PPE Alert Delivery for Industrial Controller Event Response
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing personal protective equipment (PPE) systems lack effective communication and control mechanisms to respond to industrial device events, leading to potential safety hazards for workers in hazardous environments.
Innovation Solution
A system integrating PPE with computing devices that communicate wirelessly with industrial controllers to broadcast events, generate worker alerts, and receive user inputs to control industrial devices, enabling real-time safety responses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing PPE systems are used without communication mechanisms, then device complexity remains low, but worker safety and response capability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges computing devices with PPE by integrating wireless communication modules, processors, and user interfaces directly into the PPE. This integration enables PPE to receive event messages from industrial controllers, generate alerts, and communicate with workers without requiring separate external devices, thereby improving safety while managing complexity through consolidation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces wireless communication modules as intermediaries between industrial controllers and PPE. These modules enable event messages to be transmitted from controllers to PPE without direct physical connections, allowing real-time communication while maintaining system flexibility and reducing the need for complex wired infrastructure
2Speed
If real-time communication between industrial controllers and PPE is implemented, then response speed to safety events improves, but device complexity and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic broadcasting of event messages by industrial controllers to computing devices in PPE. Rather than continuous communication, the system uses periodic broadcasts triggered by specific events, enabling real-time response to safety conditions while reducing overall communication overhead and energy consumption
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts essential communication functionality from complex wired networks and implements it through simplified wireless modules in PPE. By taking out only the necessary communication capabilities (event message reception and alert generation), the system achieves real-time response without requiring complex communication infrastructure
3Adaptability or versatility
If PPE is equipped with computing devices and wireless communication, then adaptability to industrial device events improves, but weight and power requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements partial computing functionality in PPE, including only the essential components needed for receiving event messages, generating alerts, and communicating with workers. By using partial action (only the necessary computing capabilities rather than full computing systems), the PPE achieves adaptability to industrial events while minimizing weight increase
Data Source
AI summary
A system includes an article of personal protective equipment (PPE) and an industrial controller device configured to control an industrial device. The system includes a first computing device and a second computing device. The first computing device, in response to detecting an industrial controller event, wirelessly broadcasts an event message that solicits an action from a worker. The second computing device, in response to receiving the event message, generates an output that solicits the action from the worker, and in response to detecting a user input associated with the article of PPE, send, a response from the second computing device to the first computing device. The first computing device, in response to receiving the response from the second computing device, performs at least one operation associated with the industrial controller device.