MATT REYNOLDS, an assistant professor in the electrical and computer engineering department at Duke University, wears other hats, too — including that of co-founder of two companies. These days, his interest is in a real hat now in prototype: a hard hat with a tiny microprocessor and beeper that sound a warning when dangerous equipment is nearby on a construction site.
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Jochen Teizer
Using only radio waves for its electrical power, the SmartHat has a beeper that alerts the wearer to dangerous construction equipment nearby.
What’s unusual, however, is that the hat’s beeper and microprocessor work without batteries. They use so little power that they can harvest all they need from radio waves in the air.
The waves come from wireless network transmitters on backhoes and bulldozers, installed to keep track of their locations. The microprocessor monitors the strength and direction of the radio signal from the construction equipment to determine if the hat’s wearer is too close.
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<div class="articleBody"><nyt_text><p>MATT REYNOLDS, an assistant professor in the electrical and computer engineering department at <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/d/duke_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More articles about Duke University." class="meta-org">Duke University</a>, wears other hats, too — including that of co-founder of two companies. These days, his interest is in a real hat now in prototype: a hard hat with a tiny microprocessor and beeper that sound a warning when dangerous equipment is nearby on a construction site. </p> </nyt_text></div> <div class="articleInline runaroundLeft"> <!--forceinline--> <div class="inlineImage module"> <div class="image"> <div class="icon enlargeThis"><a href="javascript:pop_me_up2('http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2010/07/18/business/NOVEL.html','NOVEL_html','width=720,height=590,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes')">Enlarge This Image</a></div> <a href="javascript:pop_me_up2('http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2010/07/18/business/NOVEL.html','NOVEL_html','width=720,height=590,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes')"> <img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/07/18/business/NOVEL/NOVEL-articleInline.jpg" alt="" width="190" height="170"> </a> </div> <h6 class="credit">Jochen Teizer</h6> <p class="caption">Using only radio waves for its electrical power, the SmartHat has a beeper that alerts the wearer to dangerous construction equipment nearby. </p> </div> <div id="portfolioInline"> <h3 class="sectionHeader">Add to Portfolio</h3> <ul class="flush"> <li><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/auth/login?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/business/18novel.html">Microchip Technology Incorporated</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/auth/login?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/business/18novel.html">Ambient Corporation</a></li> </ul> <p class="refer"><a href="http://markets.on.nytimes.com/research/portfolio/view/view.asp#sda">Go to your Portfolio »</a></p> </div> </div> <div class="articleBody"> <p> What’s unusual, however, is that the hat’s beeper and microprocessor work without batteries. They use so little power that they can harvest all they need from radio waves in the air. </p><p> The waves come from wireless network transmitters on backhoes and bulldozers, installed to keep track of their locations. The microprocessor monitors the strength and direction of the radio signal from the construction equipment to determine if the hat’s wearer is too close. </p></div> |
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