On highway construction sites, safety is never an abstract concept. Deafening machine noise, extreme heat from freshly laid asphalt, rising steam, dust, and the constant movement of heavy equipment create one of the most demanding working environments in modern industry. Among all on-site roles, operators of heavy tandem rollers face particularly high physical and cognitive workloads.

These operators must precisely guide massive machines along narrow lanes while continuously monitoring fuel levels, water supply, compaction parameters, and warning indicators inside the cabin. At the same time, they are responsible for maintaining situational awareness of workers, vehicles, and infrastructure elements that may suddenly enter the machine’s path. Industry experts agree that this combination of sustained attention, environmental stress, and operational pressure is a major contributor to accidents on construction sites.

Limitations of Conventional Safety Assistance Systems

For many years, the construction machinery industry relied primarily on rear-view cameras and 360-degree camera systems to improve operator awareness. While these tools provide additional visual information, they also introduce new challenges—particularly in harsh outdoor conditions.

Steam, dust, glare, and vibration can degrade camera image quality, while operators are required to constantly shift their attention between the working environment and multiple displays. In practice, this often leads to cognitive overload. In some cases, frequent alarms or false warnings even result in operators disabling assistance functions altogether.

Recognizing these limitations, BOMAG, a global leader in road construction equipment, decided to take a fundamentally different approach when developing its new generation AP-5 heavy tandem rollers.

“Our goal was not to present the operator with more information,” explains Frank Reinartz, Product Manager for Heavy Tandem Rollers at BOMAG. “The system should run in the background and intervene only when there is a real risk.”

A New Approach: Active Collision Prevention

Instead of relying on camera-based monitoring, BOMAG collaborated with sensor and automation specialist SICK to develop Emergency Brake Assist—an intelligent braking assistance system designed specifically for harsh construction environments.

The system actively detects both static and moving obstacles, including people, machines, and infrastructure elements. When a potential collision risk is identified and the operator does not react in time, the system automatically initiates adaptive braking.

This represents a paradigm shift in construction machinery safety: from passive warning systems to active intervention.

Technological Foundation: Dynamic Path Calculation Meets Functional Safety

Emergency Brake Assist is based on two 3D LiDAR sensors mounted at the front and rear of the operator’s cabin. These sensors continuously scan the surrounding environment and provide precise three-dimensional data, even under challenging conditions such as steam, dust, or varying light.

A central processing unit correlates this environmental data with machine parameters including steering angle and driving speed. Using intelligent algorithms, the system dynamically calculates the roller’s actual driving path and determines the distance to relevant obstacles.

Crucially, the system focuses only on obstacles that pose a real collision risk. Objects outside the calculated driving path are ignored, ensuring that the system does not unnecessarily interfere with normal operation.

Certified according to EN ISO 13849-1 and achieving Performance Level b (PLb), Emergency Brake Assist meets stringent functional safety requirements while actively reducing operator workload.

Operator Acceptance as a Key Success Factor

In construction machinery, even the most advanced technology must be accepted by operators to deliver real value. Unlike many earlier assistance systems, Emergency Brake Assist has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from operators.

“The response from our first customers has been consistently positive,” says Reinartz. “Operators appreciate the intuitive behavior of the system and the fact that it genuinely supports them in complex working situations.”

By intervening only when necessary, the system preserves productivity while significantly enhancing safety.

Engineering Collaboration and Real-World Optimization

The development of Emergency Brake Assist was characterized by close collaboration between BOMAG and SICK. Through weekly coordination meetings, extensive field testing, and rapid iteration cycles, the project team continuously refined the system based on real-world feedback.

One early challenge involved water vapor generated during wheel spraying operations, which initially interfered with LiDAR measurements. SICK addressed this issue by developing intelligent software filters capable of reliably distinguishing steam clouds from real obstacles.

The result is a robust, field-proven system that passed rigorous testing in accordance with the GS-BAU-70 criteria set by BG BAU.

International Recognition and Industry Impact

In 2024, Emergency Brake Assist received the Gold Innovation Award at the Intermat trade fair in Paris. The international jury praised the system’s contribution to occupational safety and its high level of technical maturity.

This recognition highlights the growing importance of intelligent assistance systems in road construction—and signals a future where safety is increasingly supported by automation.