Preventing Collision Accidents with AI and Deep Learning... POSCO Develops 'Forklift Automatic Stop Technology'

RIST·POSCO Holdings Future Technology Research Institute·Small and Medium Enterprises Joint Technology Development Success

A technology that visually represents hazardous zones around forklifts using forklift lighting. When there are no workers within the hazardous zone, the lighting is implemented in green.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yeo Jong-gu] POSCO has developed ‘automatic forklift stop technology’ in collaboration with Pohang Institute of Industrial Science and Technology (RIST), POSCO Holdings Future Technology Research Institute, and small and medium-sized enterprises.

POSCO began developing the technology in November last year and completed the development of automatic forklift stop technology using artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning last month, six months later. The completed technology was first applied to forklifts at the Stainless Steel No. 3 Steelmaking Plant within the Pohang Steelworks.

Generally, safety technologies applied to forklifts only send warning alerts to the driver in case of collision risk, but the automatic forklift stop technology applies ‘image recognition technology’ and ‘automatic stop control’ to fundamentally prevent accidents caused by collisions.

The image recognition technology applies AI and deep learning to distinguish and recognize people and objects, calculating the exact distance between the forklift and people based on footage taken by a wide-angle lens installed on the forklift, triggering a warning alarm.

To prevent forklift accidents, tags were previously attached to forklifts and workers to measure distance, but the newly developed technology has the advantage of detecting collision risks without separate tags.

Additionally, by adding ‘automatic stop control technology,’ the risk of safety accidents has been fundamentally blocked. When the forklift approaches nearby workers, it automatically stops step-by-step even if the driver does not press the brake.

The first stage triggers an alarm when the collision risk distance is within 6 meters, the second stage begins deceleration at 4 meters, and the third stage automatically stops the forklift when a worker approaches within 2 meters.

Moreover, technology that visually expresses dangerous zones around the forklift using lights installed on the forklift has also been applied.

When a field worker enters the dangerous zone around the forklift, the forklift’s lights turn red to help the worker recognize the danger and evacuate independently.

After applying the technology within the steelworks, POSCO expanded it to partner companies, applying the new technology to forklifts of partner companies ‘Yeongnam Industry’ and ‘Daemyeong.’

In the future, POSCO plans to share its experience and technology with domestic companies and institutions that need this technology and contribute to securing industrial safety by preventing collision accidents with forklifts.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.