Workplace Safety Project: EMMA

Emergency Management for Workers and MAchines

CO-FINANCED BY: REGIONAL FESR PROGRAM 2021 – 2027 (CUP G59J23001230009)

EMMA responds to the most important social challenge launched by the fourth industrial revolution: using new technologies to increase worker safety. The objective of EMMA is the valorization of the two Smart Track patent applications regarding a man-vehicle anti-collision system and an automatic evacuation management system through the integration of the partners’ contributions in order to increase the TRL from level 5 to level 8.

EMMA is an innovative project based on different patents and patent applications for the development of an integrated system for the prevention, management and optimization of Safety in Industry 4.0 scenarios. EMMA will be an IoT connected worker platform for “predictive safety” and composed of other subsystems:

Man-machine anti-collision system: will be able to create virtual safety bubbles around the worker on the ground and the driver of the vehicle (forklifts, reach stackers, overhead cranes) by calculating the direction and distance between the worker and the vehicle in real time and slowing down the vehicle, generating sound warnings, vibrant and bright in case of imminent interference/collision. It will be based on the patent application entitled “Half man collision avoidance system” no. 102022000010640 of 05/23/2022
Automatic management of company evacuation plans: it will allow the by identifying the number of people present in the safe areas, the number of missing people and their location. It is based on the patent applications "System and method of real-time localization of people in indoor contexts for worker safety" nr. GE2015A000033 of 03/04/2015) and on the "System and method of real-time localization, communication and tracking of wearable devices for the integrated management of safety and for the intelligent optimization of evacuation in the event of accidents” n. 102017000134106 of 04/21/2020)
Dialer app for hands-free automatic answering: it will allow you to solve two very important problems following an accident: 1) contact the operator by automatically activating the answer and the speakerphone if he is unable to answer voluntarily (for example due to a broken or dislocated limb which does not allow you to accept the incoming call on your phone or smartphone) 2) call for help directly via an IoT dashboard
IoT data aggregation platform: it will allow you to securely identify and authenticate IoT devices in the field, validate data, create secure communication channels and manage any anomalies

Smart Track’s role

Within the EMMA Smart Track project it will deal with:

the development / improvement of the vehicle’s anti-collision system, specifically integrating the existing TRL5 system with the INNOVAL partner system in order to slow down the vehicle and bring it to TRL7 / TRL8
the development / improvement of the automatic evacuation management system
the development of the Dialer App for automatic and hands-free response in the event of a man down event

The system designed and developed thanks to EMMA is complete at 360 degrees and will bring to all participating companies, thanks to an improvement in their skills and an update of their product lines, further market spaces in the following areas:

Security, safety and cybersecurity
Machine learning & AI
Innovative applications for smartphones