Every day, roadside construction workers face life-threatening risks from unpredictable driving and hazardous working conditions. Last year alone, 60% of highway construction firms reported having at least one car crash into their work zones and 30% experienced crashes resulting in injury to workers.
Ranger Construction, a Florida-based road building and asphalt production contractor, understands this problem on a deeply personal level. In 2023, one of Ranger’s workers was tragically killed after a hit-and-run involving a speeding driver. That incident inspired Ranger to seek out non-traditional, tech-powered road safety measures to better protect its workers on the job.
Driven by this critical industry need, SmartCone and Samsung came together to create RoadDefender — a smart safety solution that combines motion sensors and AI-powered traffic analysis with wearable technology to give roadside workers real-time awareness of potential dangers.
From traffic cones to AI-powered intrusion alerts
The roadside construction industry has worked diligently to improve worker safety. Traditional methods like static signage, increased speeding fines, traffic cones and reflective vests have been instrumental in raising public awareness and mitigating worker risk. However, their benefits have plateaued in recent years. Construction companies need a more proactive approach that empowers workers to quickly react to changing jobsite conditions.
In 2024, SmartCone created RoadDefender as part of the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT’s) 2024 Safety Work Zone Innovation for Today and Tomorrow (SWIFTT) Challenge. It functions as a modular work zone intrusion alert system that leverages edge-based AI, long-range radar and real-time video analytics to detect threats and alert workers in milliseconds through the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra.
This near-instantaneous notice is key to RoadDefender’s success.
“I’ve had the opportunity to meet with many different solution partners during my time at Samsung. Working with SmartCone really feels like we’re making a change for the better and keeping the world a safer place. Based on the initial success of our partnership, FDOT is expanding RoadDefender across more interstate job sites.” – Christine Ladd, Senior Manager and Business Development Leader, Samsung Electronics America
How SmartCone and Samsung work together to protect roadside crews
RoadDefender empowers roadside construction workers to react instinctively to oncoming threats. It starts with SmartCone’s technology, which captures multiple data streams like vehicle movements and irregular traffic behavior from up to a mile away. That data is then fed through an algorithm and translated into actionable safety notifications, which are delivered to workers via multimodal alerts on a Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra.
This collaboration between SmartCone and Samsung delivers increased protection for roadside construction crews in four key ways:
- AI-powered protection: Smartcone’s AI delivers real-time threat detection, which is supported by Samsung’s ruggedized, edge-capable hardware.
- Rapid intrusion alerts: Samsung’s on-device processing pushes critical notifications within milliseconds, ensuring instant awareness of potential dangers.
- Neuroscience-informed design: Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra shares alerts that are designed to be felt, seen and heard — ensuring warnings are acted on instinctively, not cognitively.
- Proximity awareness for heavy machinery: When RoadDefender detects and responds to dangerous proximity events caused by heavy equipment in work zones, Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra quickly communicates alerts to workers — ultimately reducing the risk of injury.
In addition to operationalizing SmartCone’s technology to improve worker safety, Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is equipped with unique capabilities to withstand challenging worksite conditions. Glove-sensitive, wet-touch-friendly touchscreens ensure reliable performance, even when teams are wearing protective equipment or working in the rain, and a 3nm processor delivers advanced health tracking for each crew member.1, 2
To ensure workers stay connected and reliably receive risk alerts while on the job, Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra also offers standalone mode — enabling LTE-capable devices to operate independently from smartphones using their own phone number and cellular connection.
Increasing construction team safety one job at a time
Early feedback and pilot successes from the Ranger team have been overwhelmingly positive — underscoring RoadDefender’s ability to meaningfully improve worker safety protocols and confidence on the job.
“The biggest challenge we faced was unpredictable driver behavior in work zones — vehicles blowing past cones without slowing down. RoadDefender’s detection and warning technology has virtually eliminated those risks, boosting crew morale and operational efficiency. The confidence it instills through timely, accurate warnings has made our job sites safer and more efficient than ever before.” – Mark Ligon, Vice President of Safety & Risk Management, Vecellio Management Services.
After deploying RoadDefender, Ranger’s roadside construction crews have experienced:
- A 4X reduction in worker response times compared to traditional safety measures, such as signage or traffic cones.
- A measurable reduction in near-miss incidents, which is directly attributable to RoadDefender’s alert system.
What’s next for RoadDefender?
RoadDefender represents a novel approach to roadside construction safety, one that’s grounded in human behavior and leading AI capabilities. Together, SmartCone and Samsung have transformed RoadDefender from an ambitious idea into a proven, field-ready solution — delivering immediate life-saving alerts for workers operating in high-risk environments.
SmartCone and Samsung remain committed to deepening our partnership, combining intelligent software with rugged, worker-ready hardware to protect lives in motion. We are actively evaluating opportunities to expand RoadDefender’s life-saving capabilities into new fields like industrial safety and mining safety.
Through our shared commitment to continued collaboration and industry leading innovation, SmartCone and Samsung can reduce workplace incidents, increase safety and provide workers with the security and confidence they need to focus on the job at hand.
For more information, read RoadDefender: How SmartCone and Samsung are revolutionizing roadside worker safety.
1. Touch sensitivity increases responsiveness for leather gloves 2mm or less in thickness, based on internal laboratory test results. Devices can be used in wet environments, but not fully submerged under water. Underwater touch is not available. Touch-responsiveness may vary depending on the material and thickness of gloves as well as other environmental conditions.
2. Not intended for medical use. Users should not interpret or take clinical action based on the device output without consultation of a qualified healthcare professional.
