Samsara Inc. has introduced the Samsara 360 Camera, a dual-fisheye-lens, 360-degree AI camera for equipment working in physical operations, alongside a Samsara Equipment offering that places those machines on the same platform the company already sells for road fleets. The launch targets excavators, forklifts and pushbacks operating in construction, warehousing, mining and airports.
According to the company, frontline workers on those machines sit in open cabs, often within feet of coworkers and other equipment, and until now no camera system had been built specifically for that job. Without footage from the ground, Samsara says, incident investigations stalled, liability was disputed and the same unsafe behaviours could be repeated.
One mount instead of four cameras
Conventional 360-degree systems for equipment require four cameras, four mounts and a separate recorder, according to Samsara. The 360 Camera captures a full 360-degree view from a single mount point, and managers can pan and zoom through any recorded event to watch it from every angle. It installs like a Samsara dash cam and is built to withstand harsh weather and rough operating conditions.
AI detections feed a safety programme
The company's AI, developed on nearly a decade of Samsara AI Dash Cams, converts that footage into a safety programme. Detections flag mobile phone use, camera obstruction, seat and lap belt use and harsh impacts, and are trained on how equipment is actually operated. Managers can see which operators, sites and equipment types show repeat risky behaviour, and every impact automatically pulls video into the Samsara Safety Inbox, so investigations can close on evidence instead of competing accounts. Samsara says teams use the footage to coach operators, enforce zero-tolerance mobile phone policies and speed up OSHA investigations without adding headcount; timestamped video also supports insurance claims and helps establish or clear liability quickly.
Idle time and maintenance on the same platform
Samsara for Equipment combines with the 360 Camera so that equipment monitoring and agents sit on the platform organisations already use for their road fleets. Teams can see how long each forklift or excavator sits idling, schedule preventive maintenance on actual engine hours rather than the calendar, and check how many forklifts genuinely run at peak before buying more. Samsara agents work with the equipment out of the box, so a fault code can open a work order automatically, and every vehicle, machine and operator lives on one platform instead of a separate OEM portal for each brand.
Executive comment
David Gal, vice president of product and engineering at Samsara, said the workers running forklifts, excavators and ground equipment do some of the riskiest work in physical operations, on machines with open cabs, no windshield, no roof and hazards on every side. He said the camera was built to survive those conditions and see all the way around the operator, so customers can protect frontline workers on the warehouse floor, the job site and the ramp as they do on the road.