There is no positioning technology, such as GPS, for the indoor area. This makes location at shipyards, for instance, very difficult. In ship building, the environment changes constantly as a result of the construction process. Moreover, the metallic environment inhibits wireless communication that is required for location. Now, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), in cooperation with Meyer Werft and VOMATEC Innovations, has developed a new system to locate persons in a dynamic environment inside a hall under the SchiV 3.0 project.
Contrary to automotive industry with its fixed production lines, ships are built by block building construction. Small parts are assembled to bigger units. These units are walkable, equipped with cables and pipes, and finally assembled to sections. Ten sections form a block that is further equipped and finally transported to the shipyard. A cruise ship, for instance, consists of 90 of such blocks.
“Location of persons and immediate transmission of safety-relevant information are extremely difficult in such a situation,” says Wilhelm Stork, Head of the Institute for Information Processing Technology of KIT. So far, safety deficiencies and risks, such as lacking handrails, exposed cables, or easily inflammable construction wastes, such as dyes and preservatives, have been detected and reported manually. Inspectors walk around the ship and list on paper forms critical conditions, such as burnable materials near places of hot work. At the end of their inspection round, they submit these reports to their superior, who initiates the necessary measures.
“The innovation potential will be enormous when digital technologies are used to control these procedures,” Frank Hartmann of the same institute says. Within the framework of his doctoral project, Hartmann developed a location system, by means of which safety risks are eliminated more rapidly and work safety is enhanced. In addition, it helps optimize logistics, i.e. anticipatory transport of construction material to the place of installation inside the ship under construction. Moreover, construction progress, i.e. acceptance of the tasks, can be documented promptly. His system is based on a hybrid approach: Together with the necessary infrastructure of the construction site, such as power supply, antennas are installed for near-field radio communication. From the distance measured to several antennas, the position can be determined by trilateration. If radio contact to the antennas in the crooked steel belly of the ship is too weak, the position is estimated with the help of movement and acceleration sensors of a mobile end device and dead reckoning. “This results in a sufficient positioning accuracy, while installation expenditure remains acceptable,” Hartmann explains.
The system successfully tested at Meyer Werft in Papenburg is completely digital. Safety inspectors photograph deficiencies, risks, or construction progress in the ship sections and store them as a work process, e.g. “remove waste,” on a smartphone using a mobile app developed by the cooperation partner VOMATEC. At the same time, the system collects the position data and couples them with the work process required. Both information packages are transmitted in real time by mobile radio or WLAN, uploaded on a server as “incident,” and can be handled immediately.
In a clearly defined area of about 1200 m² of a cruise ship under construction at Meyer Werft, Hartmann has already simulated various application scenarios with this prototype. Apart from ship construction, the instrument may also be used in civil engineering or aircraft construction.
Learn more: Interior Positioning System for Dynamic Environments
[osd_subscribe categories=’indoor-positioning’ placeholder=’Email Address’ button_text=’Subscribe Now for any new posts on the topic “INDOOR POSITIONING”‘]
The Latest on: Indoor positioning
[google_news title=”” keyword=”indoor positioning” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Indoor positioning
- European Green Housing Landscape: Successes, Challenges, Lessons Learnedon May 9, 2024 at 10:13 am
The European Union's Green Homes Directive, integral to the EPBD, sets ambitious targets aimed at reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions from buildings.
- Artisight Wins “Best Care Delivery Platform” Designation in 8th Annual MedTech Breakthrough Awards Programon May 9, 2024 at 7:15 am
Awards Program Recognizes Standout Digital Health & Medical Technology Products and CompaniesLOS ANGELES, May 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MedTech Breakthrough, an independent market intelligence ...
- What’s next for test and measurement?—NTN, 5G-Advanced, 6Gon May 7, 2024 at 8:23 am
The importance of test and measurement is in focus given the outlook for rapidly increasing network complexity.
- Here’s how much it costs to call Aaron Judge your penthouse neighbor in NYCon May 6, 2024 at 10:20 am
In West Chelsea, a grand penthouse at the Cortland condo is listing for sale for a mighty sum — and it’s the priciest penthouse in the neighborhood to date.
- GoodMaps names Theresa Reno-Weber CEOon May 6, 2024 at 8:54 am
One of the fastest-growing tech companies based out of Louisville has had a change of leadership at the highest level. Stephen P. Schmidt has the story.
- The 8 Best Grow Lights for Countertop Herbs, Small Gardens, and Helping Indoor Plants Thriveon April 30, 2024 at 2:33 pm
Narrow spectrum lights are noted for serious gardeners and plant nerds who need to support different stages of development. Blue-light spectrum (450-490 nm) grow lights are used for early-stage growth ...
- IPS Is Like GPS’ More Accurate, Indoor Cousinon April 7, 2024 at 5:00 pm
A lesser-known, similar technology that uses more localized reference points, called indoor positioning systems (IPS), is helping map the inside of spaces, too. There’s a reason people talk ...
- Introducing Floorlocator, a system that enhances indoor navigationon March 20, 2024 at 1:26 pm
Indoor positioning is transforming with applications demanding precise location tracking. Traditional methods, including fingerprinting and sensor-based techniques, though widely used, face ...
- Explore Indoor GIS: The Science of Indoorson October 11, 2021 at 2:14 pm
indoor positioning, real-time wayfinding, and more. Join us as we: Introduce you to Esri’s complete indoor GIS offering. Show you how your organization can maximize efficiencies of workplace ...
via Bing News