One camera on the yard light pole: forklift near misses, parking bays, gate counts and the loading queue
Software: $99 per yard per month
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How it fits together
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01
The whole SafeYard
One Pi 5 with an AI chip in a head on the yard light pole watches the whole yard and the gate: it logs forklift near misses and chimes the driver's TruckTag, counts cars in the bays and at the gate, and times the loading queue.
02Brain
Raspberry Pi 5 8GB + AI HAT+ (SafeYard head)
The brain: it runs the safeyard-head program
03
Yard camera (wide)
Sees forklifts and people on foot, the parking bays and the loading queue
Raspberry Pi 5 8GB + AI HAT+ (SafeYard head) · CSI-2 ribbon (camera port 0) · 30 fps video
04
Gate camera
Counts every vehicle in and out by type and reads plates on paid lots
Raspberry Pi 5 8GB + AI HAT+ (SafeYard head) · CSI-2 ribbon (camera port 1) · 30 fps video, 12 MP stills for plates
05
AI chip (Hailo-8)
Finds people, forklifts, cars, vans and trucks in both video streams
Raspberry Pi 5 8GB + AI HAT+ (SafeYard head) · PCIe (ribbon to the Pi) · Detections per frame
06
TruckTag in each forklift cab
Logs impacts, flashes and chimes when the pole sees a person behind a reversing truck, and runs the pre-shift check
XIAO ESP32-C6 · Wi-Fi (MQTT) from the yard access point · Impacts, check results and chime commands
07
PoE+ splitter
Takes power and network from one cable down the pole
Raspberry Pi 5 8GB + AI HAT+ (SafeYard head) · Ethernet + USB-C 5 V 5 A · Power and network
08
All connected
6 key parts, one program, and your phone
What it is
A camera head on the yard light pole with one brain that does the forklift, parking, gate and queue jobs for a yard with public access.
What it does
Who it's for
Builders' merchants, timber yards, garden centres and small 3PL yards where customers and forklifts share the yard.
The idea
The problem today
In a builders' merchant yard, customers drive in, park and walk among forklifts loading their cars, and a regulator fined a timber yard after a pack fell on a customer. Each job has its own kit today: a reversing camera on every truck, plate reading, traffic counts and queue counters, each with its own fee.
With SafeYard
One SafeYard head on the light pole sees the whole open yard and the gate lane. It logs near misses between people and forklifts, counts bays and gate traffic, measures the will-call wait, and a small TruckTag in each cab chimes and records bumps and the daily check.
How the parts connect
Every part, what links it to the brain, and how the data reaches your phone. A solid line is a cable; a dashed line is a radio link.
The program
while True:
yard, gate = cam0.capture(), cam1.capture() # CM3 Wide + CM3
dets = tracker.update(hailo.detect(yard, gate))
for truck, person in near_misses(dets, gap_m=3):
mqtt.publish(f'tag/{truck}/chime', 'BEEP') # TruckTag flashes + chimes
app.log('near_miss', truck, person.zone, yard.clip(10))
bays.update(dets.cars) # occupancy, overstays
if paid_lot: bays.match(payments.latest(), plates.read(gate))
counts.update(dets.crossing(GATE_LINE)) # in/out by type and turn
q = queue.update(dets.people, QUEUE_IN, QUEUE_OUT)
if q.wait_min > limit: app.alert('open another loading lane', q)
for tag in tags.events(): app.log(tag.kind, tag) # impacts, pre-shift checksTo your phone
Yard manager's iPhone or Android browser, office PC, counter TV page
One screen for each job SafeYard does.
Near missA customer walks behind a reversing forklift at racking bay 4. The driver's TruckTag flashes and chimes, and a 10-second clip is saved.
ParkingOn a busy Saturday the yard camera counts which customer bays are full and spots cars that have stayed too long.
Gate countsEvery vehicle through the gate is counted by type and by which way it turns, in the same table a traffic survey would give.
Loading queueCustomers line up at the loading lane. When the wait passes 8 minutes, the counter is told to open a second lane before the line reaches the street.
App screens with sample data. The interface is in development.
| Near misses | FL-2 reversing, person 1.8 m behind, racking bay 4, 10:42 | Each event, with a 10 s clip |
|---|---|---|
| Impacts and checks | FL-3: 2.4 g at 14:05; pre-shift check done 06:58 | Each impact and each shift |
| Parking | 38 of 42 bays used, 2 overstays over 2 h | Every minute |
| Gate counts | Today 412 in: 301 cars, 88 vans, 23 trucks; 71% turned right | Every 15 min |
| Loading queue | 6 waiting, about 9 min, open lane 2 | Live |
No face recognition; people are dots on the yard map; plates read only in paid-lot mode with signs at the gate; clips kept 7 days unless an event is flagged.
CAD design · Design rev A, 27 Oct 2026: CAD, fit checks and assembled 3D model done; not built
| AI processor | Raspberry Pi 5 8GB + Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ 26 TOPS (Hailo-8) in the pole head |
|---|---|
| Sensors | Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3 Wide (whole yard) · Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3 (gate lane) · TruckTag: LIS3DH impact sensor, 8-LED bar, piezo chime and button on each forklift |
| Connectivity | Ethernet over PoE+ to the site network · Wi-Fi to and from each TruckTag |
| Power | One PoE+ cable to the head, about 11.8 W (est.); each TruckTag about 0.2 W from the forklift's 12-48 V supply (est.) |
| Enclosure | Black ASA pole head with a sun visor on a 20° printed saddle; black and yellow PETG TruckTag |
| Dimensions | Head 180 x 130 x 89 mm (visor 175 mm deep); TruckTag 110 x 70 x 37 mm |
| Weight | ~1.4 kg head and saddle (est.) |
| Ingress rating | Designed for IP65 outdoors (target, not tested) |
| Forklifts | Near misses with clips, impacts, pre-shift check, cab chime |
|---|---|
| Parking | Bays used, overstays, payments on paid lots |
| Gate | Vehicles in and out by type and turn |
| Queue | Length, measured wait, open-a-lane alert |
| Mount | Ø100-140 mm light pole, 5-7 m up, two bands |
|---|---|
| Coverage | About 40 x 30 m of open yard from 6 m (est.) |
| Power | One PoE+ (802.3at) cable |
| Video | Stays on the head 7 days unless an event is flagged |
Targets for production units; they may change during development.
Hardware: $1,490 per yard (pole head, saddle, 3 TruckTags)
Software: $99 per yard per month
Target pricing. Extra TruckTags $149 each. Bought separately for one yard, ForkGuard for 3 trucks ($2,397 + $45/mo), ParkSense ($499 + $149/mo), RoadSense ($1,490 + $95/mo) and a FlowCount queue pair ($1,798 + $78/mo) add up to $6,184 + $367/month. Parts cost about $650 per yard at qty 10 (est.).
$1,490
One yard, every job.
$2,690
Two heads for yards with racking aisles.
Custom
Merchant groups with many branches.
Indicative launch pricing in USD, excluding taxes and shipping. Final pricing is confirmed before any balance is charged.
Community
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From the product lab · ideation phase
It does the job of ForkGuard (forklift near misses, impacts and pre-shift checks), ParkSense (bays, overstays and payments), RoadSense (gate counts) and FlowCount (queue and wait). Bought separately for one yard with three forklifts those are $6,184 + $367 a month; SafeYard is $1,490 + $99 a month.
No. It is not a safety system and it does not slow or stop any truck. The chime in the cab is a driver aid that can be late or miss people. Walkways, exclusion zones and training stay your controls; SafeYard shows where near misses happen so you can fix them.
One head sees about 40 x 30 m of open yard from 6 m (est.). Racking aisles, sheds and blind corners need a second head, and forklifts working indoors keep ForkGuard on the truck.
There is no face recognition and people show as dots on the map. Plates are read only on paid lots, with signs at the gate. Clips stay on the head for 7 days unless an event is flagged.
No. It is a concept in design. Specifications are targets. We are not taking orders, reservations or deposits, and it has no ship date yet.
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