Caterpillar infused its next-generation medium wheel loaders with technology to advance safety and help customers work faster and with greater accuracy.
The new tech includes a collision warning system with motion inhibit. The technology is available as options for the next-generation Cat 950, 962, 966, 966 XE, 972, 972 XE, 980, 980 XE, 982 and 982 XE wheel loaders.
“Our new optional collision warning system with motion inhibit includes object detection, people detection and motion inhibit as a package to improve safe operation by alerting operators and inhibiting loader motion in the instant a machine transitions from an inactive to an active state,” says Frank Stadelmann, global product application specialist for medium wheel loaders at Caterpillar.
Stadelmann says the new Cat payload for trade options builds on the company’s advanced payload scale system that electronically captures weight and other data from the loader – in a certified way – and sends it directly to an office or directly via email
Targeting potential collisions that emerge from behind a loader, the system leverages smart camera and radar technology to give audible and visual alerts to help operators see, mitigate and manage hazards that might otherwise go unnoticed. The system’s three-color zones – yellow for awareness, amber for caution and red for critical – approximate the distance of an object to the anticipated path of the loader.
The embedded motion inhibit feature prevents direct reverse gear engagement when shifting from neutral and automatically applies the brake when the system detects an object or worker in the critical alarm zone behind the loader. When this occurs, the operator is alerted by an on-screen notification.
If the loader is stationary for at least 15 seconds and the operator shifts from park to reverse, the motion inhibit feature prevents the machine from engaging reverse when the rear-detection system identifies something in the critical alarm zone. The loader will reverse once the operator shifts back into neutral and steers to clear the detection.
The people detection feature, meanwhile, utilizes the smart camera to alert the operator when a person is detected behind the loader. Three levels of alerts dynamically adjust based on the person’s proximity to the machine, and the system highlights people in red bounding boxes on the in-cab monitor to distinguish and manage the potential risk.
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