SAKAI Guardman – Auto Brake Assist System for Asphalt Rollers

Safety is an increasingly important factor in the road building industry and at Sakai we have made it our mission to address. Every year lives are tragically lost, personnel are severely injured, and equipment is damaged from backup accidents all with costly results to paving contractors. These losses could be prevented in many cases. Further, employees are increasingly hard to hire / retain and a worksite safety focus is an attractive employer attribute.

That’s where Sakai Guardman auto brake assist system technology comes in. A first for the asphalt paving roller industry, Guardman detects personnel, equipment, or objects behind (and in front for the SW884 / SW994 models) the compactor and automatically brakes when a collision is imminent. The operator does not need to intervene.

Guardman works by using millimeter radar or 3D LiDAR (depending on the roller model) in full integration with the machine’s hydraulic drive and SAHR (spring-applied, hydraulically released) braking system. A sophisticated intelligent controller compensates for compactor speed and day or night visibility. This safety option even works through dust / steam and was designed to be used for paving next to walls without worry of false alarms. Guardman has been proven in Japan for years with commercial asphalt paving contractors.

Watch the Guardman demo videos below to see how this safety system works in various jobsite scenarios including backing up to standing personnel, kneeling personnel, metal objects, unseen personnel coming from behind cover, and a demo of basic proximity detection. The second video is a demo of the SW884 and SW994 Guardman system which uniquely features both front AND rear detection/braking due to the machine size.

NEW for 2025: Echelon Mode has been added to Guardman for the SW884 and SW994 asphalt rollers. This newly developed feature allows paving contractors who run an offset or “echelon” rolling pattern with two or more compactors to operate in close proximity without triggering false alarms or stops yet still being ready to stop automatically in an emergency. Echelon Mode is easily selectable from the Guardman control screen with one button push & the display now gives the follow roller a visual indication of proximity to the lead roller.

Guardman availability is noted below. This system is not retrofittable due to numerous machine components that are specifically engineered for this system. Save lives, prevent injuries, and defend your assets with Sakai Guardman.

*Model availability subject to change.