“Ahh, boss, the hat is talking!” — smart helmet for production

We are developing the field of wearable electronics: we work with bracelets, native biometrics, wearable RFID tags, there are mobile ECG Holters for rescuers, and so on. A helmet became a logical continuation, because many people need it. A helmet (more precisely, an IoT module that modifies any helmet) fits very well into the framework when there are production events and helmet events.

For example, now, when five people have already passed at the ACS turnstile, and only four in helmets, it is already clear what is wrong. Or when a worker gets into a dangerous area where something is currently working, a helmet can stop him by shouting: “Stop, #$%@, where are you going?” - or immediately gouge the current. The current, by the way, was checked with doctors, but it was not included in the release. But flashes of light and vibration entered.

The module also contains satellite navigation, a fifth bluetooth for indoor positioning and IoT (the helmet becomes a hub for all wearable sensors and collects data from all industrial devices such as machines nearby), an ultra-wide range for positioning and data transmission, and a bunch of slots for improvements like in Deus Ex .

In general, welcome to a world where a helmet can be smarter than a worker! Oh, and where it's relatively cheap.

What are the practical tasks of a helmet?

• Ensuring safety in the workplace: falls, immobility, strong impacts, because there is an accelerometer. He also monitors the correct wearing (on the head and on the belt - different data).
• Work tracking. This means that when the workers are drinking tea, the accelerometer shows different data than when they are moving. True, during the tests, the workers quickly realized what was happening and what they were being fined for (they are used to sleeping while a third of them work), and hung helmets on the dogs. That is, the dogs actually ran around the construction site in them, where the primary signal was from intranavigation. I had to train motion detectors. Dogs are now recognized. This is from the same opera, as tractor drivers rest two tractors with buckets and wind up the run, drinking juice on the sidelines.
• Alarm button. You can press a button and it will call security, the police, an ambulance, personnel officer, Sportloto or Putin. The last two features are not implemented yet.
• Entrance to dangerous areas. As I said, the helmet can blink in the eye and vibrate, deliver current (not included in the release), prick with a needle (not included in the release) and hit in the jaw (not tested and not included in the release). It is possible to make additional sound.
• ACS - you can see the movement.
• Collision avoidance is an important thing for idiots to run away from forklifts and other vehicles. In the collision avoidance mode, the helmet interacts with a radio module installed, for example, on a loader. Tested in several factories. In the tests, there were sound and light warnings of the idiot and the operator of the equipment. And they also came up with the idea of ​​sending a message “Bonus for artistic impression” for matching the coordinates of the helmets to the one who moved faster before the match.
• Lone worker (lone worker) - the helmet asks once every N minutes (default - 15), how are you doing. You have to press a button to turn it off. If you don't answer, she calls for help.
• Transfer information from wearable devices: heart rate monitors, body temperature, ambient temperature, various sensors such as gas analyzers. Here she acts as a relay.

• Dynamically changing hazardous areas - data from operating equipment, gas analyzers, and so on. Kaska can read them directly (if there is an interface) or through production systems via API and raise an alarm.
• Writing tracks is the task of labor productivity, monitoring the execution of tasks, and so on. For example, bypass control. Now bypasses of equipment in production are implemented by scanning barcodes or RFID tags on machines. I know many stories when a man lays out labels at the workplace or prints and scans them lazily. You can't cheat like that here.
• Search for witnesses. You can play the incident and fix who was the witness. It is necessary that a person in a career be raised and helped: you can contact the closest people.
• Evacuations - notification of personnel by a light signal on the module. Plus, they can send text messages to the bracelet like "we're all going there."

Here are two minutes of how it works:

The event log.

Radio interfaces radiate many times weaker than a typical smartphone. For example, LoRaWan emits packets no more than once every 10 seconds for several milliseconds. That is, clearly less than a phone. Satellite navigation for reception. Ultra-wideband signals produce very little radiation. But still documents are needed. The serial version of the product meets the requirements for certification for use in explosive environments, IP67. The module works correctly in the temperature range from -40 to +85 °C. The battery built into the device lasts more than a week. But, if we constantly work on the street, then for several days: satellite navigation is the most energy-consuming technology here.

Module

• LoRaWAN radio interface: data transmission over a distance of up to 15 km; unlicensed frequency range - 868 MHz.
• Satellite navigation receiver (optional): outdoor positioning with an accuracy of up to 3.5 m.
• Built-in accelerometer, compass and barometer: clarification of the position of the mark in space, control of wearing, immobility, shocks, falls.
• Panic button, LED and vibration motor.
• BLE 5.0 radio interface: positioning with an accuracy of 5 m; control of wearing PPE; a hub for other Bluetooth devices and sensors (for example, a bracelet with a heart rate monitor).
• UWB radio interface (optional): real-time positioning in rooms with an accuracy of up to 30 cm, high-speed data transmission channel.
• Power supply: LiPo battery; operating time from one charge - several weeks; operating temperature range: -40 + 85 °C

What about positioning?

There is a task of positioning inside and outside. For this, GPS / Glonass and IoT beacons for indoors. Plus a barometer for the vertical.

LoRa gives two or three kilometers in dense urban areas, they say in the countryside 15 kilometers, there are tests from a balloon when they transmitted 720 kilometers. Our device costs less than a good radio station (EU FT 60 - it costs 15 thousand: there are professional stations plus a headset). But with us, from a helmet, you can’t answer the leader with your voice.

Each technology used has its own advantages and disadvantages: for example, LoRa gives a long communication range, cheap infrastructure, but low bandwidth, UWB gives high speed and accuracy, but infrastructure at large sites is expensive, satellite navigation does not require infrastructure, but quickly drains the battery .

This whole story interacts with our IoT platform. Here are a couple of screenshots:

Our data center.

And here is the helmet!

To sum it up: your paranoia will not go to waste in this brave new world. Welcome!

references

• About the helmet on CNEWS.
• Video with analysis of TB incidents from helmets.
• About RFID tags for builders and hospitals.
• About video analytics in production.
• Breathalyzer for production.
• My mail - [email protected]

Source: habr.com