b'74 CVG INFO TECHNOLOGYCincinnati Intl Tests Bluetooth Badging System to Track Construction Crews BY TOM VANDERBILTGood ideas, it is often said,alternate uses of the system developed for dont just fall out of the sky. school settings.But sometimes theyre hiding inThats really the premise of our plain sight. innovation programming, Cobb explains. During theThe solution will not always be in our pandemic, Brianindustry. Cobb, chief innovationEventually, they landed on the idea of officer at Cincinnati/ using the Volan Positioning System (VPS), Northern Kentuckywhich provides eye in the sky monitoring International Airportof peopleor thingsin a given location, FACTS&FIGURES(CVG), was introducedBRIAN COBB whether outside, inside or underground. Project: Monitoring System Trial to Michael Bettua, anTogether, they identified two promising enterprise softwareapplications. One was to use VPS for Location: Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Intl Airport, in KY entrepreneur with a Test Area: Construction site for 500,000 sq. ft. airlinenew startup calledtracking the movement of airport assets, hangar like lawn mowers, snowplows or tugs. If Volan Technology. Theyou have a tag on an asset, says Cobb, System Provider: Volan Technology company was pitchingyou not only know where that lawn Format: Solar-powered, wireless mesh networka system that usedmower is, you can also quickly figure out tracks location of low-energy Bluetooth badges worn bylow-energy BluetoothMICHAEL BETTUA how long it took to mow an area. You construction workers & other project personnel badges for contactcan really start figuring out your labor Network Installation: Less than 4 hours tracing in schools and other organizations.implications.Pilot Duration: 9 months Cobb was interested in Volans network-based technology, but not its particularThe second potential use was to help Scale: 25 badges deployed application. Specifically, he wondered ifensure construction workers and other Key Benefits: Fewer safety escorts needed; ability tothe technology might have other usesproject personnel are not interfering monitor location of workers; haptic alerts when personnelmore germane to CVGs operationalwith operations or entering restricted enter restricted areas; stored data for after-incident analysisareas. Airports are really challenged with & reportingneeds. So he and Bettua began exploring September 2024AirportImprovement.com'