NASD: Sensor Evaluation for Human Presence Detection

NASD: Sensor Evaluation for Human Presence Detection: "This part of the project focused on the development of a sensor system to detect the presence of a person near a dangerous machine component. If this system proves reliable, it could be used with devices such as magnetic clutch/brakes to rapidly arrest the motion of the equipment. Some tractors are now availiable with electrohydraulic PTO control, which could include a sensor system such as this one in a chain of safety shutoff interlocks.
Beginning in late 1994, project staff including faculty and students conducted a review of various sensor categories for the purpose of detecting people approaching a hazard area. The data suggested that the overlapping use of passive infrared and microwave sensors might have potential value for use on agricultural equipment.
Since there are many off-the-shelf motion sensors already availiable to the building security industry, it made sense to start by evaluating them on equipment operating in staionary mode. A large number of injuries occur on power equipment such as silage elevators, and field equipment parked for unclogging, and could be prevented using these inexpensive sensor technologies."