RFID Journal Staff asked 9 years ago Could the technology be used to apply an electric cart’s brakes automatically, in order to ensure workers’ safety?
—Name withheld
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It is possible, yes. In 2013, we reported about a half-dozen global consumer goods manufacturers that were trialing a system of protecting workers from being hit by forklift trucks within warehouses. Each employee received a key fob containing an embedded 2.45 GHz active RFID transponder, and each forklift truck was outfitted with an RFID reader. The transponder broadcast a unique ID number several times every second.
When a forklift’s reader detected a tag within a specified distance, it could either sound a buzzer, illuminate a light or automatically decelerate or apply the brakes. The solution, known as the Pedestrian Alert System (PAS), was provided by British materials-handling technology firm Transmon Engineering (see RFID Solution Tries to Put the Brakes on Warehouse Accidents).
—Mark Roberti, Founder and Editor, RFID Journal
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