3 ms·
This will probably never happen, but... There is technically already a partial solution for this but AFAIK there are no regulations or legal frameworks to allow
by LinuxBender 5y ago
This will probably never happen, but... There is technically already a partial solution for this but AFAIK there are no regulations or legal frameworks to allow it. Construction workers can already buy noise cancelling bluetooth headphones [1][2] so they can listen to music while working. They will still need ear plugs when working with loud tools but the headphones are loud. If the equipment with the beepers also transmitted a signal the headphones could be adapted to pick up via bluetooth along with a TDR calculation to figure out distance, the worker could hear the machine coming to them and would probably be more annoyed they can't hear their music. All of this also assumes that regulations were stricter on fencing off the area from non construction workers assuming you get rid of the beepers.
Missing is the standard for linking these headphones and the myriad of construction equipment to something that calculates distance and warns the listener. So there you go HN entrepreneurs. Write the RFC's, make some prototypes and give them for free to a construction company. Maybe partner with companies that produce the top 10 fork-lifts, skid-steers, tractors, bulldozers, flat-bed trucks and dump trucks as a start. BONUS if you give the workers a way to talk to the driver without having to allocate licensed frequencies.
[1] - https://www.homedepot.com/b/Safety-Equipment-Hearing-Protection/DEWALT/N-5yc1vZc22tZ4j2 https://www.homedepot.com/b/Safety-Equipment-Hearing-Protect...
[2] - https://www.lowes.com/pd/DEWALT-Earbud-Noise-Canceling-Headphones/1001441720 https://www.lowes.com/pd/DEWALT-Earbud-Noise-Canceling-Headp...
- ohazi 5y agoPeople struggle to get their Bluetooth headphones to pair reliably with their phone, can you imagine the nightmare of simultaneously pairing with a phone, an excavator, and two bulldozers?
- LinuxBender 5y agoI think you would pair your headphones with some type of primary multiplexer that knows how to talk to the other gear and is probably centrally managed by the foreman. So your headphones in this model could see one device and thus you could use standard bluetooth headphones. I could see some type of Arduino or similar device acting as the multiplexer. Unsure if an arduino is capable enough but others here could probably chime in. That device could also handle the local communications. Maybe its a RasPi in a bright yellow case that goes on your tool belt with a DeWalt/Hilti/Bosch logo, whomever you partner with to fund this. Oh and a removable standard speed charging battery standardized to charge with the other tools.
- DarylZero 5y agoBluetooth is insufficiently reliable for this application.
- LinuxBender 5y agoWhat would be better?
- DarylZero 5y agoAnalog broadcast. Or digital, maybe, but still one-way broadcast.
- nitrogen 5y agoSound waves broadcast really well through air, and they come with localization information built in to the signal.
- DarylZero 5y agoThe problem we're trying to solve in the headphones is that sound waves are neutralized by the headphones.
- LinuxBender 5y agoI suppose that works for the headphones that have FM receivers. I use those today for playing mp3's in the vehicle since I only use older vehicles. Tricky part is workers close to each other having to coordinate frequencies but it's doable.