Honeywell Connected Plant: Augmented Reality Wearables for Field Workers

Honeywell is well known for its custom software solutions for various industries. Its most recent product is a head mounted device for field workers, which uses augmented reality technology, Industry Internet of Things (IIoT), handsfree mobile computing and mobility software. The new augmented reality wearables, named Connected Plant, help workers access real-time data, work procedures, documents and health and safety instructions. The device responds to voice commands, offering workers the most comfortable and efficient way of accessing necessary information and requesting remote assistance.

A Perfect Match between Augmented Reality and Mobile Technology

Connected Plant was created to offer industry workers an efficient and powerful tool for getting access to information without being distracted from the tasks they are performing.

As Honeywell Connected Plant program director Youssef Mestari explained, “This new Honeywell Connected Plant technology offers industrial workers the information they need when they need it, wherever they are. That means workers carry with them decades of relevant expertise that is accessible at any time by simple voice activation. This makes this solution a particularly good fit for industrial workers who have an affinity for technology and who need more physical freedom to efficiently accomplish their work.”

Honeywell selected the RealWear HMT-1Z1™ handsfree wearable and combined it with its proprietary Movilizer platform–one of the top industry cloud-based solutions for workflow. Movilizer is recommended as support software for field operations especially in hazardous environments.

How Connected Plant Works

The augmented reality wearables display data and documents in real-time on voice requests. Workers can easily navigate through a series of useful safety advice functions, including:

• Operator task automation, wherein workers receive guidance and document visualization in order to perform their tasks correctly;
• Visualization of live data, which allows real-time data to be collected from IIoT devices and transmitted to the worker;
• Video capture and playback that lets workers learn work procedures by watching videos recorded by professionals performing the respective tasks (the database of procedures is accessible by voice command);
• Expert on call, allowing workers to request assistance from an expert during complex tasks (the experts access the worker’s head mounted display camera and use video chat to offer advice);
• Geo-localization, navigation and asset visualization lettin the field worker be located and receive navigation guidance to reach their intended destination;
• Rapid emergency evacuation that helps the system locate workers equipped with the augmented reality wearables, and through geo-localization guides them to an assembly point;
• Man-down assistance means that in case of accidents, the system can detect an injured worker and pinpoint the precise location for the emergency response teams.

Rugged Design and Advanced Technology

The physical device selected for this type of specialized augmented reality wearables is specially created for hazardous and difficult environments. “RealWear’s 100 percent handsfree, rugged head-mounted computing platform is the world’s first to achieve the Zone 1, Class 1, Division 1 level of intrinsically safe certification. Together with Honeywell’s software and services we enable digital transformation that drives higher productivity and safety for people working in hazardous locations and across the industrial sector,” explained RealWear co-founder and president Sanjay Jhawar.

Honeywell Connected Plant is expected to become one of the standard pieces of equipment for field workers, not just in hazardous environments, but in every type of workplace where hands-free access to information and real-time data is required.

Using augmented reality wearables will soon become a daily reality for millions of people around the world. Pairing technology with ergonomic work tools is already proving to be the right choice in key industries, such as automobile manufacturing, product design and logistics.