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// Two Detection Methods

Two detection methods: LiDAR + smart impact pole.

Convoy Guardian detects bridge strikes two independent ways. Method 01 is LiDAR clearance sensing on the lead vehicle — proactive and non-contact, firing before the load reaches the structure. Method 02 is a smart impact pole on the load — reactive and on-contact, firing the instant it touches. Both feed the same offline mesh and trigger the same sub-100 ms crew-wide alert.

Hardware specifications
METHOD 01
4.17 METRES LOAD HEIGHT 4.11 m SCAN PLANE ⊥ TO DIRECTION OF TRAVEL

LiDAR Lead-Vehicle Sensing

A vehicle-mounted LiDAR sensor sweeps overhead clearance continuously as the lead truck approaches. Sub-threshold detection fires the mesh before the load ever reaches the structure — proactive, predictive, non-contact.

  • Range — detects the bridge before you reach it
  • Precision — ± 2 mm clearance reading, streaming live
  • Non-contact — no impact required to alert
  • Best for — planned convoys, permit routes, known corridors

Full detail on Method 01 →

METHOD 02
CONTACT <100 ms TO CREW ACCEL ARRAY BUMPER-MOUNTED HEIGHT POLE, SET TO LOAD HEIGHT

Smart Impact Pole

A high-precision electronic pole mounted on the load with accelerometers embedded along its length. The instant it touches a structure, a 360° red beacon fires at the pole tip and every Convoy Guardian device in the mesh receives the strike alert simultaneously.

  • Accelerometer array — detects the touch, not just the crash
  • 360° visual beacon — instant red strobe visible from any angle
  • Mesh alert — every device chirps < 100 ms after contact
  • Best for — unpermitted corridors, dense urban, backup layer

Full detail on Method 02 →

When to use LiDAR

Use Method 01 when the route is planned and permitted, the corridor is known, and the approach to each structure is clear enough for a forward-looking sensor to read it. LiDAR is the only one of the two that can stop a strike from ever happening — it reads the gap and fires while there is still road left to stop on. It is the default for scheduled OS/OW moves on surveyed permit routes.

When to use the Smart Impact Pole

Use Method 02 when the corridor is unpermitted or unsurveyed, when the structure geometry is awkward — skewed overpasses, sign gantries, low utility lines — or when the move happens on a private industrial site that was never mapped. The pole does not predict; it confirms. The value is that the confirmation is instant and crew-wide instead of arriving as a radio call thirty seconds later, and that it works on any load the pole can be mounted to.

Running both in parallel

The two methods fail in different conditions, which is exactly why running both is worth the extra kit. LiDAR covers the structures you knew about. The pole covers the ones you did not. Together they give you defense-in-depth: a predictive layer that buys stopping distance, and a contact layer that guarantees no strike goes unrecorded.

Both methods write to the same blackbox, so an incident review reads one timeline whether the alert came from a clearance reading or an accelerometer. See how the mesh distributes those alerts, or the specifications for both devices.

Not sure which method fits your corridor?

Tell us the route and the load height. We will tell you which method — or both — makes sense.