An Industry 4.0 Solution for the Detection of Dangerous Situations in Civil Work Scenarios

Industry 4.0 is envisioned to apply Cyber-Physical Systems to production systems, assembling lines and other industrial solutions. However, new and innovative approaches may be also designed to solve traditional problems in a more efficient and low-cost manner. In particular, one of the most recognized problems in industry is the prevention of occupational hazards. Many different specific scenarios and risks could be identified in industrial scenarios, but nowadays the industrial sector where (probably) more risks are present is civil works. The use of heavy equipment, where drivers have a limited visual field, is a potential problem for workers at ground level. In this paper it is proposed an Industry 4.0 solution for this situation, where workers are provided with a beaming element, whose signal is received in a central node placed in the machinery. Received signal are processed and analyzed to create alarms and other messages to the driver. The proposed solution is validated in a real scenario using real heavy equipment.