Caterpillar Adds Collision Warning to Wheel Loaders

    May 7, 2025
    Optional system detects people and objects and stops motion.
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    The optional warning system uses radar and vision sensors to detect hazard potential, alert operators, and inhibit motion when initiating reverse motion.
    The optional warning system uses radar and vision sensors to detect hazard potential, alert operators, and inhibit motion when initiating reverse motion.

    Caterpillar has added a collision warning option for its medium wheel loaders, models 950 through 982.

    Collision Warning includes object detection, people detection, and motion inhibit as a package, said Frank Stadelmann, global product application specialist for medium wheel loaders, in a statement. It alerts operators and inhibits loader motion “in the instant a machine transitions from an inactive to an active state,” he said.

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    Starting with a foundation of the standard HD rear camera with an integrated touchscreen, the optional warning system uses radar and vision sensors to detect hazard potential, alert operators, and inhibit motion when initiating reverse motion from a stationary position. The system’s three color zones—yellow for awareness, amber for caution, and red for critical—approximate the distance of the object to the anticipated path of the loader.

    The embedded Motion Inhibit feature prevents direct reverse gear engagement when shifting from neutral and automatically applies the brake when the system detects an object or worker in the critical alarm zone behind the loader. When this occurs, the operator is alerted by an on-screen notification. If the loader is stationary for at least 15 seconds and the operator shifts from park to reverse, Motion Inhibit prevents the machine from engaging reverse when the rear detection system identifies something in the critical alarm zone. The loader will reverse once the operator shifts back into neutral and steers to clear the detection.

    The system highlights people in red bounding boxes on the in-cab monitor.
    The system highlights people in red bounding boxes on the in-cab monitor.

    People Detection utilizes the smart camera to alert the operator when a person is detected behind the loader. Three levels of alerts dynamically adjust based on the person’s proximity to the machine, and the system highlights people in red bounding boxes on the in-cab monitor to distinguish and manage the potential risk.