Redpoint UWB RTLS for Worker and Robot Safety

Redpoint Positioning was founded in 2014 in Newton, Massachusetts, USA by Chunjie Duan and Georgiy Pekhteryev, who met at Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs. It builds an Ultra-Wideband real-time location system focused on keeping workers safe around forklifts, AGVs and mobile robots in warehouses, logistics centers, mines and tunnels.

Small UWB tags on people and vehicles and a few anchors provide about 10 cm accuracy, with positions returned to tags in under 50 ms and closed-loop response under 100 ms. When a worker enters a zone, nearby vehicles slow, stop or reroute through CAN bus instead of shutting down the whole fleet. Software adds live maps, zones, reports and playback, and robot and forklift makers can embed the positioning in their own products.

• UWB tags and anchors: about 10 cm accuracy with few anchors and long anchor spacing.
• Low latency: positions returned to tags in under 50 ms and closed-loop response under 100 ms.
• Vehicle control: CAN bus integration to slow, stop or reroute forklifts and AGVs.
• Safety zones and warnings: dynamic zones around people, vehicles and hazards.
• Software: live map, zones, reports and playback of incidents.
• OEM integration: positioning modules built into vehicle and robot makers' products.

An e-commerce fulfillment center in Vietnam can slow nearby AMRs when pickers enter robot aisles instead of stopping the fleet. A 3PL warehouse can fit forklifts with tags to warn and slow drivers near pedestrians. A mining or tunneling contractor can track crews and machines underground.

Redpoint reports deployments covering more than 100 million sq ft, 10,000+ forklifts and 40,000+ AGVs and robots. Customer-reported results include more than 95% accident elimination and 7 to 15% production increases, varying by use case. Targeted slow-downs keep fleets running instead of stopping all robots, and SIL2 and PLd certified integration supports functional safety approvals.

Warehouses are mixing people, forklifts and autonomous robots on the same floor, making collision prevention a top operational concern. Functional safety certification is becoming a requirement for location-based vehicle control. E-commerce fulfillment and 3PL growth in Vietnam and Southeast Asia is accelerating AGV and AMR adoption.

Redpoint Positioning was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts, USA. Its CEO holds more than 50 patents in wireless and location. Its system is built on Qorvo UWB technology, and the company says it supplies 4 of the top 5 global AGV/AMR makers.