Litum Launches RTLS Forklift Safety System
Litum announced the release of PathAware, a new RTLS forklift safety solution designed to reduce collision risks and improve operational awareness, all without relying on wearable tags, complex installations, or expensive cameras.
Unlike systems that depend on wearables, fixed infrastructure, or camera networks, PathAware uses artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced sensors and UWB-enabled vehicle tags mounted directly on forklifts. This setup delivers 360-degree situational awareness in all environments with no need for line-of-sight, human intervention, or operator compliance.
According to company officials, PathAware is tagless by design as AI-enhanced sensors automatically detect pedestrians, obstacles, and other vehicles— eliminating risks tied to human error, non-compliance, or equipment oversight. With onboard processing and alerts, the solution requires no external infrastructure or networking. The system is designed to be upgraded over time with optional modules— such as geofencing, location-based analytics, and full-facility RTLS— allowing businesses to start with safety and scale toward operational intelligence.
Ozgur Ulku, CEO of Litum, notes without the need for networked anchors or camera installations, PathAware offers a high ROI and faster time to safety.
“We designed PathAware to make forklift safety smarter and more scalable,” said Ulku in a statement. “It’s a system that works out of the box and grows with you.”
Powercast’s RFID Sensor Customized for Data Centers
Powercast has collaborated with Asset Vue to customize Powercast’s RFID-powered, wire-and-battery-free sensor condition monitoring system to meet the needs of data centers.
Adding Powercast’s wireless RF-energy-harvesting chips and sensors (temperature, humidity, light, etc.) to these RFID tags elevates their functionality beyond identification to enable real-time smart monitoring that results in smarter supply chains capable of locating live shipments, tracking the state of perishable goods and more, all without wires and batteries.
Since standard RAIN RFID readers emit an RF signal that’s similar to that of Powercast’s RF wireless power transmitters, these readers can substitute for the transmitters, becoming the source of wireless power that perpetually powers the sensor tags without wires or batteries, eliminating the need/expense for hardwiring sensors, ongoing battery maintenance, or installing custom readers or RF transmitters.
Powercast’s Powerharvester PCC110 receiver chip embedded in the RFID sensor tags harvests RF and data sent over the air from any RFID reader within range, which can be up to 40 meters depending on the application. A single RFID reader can power many tags at once located over a large area as long as they’re within range. Readers can be fixed infrastructure installed in the ceiling, or handheld readers used by employees.
“Asset Vue wanted an affordable, maintenance-free asset monitoring system for its data center that didn’t require sensors to be hardwired or ongoing battery maintenance,” said Charles Greene, COO and CTO of Powercast. “They knew our technology did that, so they asked us to customize a system for them; specifically, they needed precise monitoring of extreme temperature and humidity to prevent failure of mission-critical equipment they store on metal server racks, and the ability to quickly locate tagged items on those crowded racks.”
The Powerharvester chip then converts the RF to usable DC to both power the tags and communicate data. A microcontroller and sensors receive power, measure conditions, and report that data back to the reader. Peel-back adhesive on the backs of the RFID sensor tags make them easy to install anywhere.
IOTech’s Edge Central Latest Release Powers AI-Driven Industrial Edge Solutions
IOTech Systems, a global leader in industrial edge software, launched Edge Central 4.0, designed to accelerate the deployment and adoption of the next generation of AI-driven industrial edge solutions.
IOTech customers and partners operate in a variety of industries, including building automation, renewable energy, manufacturing/industry 4.0, transportation and more. Edge Central 4.0 meets the advanced requirements of IOTech’s industrial operator customer base. Edge Central 4.0 includes new capabilities critical to industrial adoption, including normalizing and managing all sources of Alarm data in an edge system independently from the underlying OT environment; providing scalable and data storage and retrieval, allowing organizations to maintain comprehensive records of edge operations for analysis and compliance purposes throughout the lifetime of a deployment; time-based scheduling; and enhanced access control and authorization.
“Edge Central has transformed how we manage and deploy building control systems across multiple sites at scale,” said Anno Scholten, Senior Director at CBRE, a building automation partner of IOTech. “These new capabilities provide us unprecedented visibility and control, allowing us to monitor our large fleet of buildings with greater efficiency, responsiveness, and accountability.”
Security enhancements in Edge Central 4.0 include enabling secure data flow from OT endpoints through the edge stack and into cloud environments. New features extend access control, encryption, and monitoring across the full deployment footprint.
Edge Central 4.0 is part of IOTech’s modular edge stack, which includes Edge Connect for industrial connectivity and Edge Manager for large-scale orchestration and lifecycle management. Customers can deploy these components individually or as an integrated platform, depending on their infrastructure needs.
AddSecure Acquires GroupTalk
AddSecure, a leading European provider of secure IoT connectivity and end-to-end solutions, has acquired GroupTalk, a European market leader in cloud-based push-to-talk (PTT) solutions.
AddSecure has been following the push-to-talk market closely and recognized the potential of GroupTalk early on. The combination of Group Talk’s PTT solutions and AddSecure’s offerings and broad market presence unlocks new opportunities for cross-selling and upselling as well as supporting international growth. Stefan Albertsson, CEO of AddSecure stated that GroupTalk is one of the few pure SaaS providers in the PTT market, offering a secure, reliable and scalable platform with global coverage.
“When the opportunity to acquire them evolved, it was a natural next step. This acquisition aligns perfectly with our strategy to expand our offering in secure critical communications and provide even greater value to our customers,” said Albertsson.
Through this acquisition, GroupTalk gains the opportunity to join a larger organization, expand internationally, leverage AddSecure’s enhanced sales and marketing capabilities and benefit from ISO 9001, 14001 and 27001 experience within the organization.
GroupTalk specializes in cloud-based push-to-talk solutions, offering business-critical communications services to various sectors including public safety, security, and aviation. Their platform empowers mobile workforces with real-time collaboration and instant group communication, crucial for effective operations in many industries. Customers include SAS, the Dutch police, Securitas, Volvo, Filmstaden, and others.