Plantforce draw the line on safety with FTC

Plant hire firm installs latest pedestrian detection system from FTC Group on new excavator

PLANT hire suppliers Plantforce have installed the latest pedestrian detection system from FTC Group on one of their new excavators. FTC’s Pedestrian Detection Camera provides the operator with a clear and simple visual and audible alarm system to notify them of people entering the machine’s working area.

Despite its easy-to-understand operator interface, the technology solution that powers the system is far more complex. The rangefinder is linked to sophisticated software that can distinguish between not only animate and inanimate objects, but also between people and things.

At the heart of the system is a complex algorithm and feeding into that are cameras with a 140-degree field of vision, such that three or four cameras mounted on a suitably shaped vehicle will give a 360-degree view.

FTC business development manager Sean Hamill explained: ‘In essence, this system offers customers a completely modular safety system that is easy to manage and extremely effective, tracking pedestrians in real time with a full HD screen and any configuration of alerts required.

‘With a detection zone of up to 30m, which can be divided into programmable green, amber and red areas, pedestrians are tracked in cab on an HD screen with each of them marked in red, amber or green, depending on their distance from each camera.’