Paper ID 239 - ISARC 2024 by Sivakumar K S

Title: SafeSense: Real-time Safety Alerts for Construction workers
Authors: Sivakumar K S, Vishnu Sivan and Grigary Antony
Abstract: Our research presents a cutting-edge solution for enhancing safety in construction sites: the Smart Helmet-based Wearable Personnel Proximity Warning System, specifically designed to prevent collisions & zone-based alerts in hazardous areas. Through the use of Bluetooth beacons strategically placed on heavy machinery and hazardous areas, the system communicates with a smart helmet worn by workers. Featuring an ESP32 module and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, the helmet provides real-time alerts with minimal effort from the user. When unsafe zone is notified by the safety manager in the safety command center, smart helmet receives this signal and turns the Light Emitting Diode (LED) indicators flash red and are accompanied by both auditory alerts and Heads Up Display (HUD) based directions. The inclusion of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology also increases the accuracy of proximity detection, ensuring reliability even in dynamic work settings. To ensure ease of use, the system incorporates a lithium polymer battery for portability. Laboratory based controlled environment is chosen for study of the Proof of Concept (PoC) to validate the functionality with 2 mock-up workers. Dynamic alerts, Communication to workers in real time, Low cost, High utility & Easy ergonomics are the five parameters experimented. The proposed model has the potential to be widely adopted in the construction industry and reduce the accidents using dynamic alerts to the workers in the real time. Present study also highlights the associated limitations of the smart helmet where future study can happen to overcome these limitations.
Keywords: Smart Helmet, Personnel Proximity Warning System, Safety sign indications, Collision Prevention, Bluetooth Beacons, HUD
DOI: doi.org/10.222...