Most proximity systems fail the same way: something solid gets between the truck and the person. Racking, a stacked pallet, a wall at a blind corner. Radio can be reflected, vision needs line of sight, and the moment the sensor cannot perceive the pedestrian the protection is gone at exactly the point the geometry is most dangerous.
HIT-NOT attacks that problem with different physics, and that single choice explains almost everything about where the system fits.
What it actually is
A field generator mounted on the forklift produces a magnetic field in two configurable shapes: a warning zone and, inside it, a danger zone. Each pedestrian wears a Personal Alarm Device that detects the field. Cross into the warning zone and both parties get three beeps. Cross into the danger zone and the signal becomes continuous.
The property that matters is that magnetic fields pass through the things that stop other technologies. HIT-NOT markets this as see-through detection, and it is not marketing language for once: the field propagates through racking, loads and dense material, so a pedestrian behind a stacked pallet is detected before either party could possibly see the other. The company has been selling this for more than two decades.
The range extends beyond the truck. Facility-mounted alert devices cover places where nobody is wearing a tag, such as a production line or a workstation, using strobes or horns instead. Structure monitors warn operators approaching racks, doors, columns, conveyors and pick modules, in powered or long-life battery versions. AGVs and autonomous mobile robots take a low-voltage module so a manual truck and an autonomous one are aware of each other.
Where it fits
Sites with heavy racking and genuine blind corners, where the failure you are trying to prevent is the one nobody could have seen coming. Operations with a stable, badged workforce, because the whole model depends on the tag being worn. Facilities that already run proximity detection thinking and want the through-obstruction capability that radio-based systems approximate at best.
Where it does not
Anywhere the tag discipline breaks. A visitor, a delivery driver, an agency worker on their first shift or a contractor walking to the roof access does not have a Personal Alarm Device, and to a tag-based system a person without a tag is not a person. Every tag vendor has an answer for this and none of the answers are complete. If your floor has a steady stream of untagged people on it, read our comparison of pedestrian detection approaches before committing to any wearable-based architecture.
The second constraint is administrative. Tags must be issued, returned, charged or replaced, and someone has to own that process for as long as the system is in service.
Six alternatives worth quoting
ELOKON ELOshield is the closest architectural cousin. It uses ultra-wideband radio rather than magnetics, which also detects through pallets and racking, with a standard range up to 40 ft and an option to extend to about 80 ft. Its zones can be drawn as circles, rectangles or asymmetric polygons, and different zones can trigger different reactions, including automatic speed reduction. Worth quoting if you want through-obstruction detection with more zone geometry control.
SensorZone runs RFID tags with a triple alert: the operator sees and hears it, the worker’s own tag vibrates, and a beacon warns everyone nearby. That third channel matters more than it sounds, because it tells bystanders something is happening.
ZoneSafe is the other tag-and-vibration system, from the UK, and is worth a look if your risk includes vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure alongside pedestrians, since it sells vehicle-activated signage as part of the same range.
Blaxtair is the opposite bet: camera AI, no tags at all, so it protects the visitor HIT-NOT cannot. It also cannot see through a pallet.
SIERA.AI approaches from the data side, pairing detection with impact logging, access control and a telemetry dashboard, which suits buyers who want one contract covering safety and fleet visibility.
ALIS Tech is worth a call if your problem is narrow aisles specifically. Its system pairs UWB with LED floor marking and autonomous deceleration, aimed at traffic management rather than detection alone.
What to verify before signing
Ask for the field shape in your actual aisle, not the brochure diagram, because magnetic field geometry interacts with steel racking and reinforced concrete. Ask what happens on a pedestrian without a tag, and accept the honest answer rather than the hopeful one. Ask about tag battery life and the replacement process. And pilot in your worst aisle for a month, counting near misses before and after.
Our risk scorer will tell you which aisle that is, and produces a scope you can send to every vendor here so the quotes come back comparable.
