QuatroEyes® Prevents Accidents Caused by Heavy Machinery

Obayashi Has Developed QuatroEyes—A Safety Device That Detects Workers Nearby and Prevents Accidents Involving Heavy Machinery

QuatroEyes Uses AI to Learn Every Possible Posture of Workers and Significantly Improves Detection Accuracy
Obayashi Corporation has developed QuatroEyes, which is a safety device that shuts off heavy machinery to prevent injury when it detects workers nearby. QuatroEyes uses AI that learns every possible posture of construction workers ahead of time and uses multiple cameras placed on heavy machinery, such as backhoes and cranes, to accurately detect the presence of construction workers.

Workers coming in contact with heavy machinery is one of the main causes of fatal accidents at construction sites. As a safety measure, areas where heavy machinery is in operation are closed off if there is a risk of injury. However, there still is a risk if workers mistake the equipment as not being in operation and enter the area. It is also difficult to close off an area while heavy machinery is being moved to another location.
There are devices that can detect objects in operators’ blind spots with an ultrasonic sensor. There also are safety devices that can detect signals from IC tags that workers carry. However, there has been a problem with these devices in that they sound alarms too frequently as they detect objects and workers outside of danger zones.
To solve these problems, a new system with a camera has recently been developed to detect workers who are in danger zones only. However, there was still a problem with accuracy because the system could not detect workers who were bending down or carrying large materials.
QuatroEyes can detect workers with significantly better accuracy because it uses AI to process images captured by its cameras. QuatroEyes learns every possible posture of workers at construction sites. This enables the system to detect workers who are bending down or carrying large materials, which was difficult to do in the past.
The system has stereo cameras that can accurately measure distance so it can sound an alarm when a worker comes within a predefined proximity. In addition, it can shut off heavy machinery if there is a risk of a worker coming in contact with the heavy machinery. This reliably prevents accidents because the system will shut off equipment without requiring the operator or workers to make a judgment.

The main features of QuatroEyes are as follows.

1. Learns every possible posture of workers for significantly better detection accuracy

   Worker detection systems with conventional cameras could not detect workers if they were bending down or hidden behind a large object. QuatroEyes learns images of every possible posture of construction workers using image recognition with AI technology called deep learning. This has significantly improved detection accuracy.
   The system can detect workers who are bending down as well as workers who are carrying a large object.
   Conventional cameras can not detect those workers. In addition, using image processing technology such as brightness correction, the system works even in a dark area inside a tunnel with only about 20 lux of light or when there is a bright light behind an object.

   

2. Shuts off heavy machinery and eliminates human error

   Conventional safety devices only sound an alarm to workers and the operator of heavy machinery. It was ultimately up to them to avoid heavy machinery or to stop it. Even if devices could accurately detect workers, there was potential for an accident due to human error.
   QuatroEyes uses stereo cameras to accurately measure the distance between heavy equipment and workers. It sounds an alarm when a worker approaches a warning zone. In addition, it can shut off heavy machinery if there is a risk of a worker coming in contact with the machinery, which improves safety by eliminating the possibility of human error. The distance for sounding an alarm and the distance for shutting off heavy machinery can be set for each piece of equipment as long as they are within 10 meters.
   QuatroEyes can be retrofitted to a variety of heavy machinery including backhoes, cranes, and forklifts.