Wearables for Connected Workers

Together, Honeywell and Intel have developed a IoT proof of concept (PoC) for the Connected Worker. The Connected Worker can take many forms - factory laborer, mine worker, first responder, firefighters and more. For each environment and worker role, a different selection of sensors may be appropriate to provide the most meaningful IoT-fueled dataset to represent that individual worker asset. As with most IoT solutions, it is critical to avoid being overwhelmed by a steady stream of meaningless data. Rather, it is essential to send select actionable intelligence to the cloud for visualization and customized alert notifications. The downside is that data from individual wearable devices - if viewed independently - can potentially cause false alarms and contribute to inefficiencies in a manpower as a result. Fusing sensor technology with big data processing (hub/gateway), analytics - all in the cloud - is the key to improving local intelligence as well as remote visualization of actionable intelligence.

The Connected Worker Proof of Concept (PoC) includes a wearable mobile hub providing the vehicle for unparalleled sensor-data fusion of worker-worn wearable devices. These wearable sensors include several solutions based on one of Intel's latest low-power edge processors, Intel® Quark™ SE microcontroller, which provides technology for sensor data stream processing and pattern recognition as well. In addition to the Intel-based wearable solutions, the PoC includes Honeywell's Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA). This sends data via Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) short-range wireless communication to a wearable mobile hub for sensor fusion and transmission of data via Wi-Fi or cellular to the cloud for data ingestion via Trusted Analytics Platform (TAO) and visualization on an AWS hosted central incident command application. Plus, the wearable mobile hub provides highly accurate worker positioning data. With the combination of worker location, gesture communication, and activity detection, this solution provides true remote situational awareness. Determining the accurate location of workers within a facility is made possible by Intel® WCS8270 Wi-Fi technology - providing indoor positioning based on IEEE 802.11mc Fine Time Measurement (802.11mc FTM). This is generated within the mobile hub while the 802.11mc FTM coverage is achieved by installed "802.11mc FTM Responder" devices throughout the building. In the PoC, the "FTM Responder" devices are based on an Intel Quark SE microcontroller integrateed with Intel Wi-Fi supporting 802.11mc FTM on Intel® Galileo Gen 2 Development Platform. The Mobile hub is comprised of an Intel based smartphone with Intel's Wi-Fi WCS8270 supporting 802.11mc FTM, running Android Lollipop.