PDU will alert any vehicle that it gets close to in the event that its battery starts to run low.

All events such as when a crew member wearing a PDU comes near a vehicle are time stamped and stored at a rate up to 5 times/s (nominally once per second) to a depth of 20 days that can be retrieved manually, transmitted over a two-way radio link or transferred to a remote database via the internet for analysis.

There is no requirement for the GPS antenna to constantly receive GPS signal for general use. In most cases, the GPS is only used to update the system’s RTC (real-time clock) and to give the non-critical information like the area that vehicle is working in for dashboard display purposes. GPS is not used for critical people near vehicle calculations; that task is carried out by means of sonar.