Crown Equipment Corporation has launched the "ProximityAssist" system for its RC sit-down counterbalance and SC sit-down electric forklifts, targeting the persistent challenge of pedestrian-forklift collisions in busy warehouses. In traditional operations, the operator is solely responsible for visually scanning the travel path and braking when a worker steps into the aisle. However, blind corners, tall racking, and high pedestrian traffic create collision hotspots, and the operator's reaction time-often 0.75 seconds from visual detection to brake application-is frequently too slow to prevent a collision at the truck's 13-kilometer-per-hour travel speed.
The ProximityAssist system integrates a "Dual-Layer LiDAR Sensor" on the front and rear of the truck chassis. The engineering innovation is the "Dynamic Exclusion-Zone Sizing." The LiDAR emits two simultaneous scanning layers: a long-range layer (8 meters) that detects approaching pedestrians and a short-range layer (2 meters) that provides a precise brake-triggering envelope. Unlike simpler ultrasonic or infrared sensors that falsely trigger on racking uprights and stacked inventory, the LiDAR's 360-degree point-cloud data is processed by an AI classifier that distinguishes between a human leg pattern (vertical linear object moving) and a stationary rack post (vertical linear object static).
When the long-range layer detects a pedestrian entering the travel path, the ECU progressively engages the regenerative brake, decelerating the truck from full speed to 50 percent within 1.5 seconds. If the pedestrian continues into the short-range exclusion zone, the system applies full service braking and cuts the traction motor, bringing the truck to a complete stop without operator input. The system also features "Intersection Slowdown" logic: when the LiDAR detects an approaching cross-aisle at a blind intersection, the truck automatically reduces speed to 3 km/h until the operator visually confirms the cross-aisle is clear. This active pedestrian protection reduces pedestrian-struck incidents by 90 percent without the false-trigger nuisance that causes operators to disable traditional proximity alarm systems.
