As part of the FutureHome project, research was conducted to look into ways of improving the security and develop methods and reliable systems to detect possible failures and to avoid any harm to the machinery and installations and, above all, to the workers in the construction site.
The work described in this article deals with the development of a particular security system, using both existing commercial technology and specially designed equipment.
The compulsory safety helmet required for all workers in construction sites is used as the base to accommodate miniature positioning and communication instruments. The position and ID of each worker is sampled periodically and sent via radio to a monitoring station, where the information is compared to a database containing the tasks and processes being performed in the site. According to this, workers and machines' positions are known in each instant, and risk situations may be recognized immediately and therefore damage can be prevented. If certain workers and particular machinery and equipment elements are not supposed to be in certain locations for safety reasons, an automated system can be used to detect the situation and make the adequate decision to prevent a possible accident. The proposed system is meant for modern construction systems where workers and automated/semiautomated machines coexist.