SafeYard
One camera on the yard light pole: forklift near misses, parking bays, gate counts and the loading queue
Does the jobs of ForkGuard, ParkSense, RoadSense and FlowCount with one brain: a head on the yard light pole logs every forklift near miss and chimes the driver's TruckTag, counts the parking bays and overstays, counts every vehicle in and out at the gate by type, and times the loading queue.
- Who buys it
- Branch or operations manager of a builders' merchant, timber and hardware yard, garden centre or small 3PL yard where customers drive in, park and walk among forklifts.
- Why it pays
- $1,490 per yard (pole head + 3 TruckTags) + $99/month instead of $6,184 + $367/month for our ForkGuard (3 trucks), ParkSense, RoadSense and FlowCount (queue pair) bought separately (est.).
- Target price
- $1,490 per yard with 3 TruckTags, $149 per extra truck, + $99/yard/month (target)
- First-minute wow
- The yard manager's phone shows one map: the near miss by racking bay 4 with its clip, 38 of 42 bays full, 412 vehicles through the gate and 'open loading lane 2' before the line reaches the street.
What the research found
And how this design answers it
- One camera unit per forklift (ForkGuard) → one pole camera for the yard plus a small TruckTag in each cab for impacts, chime and pre-shift check
- ParkSense Edge Hub, LPR bullet and overview camera → the same pole head; plates read only on paid lots
- RoadSense battery recorder kit and office hub → the gate camera counts the site entrance every day, not only on survey days
- Two FlowCount ceiling nodes → queue in and out lines drawn on the yard camera at the will-call counter
- Four brains (Pi Zero per truck, two Edge Hubs, Pi Zero per node) → one Pi 5 + Hailo-8 on one PoE+ cable
Use case
Saturday morning at a builders' merchant
Branch managerForklift driversCustomersCounter staff
- 01Trigger: 08:00 the yard opens; cars queue at the gate and park, trade vans head to the timber racking
- 02Detection: a customer walks behind FL-2 as it reverses out of bay 4; the pole sees it
- 03Alert: FL-2's TruckTag flashes and chimes; the near miss is logged with a 10 s clip; the loading queue passes 8 min and the counter TV says open lane 2
- 04Action: Monday the manager moves the walkway barrier at bay 4 and plans Saturday staff from the gate counts
Outcome: One device sees safety, parking, traffic and waiting in one yard; $4,694 less hardware than four products (est.)
How it works
Architecture
- 01
Sense: Camera Module 3 Wide over the yard, Camera Module 3 along the gate, TruckTag impact sensor and button
- 02
Decide: Pi 5 + Hailo-8 tracks people, forklifts and vehicles; near-miss, bay, gate-line and queue rules
- 03
Send: Ethernet over PoE+ to the site network; Wi-Fi MQTT to and from each TruckTag
- 04
Tell: SafeYard app for the manager, counter TV wait page, TruckTag chime in the cab
Hardware
Real parts, buyable today
Bill of materials: about $650 per yard with 3 TruckTags at qty 10, plus a PoE+ switch if the site has none (est.).
| Block | Part | Why this part |
|---|---|---|
| Brain | Raspberry Pi 5 8GB + AI HAT+ 26 TOPS (Hailo-8) in the pole head | Runs detection and tracking on two streams; the brain ParkSense, RoadSense and FlowCount already used in their hubs |
| Cameras | Camera Module 3 Wide (yard) + Camera Module 3 (gate) | One sees the whole yard, one sees the gate lane closely enough for plates |
| Power | PoE+ splitter to USB-C 5 V 5 A | One cable down the pole for power and network |
| TruckTag | XIAO ESP32-C6, LIS3DH, NeoPixel Stick 8, piezo, button, Pololu D36V28F5 | Impacts, the cab chime and the pre-shift check on each forklift |
| Mount | Printed saddle with stainless bands on a Ø100-140 mm light pole | Tilts the head 20° down at 6 m |
Mechanical
Printable CAD
5 parts, generated from code and checked as closed solids. Pick a part to inspect it, or download the STL files to print.
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Real CAD · drag to rotate · scroll to zoomReal CAD · swipe sideways
Bought hardware fitted inside this part (checked in the CAD: nothing collides with the plastic)
Open risks we are working on
- The chime is a driver aid over Wi-Fi with about 0.3-0.5 s delay (est.); it is not a safety system and never slows or stops the truck
- One pole sees about 40 x 30 m (est.); racking aisles and blind corners need a second head
- Plates and video of customers and staff: signs at the gate, no face recognition, plates only on paid lots
- Gate counts for a planning application must match the council's method; the CSV follows the RoadSense format
- Fitting at 6 m on the yard light pole needs a lift and the site's electrician for the cable run
Design stage only: nothing on this page is for sale. Specifications and prices are targets.