Smart Safety: Internet of Things (IoT) Platform for Monitoring Hydration in Farmworkers

Onda Vision Technologies, Inc (OVT), in collaboration with the University of Florida (UF), proposes to address the problem of heat-related illness in farmworkers. This proposal supports the United States Department of Agricultural (USDA) research interests in developing new tools to enhance farm safety.This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I Project determines the feasibility of developing an Internet of Things (IoT) platform (Smart Safety) for real-time hydration monitoring of farmworkers. Our value proposition offers a paradigm shift from traditional manual and invasive field-based hydration assessment methods to an IoT-based approach enabling continuous monitoring of the farmworkers to provide early alerts of dehydration. Potential outcomes derived from the proposed activity will improve farmworker safety and reduce unexpected medical expenses. Smart Safety's implementation can offer small farm owners incentives such as insurance premium discounts, improved safety performance, productivity increases, and a reduction in fines for violations of workplace safety standards.Onda Vision Technologies' Phase I objectives are:Establish Baseline for the IoT Smart Safety infrastructure - assess the work and environmental conditions that impact the performance of collecting wearable sensor dataPerform Data Collection in an Agricultural Environment - determine the feasibility and usability of our wearable system within the context of a dynamic farming operationAnalyze Sensor Data - demonstrate the ability to extract useful information from noisy wearable sensor data