Wearable technology for construction industry boosted by Southampton energy expertise
Energy harvesting experts at the University of Southampton are partnering with Mafic to optimise the performance of a wearable device for the construction industry.
The new collaboration, funded by the £5 million SPRINT (SPace Research and Innovation Network for Technology) programme, will exploit technology developed within the University to further advance the Safeguard Internet of Things (IoT) solution.
Safeguard is a wearable device that uses a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) sensor and captures location data from plant, materials and construction workers.
The IoT insight enables the real-time communication and analysis of data from remote locations to improve the productivity and industrial health of workforces.
Dr Alex Weddell, Lecturer in the Smart Electronic Materials and Systems research group, says: “The key objectives of this SPRINT project are reducing the power consumption of the Safeguard device, harvesting energy and optimising the charging of the hard hat. We have a long history of working in energy harvesting, including the design and development of power management subsystems for CubeSats.
“More recently, we have explored wireless power transfer technology – which also has applications in space. We are excited to explore how energy harvesting from light, movement, or temperature differences can be used to extend the battery life of Mafic’s Safeguard IoT device.”
On two previous SPRINT projects, Mafic collaborated with the University of Southampton on the development of the new machine learning Safeguard solution. As a result, Mafic’s technology has now been incorporated into wearable devices worn by the workforce as well as positioned on vehicles and materials.
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