They say that mothers find everything, although that usually happens when you search without haste and in controlled and known spaces. But sometimes, wasting a minute looking for an object can be very expensive. This occurs, for example, when a portable medical device is needed in a particular hospital roomin an emergency situation. For these cases, the Cartagena-based company Ingeniatic Desarrollo S.L. has created the ‘Sense4Location’ system, which makes it possible to locate objects and people in real time in places where GPS technology is unable to operate.
On the one hand, ‘readers’ are placed on the people or objects to be located and, on the other hand, devices that allow ‘tracking’ to be carried out and the location to be known. In this way, it is possible to know, for example, in which room or ward is a portable X-ray machine located in a hospital without having to ask questions or go searching. An example that illustrates the importance of the development of this system and that explains Diego García Sánchez, Chief Technology Officer of the company.
“Using both Bluetooth and other technologies, we can locate people and objects in real time,” Garcia clarifies. For this purpose, these ‘readers’ are placed on stickers (such as clothing alarms), bracelets or small chips included in workers’ identification cards. Receivers are then placed to receive these signals and localization can begin.
In the case of people, this technology is very useful for processes such as capacity control, which has become so important with the pandemic, notes the Ingeniatic executive. In the company, it is possible to know where employees are located. And beyond the control of the workforce, Garcia clarifies that the tool is very powerful in terms of avoiding occupational hazards. In addition, “it doesn’t have to go with the worker’s name, but simply with the type of work he or she performs,” specifies Garcia. In this way it can be avoided that a welder and a welder handling explosive substances do not meet in the same area.
Ingeniatic is composed of UPCT alumni and is dedicated, in general terms, to the business development of products and services for the connected industry. They also carry out research projects, but always with the aim of commercialization.
Production control and failure prediction
In addition to locating objects and people, another of Ingeniatic Desarrollo’s achievements is based on preventing production loss by monitoring indicators. For example, plant greenhouses or animal breeding farms “require specific humidity or temperature parameters and, if they are lost due to a failure, it can be a disaster,” analyzes the company’s Technology Director.
To prevent this, sensors are installed which, when they detect a fault, warn the workers. “The platform can take over a phone list, and it calls every single person in the company until someone goes to solve the problem,” Garcia confesses.
The technology of the Cartagena-based company’s professionals can even predict and replace parts before they break. How? “A sensor is placed in motors, which detects when there are abnormal vibrations, which are usually a sign that something is not working properly. So the part is replaced before it breaks,” says García, thus avoiding the need to stop production, which usually entails significant costs for the industry.
Source: Murciaplaza.com
