The SmartHat

The hard hat of the future.  Your basic hard hat with a tiny microprocessor and beeper that sounds a warning when dangerous equipment is nearby on a construction site.  This is an important safety innovation.  But the more important and expansive consideration is how the SmartHat is powered.  As you can see from the photograph, the hat works without batteries.  The equipment is powered via radio waves in the air.  The waves come from wireless network transmitters on backhoes and bulldozers, installed to keep track of their locations.  The microprocessor monitors the strength and direction of the radio signal from the construction equipment to determine if the hat's wearer is too close.

We are seeing the convergence of two technologies that will fundamentally change asset and infrastructure management and inspection.  One is the expansive growth of low-cost sensors - - the continuing march of Moore's Law.  The second is that these same sensors will increasingly be of the low-power wireless variety; where they will have the ability to "harvester" power from ambient radio waves and other sources.

As the cost of wireless sensor technology continues to rapidly decline and the labor cost (namely health care) for asset inspection continues to advance - - look for more technology substituting for labor.

A great source of information on the technology is coming out of Georgia Tech - - Real-time Automated Project Information and Decision Systems (RAPIDS).