Improvements in productivity, increased capacity, enhanced worker safety, and lesser costs

If the latest numbers from the National Safety Council are considered, more than 4,500,000 injuries occur at workplaces every year. This also results in a lot of added costs. While organizations in the present scenario make it a point to implement a lot of safety rules in a workplace, accidents still do happen with the lesser numbers. The most significant amount of help is increasingly coming through the Internet of Things (IoT), which can bring a lot of substantial improvements in the area of workplace safety.

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is a subset of IoT, which primarily refers to the interconnectivity of industrial equipment, facilities, processes, and personnel. The potential for improvement in costs, productivity, capacity and workplace safety has never been so believably high.

The collaboration of IoT with Advanced Tools

Data collection today is being facilitated by wrist watches, implants, chest bands, and electrodes among the likes. However, there is a change underway. For instance, Florida- based firm Karlsson Robotics has been successfully able to develop textile fabrics which were built by fibers with the ability to perform electrical charges.

These fabrics, most of which use silver-based fibers get combined with sensors to gather the personnel’s physical conditions and also to predict the safety issues at a workplace. This firm also has optical fiber fabrics on offer which can generate images on materials, like on the backs and sleeves of shirts for work. In addition to this, text messaging, emails, work instructions and other kinds of images seem like they will be at the scene sooner, rather than later.

With the assistance of such collection methods, exoskeleton vests have also been a significant development to reduce worker fatigue and injury. Many e-textiles with the presence of nanosensors, inks, and fibers, and conductive polymers consistently monitor a worker’s body conditions like temperature, heart rate, fatigue, and blood oxygen level.
The presence of these constituents can analyze many unsafe situations for the workforce in a particular workplace.

Best Instances from the Construction Field

The construction industry is accountable for most of the injuries at a workplace, and this is why it is not surprising at all to see the progress for safety in this field as well. In the presently available ‘accessories,’ there are hard hats containing sensors to monitor the physical condition of workers like heart rates, temperature, fatigue, stresses, and oxygen levels.
The “smart hats” also collect data on working conditions like dust, equipment temperatures, toxic environment, and sudden accelerations as well.

The sensors inside the hat get connected with a communication network responsible for transmitting this data to analytical software, which can predict hazardous conditions before the time they get critical for everyone. What results is an improved safety of workers at a construction site.

Encompassed with IIoT, many crucial technologies are arriving together for the collection and analysis of this mass of equipment and user data used for predicting unsafe working conditions, or even production information like out of spec procedures.
Different combinations of five interconnected technologies work cohesively for processing and identifying trends which are not a subject for simple human review.

These technologies include-
Interconnected devices
Cloud storage
Artificial Intelligence
Deep dive analytics
Big data processing

The amount and the kind of data collected from these interconnected technologies are potentially so huge that presently, a complete analysis for identifying the patterns and trends in forecasting is challenging, also being a restricting factor in use.
However, as data analytics continue on the way to improvement, a better understanding of what data means will have to be documented, as more and more of the increasing benefits will get realized.

Improvements in Safety with the Help of Predictive Maintenance

Monitoring the working conditions and workers are not the only sectors where IIoT is leading the improvement in workplace safety. Future-oriented companies are implementing IIoT to improve the performance of equipment and uptime by the help of predictive maintenance.
It is easily imaginable as to how a potential malfunction in any machine leads to the generation of an unsafe working environment. If any part fails suddenly and a machine stops working, the operator will face a potentially hazardous situation. For example, some parts may fly into the air from the machine.

In other kinds of cases, if the equipment has deviated from a specified operating process, it can lead to the occurrence of unsafe working conditions. Because the collected data gets analyzed, potential situations of failure can be timely predicted so that maintenance personnel can be alerted to conduct the required maintenance.
If there are machines that operate in a top working condition though, you can be sure that they will not be the reason for any safety hurdle in your facility.

Soon, predictive maintenance will also involve the replacement of critical parts as per the analysis of machine operating conditions. The approach brings into recognition the fact that the failure of any part becomes subjective to a change in circumstances.
Through artificial intelligence (AI) and interconnected machines, identifying these failure situations can be easy, failed parts predicted, and even their maintenance scheduled. Predictive maintenance operates by analyzing the actual data from equipment operation that takes out the need for unnecessary support, improving the uptime and eliminating the chances of injury to workers as they operate on dangerous and sophisticated machines.

It is not incorrect to state that predictive maintenance and safety go together. The attribute of IIoT to correctly identify and predict the unsafe work conditions well in advance proves to be very important for a reduction in the number of workplace injuries. A program solidly based on predictive maintenance and identification of failure patterns helps to cut down on both unplanned repairs and equipment downtime as well.

Improvements in productivity, increased capacity, enhanced worker safety, and lesser costs only act as a few advantages which are in store for the future of IIoT.

To enable any such IoT driven automation program, one needs a robust application to centrally control the whole system. GoodWorkLbas is a pioneer in developing such IOT applications, for any such requirements feel free to write us at contact@goodworklabs.com

Cloud Technology is Soaring High & with Microservices, it’s Taking the Center Stage

The recent years have seen a lot of changes happening in the tech world. Groundbreaking innovations and fast up gradation has become the name of the game now. This is the Century of technological evolution and there is no denying that.

The advancement of technology has pushed developers and organizations to accept and implement new ways over traditional methods. It’s the only means one can compete and thrive in this digital era. If you look back at the year that went by, 2018 was remarkable for developers all around the world. Things became smarter and easier with increased usage of cloud computing. There were some great work done in the field of microservices and a fair share of attention and importance was given to serverless architecture.  

With all these technological revolutions happening, the techies are already predicting an equally productive and innovative 2019. Many developers in the field are having this idea that, with increasing implementation of microservices, it can very well become the future of development in the broader aspect. So let’s shed some light on the subject.

Let’s Understand Microservices better

Microservices can be referred to as the architecture involved in the development of software and applications both web and mobile based. Now, there are monolithic architecture and the traditional SOA that have been in use for long.

The thing with monolithic is that all the changes in software or application need to be made all at once. It’s either all or nothing. In the SOA, one can alter one piece at a time. However, it has to be done in a way so that it can fit into the original structure after the changes are made without any difficulty.  

Microservices is better than both as it gives you the liberty to build, maintain and update anything separately. After everything is done all they got to do is connect the update with the help of a shared data API. It basically allows you to work on independent pieces without causing any alteration to the overall structure.  

For example, microservices allow you to make individual changes to separate functions like social media logins, search engine, user management, e-commerce cart, etc. You can create and update it in a different programming language using diverse data storages. There is no concept of centralized management. They use HTTP, Thrift APIs, REST, etc. for communicating which is light and easy. Microservices offer you a platform that focuses on independent deployment and flexibility. It’s the model child of this modular driven world.

Past Advancements In Microservices

Before we take a peek at what the future holds for microservices, let’s do a flashback on the subject. More and more developers are implementing microservices in creation and maintenance of software and apps, to boost their flexibility. The wide usage of cloud services has made the transition to new ways even easier. One can say that both technologies are interdependent. Microservices allow the developer to produce fast and effective solutions all the while maintaining high-quality performance.  

One can rightfully say that it is hard to keep up the pace with today’s fast updates trend with the old monolithic structures. It is time-consuming and makes the work that much harder for the developer. Though there are conflicting ideas in the developer circle, things do look brighter on the microservices side.

Go Serverless

No technological innovation can work alone without support from reliable and equally advanced services. Same goes for microservices. Serverless architecture has come as a boon to developers who wanted to work using microservices. It is an appropriate foundation that can well support the agility of microservices, one that the traditional servers could not. Container structures have a higher overhead and rigid approach which is not a match for microservices.

Hence developers switched to a serverless architecture. It is as flexible as microservices itself. There is absolutely no need to invest in unnecessary server resources. With cloud service providers, one has to pay for just the specific resources that they require. Many event databases have already gone serverless and more are queuing up. So basically microservices and serverless structure have both helped each other in their quest of technological development. According to developers, the camaraderie is to only grow stronger in the years to come.

Microservices In The Multi-Cloud Future

Cloud technology is soaring high, and with microservices taking the center stage, it will be a sight to see how well it performs across a multi-cloud environment. According to developers, multiple cloud approach can be very beneficial to the microservices solutions. It allows you to broaden your spectrum instead of staying confined in allocated server resources.

Multi-cloud services give you access to a number of features that you can utilize as per your development and maintenance requirement. It even allows you to run complex apps, unlike allocated server resources.

If you are using microservices that are closely related to information management and database, then you can use Oracle’s cloud services. For added storage and archives you can refer to Amazon S3 and get the benefits of AI integration and analytics by using Azure. That’s how you reap the benefits of microservices in a multi-cloud environment.

Getting Ahead Of Kubernetes

Kubernetes helps a lot to handle or rather in the proper management of containers and cloud computing. When it comes to the adaptability of containers, Kubernetes can make the process quite easy. But one should not forget that there is still the question of it carrying overheads for containers, which leads us to the question of serverless architecture.

In 2019, one can get to see serverless architecture gaining more prominence in the tech world. Most of the web development projects today focus on controlling the costs. And when it comes to cost-effectiveness nothing can beat the serverless architecture. It makes it very easy to handle spikes and use specific resources that you need. It gives you the boon of full functionality at low operational costs.

You can even improvise it by using the right combinations, such as Cloud Firestore and S3 to manage and support multiple cloud serverless structure. You can even run transactional tasks across a multi-cloud environment by integrating cross-server encryption. It might be complicated but quite easy if you implement the right techniques of cloud technology and serverless architecture.

CONCLUSION

All these advancements and integration take us to one final thing and that is client management. Normally the client interface is used on the presentation layer. But when you are building apps with microservices across multiple cloud environments, it can be modified for diverse clients.

There are a lot of changes in the tech scenario and advancements to look forward to this year. What the past year has proved is that microservices along with cloud technology and serverless architecture has already made its mark in the technological arena. Let’s wait & watch, what advancements it leads to in 2019.       

During the Annual Day celebration, GWL identifies & honors the Real Superstars across levels & departments.

On our annual day celebrations, everyone was taken by surprise. Many had tears in their eyes.

We were awarding star performers of the year with ‘Superstar Excellence Award’ & towards the end we called our security guard Nazir on stage to collect the award. When we announced his name, he couldn’t believe it. Neither could most of our employees.

Nazir is a tireless & most selfless human being. For the last 4 years, for him everyone working in our offices comes first & he comes last. He is ready to help anyone, whatever it takes. I don’t have words to express my gratitude towards him. The least we could do was give him the highest award of the year.

He was ecstatic to begin with, but when we gave him a mike to speak, he was in tears and so were many of us. He couldn’t believe a security guard would be given an award on par with other employees.

This is the culture we foster at GoodWorkLabs. It doesn’t matter what designation you carry, we value basic human traits beyond anything else & honour them. My hope is we can create a thousand Nazirs in the years to come.

My best wishes to Nazir! He deserves this award more than anyone else! Please join me to congratulate him!

Wish to be a part of such an amazing team which gives each employee an equal opportunity to grow & to prove their caliber? Check out our current openings and Apply Now!

The universe belongs to Marvel.

With the movie spectacle of the decade running in theatres all over the world, it is not wrong to say that Avengers Endgame, the last movie in a decade long journey of a shared cinematic universe has surpassed all expectations.

From some characters like Captain America, Iron Man and Black Widow making their final appearances in the movie, the scintillating reviews from both audiences and movie critics alike have increased the potential of making it Hollywood’s highest grossing film ever, an accolade which presently lies with James Cameron’s Avatar.

While there is no denying that Marvel Studios has been supremely successful in the execution of a cinematic universe, the absence of villains that could be a real threat to the Avengers was a point where the makers could not cut through successfully. Until Thanos.

Other than Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston and Killmonger, portrayed by Michael Jordon, no single antagonist could hit the hearts of fans with as much impact expected. Not a proper recognition through the span of 22 movies.

Thanos, the purple-faced alien nemesis, made up for all of them with a brilliant screen presence, thanks to the fantastic Josh Brolin who blew life into the character both in Avengers Infinity War and now in Endgame too.

But was it just Brolin that made Thanos the perfect nemesis to the Avengers? No. Marvel Studios have Machine Learning to thank.

Apart from a revolution in CGI, the fact that Thanos was able to display perfect emotions on screen was what made him a force to reckon. Through Thanos, the stakes were high not only in the storyline of both the movies, but they were also huge for the makers, as they had the gap of an excellent villain to fill.

It was important to put emotions on a CGI character’s face to make him resonate more with the audience. This involved portraying the recognizable expressions of Josh Brolin on the Mad Titan’s face.

To achieve this, Digital Domain, one of the digital effect firms for the movie, used a sophisticated machine learning software named Masquerade to make the performance of motion capture more realistic and natural.

The entire process started by correctly putting a hundred to hundred and fifty track dots on Josh Brolin’s face, to be captured by a couple of vertical orientation enabled high-definition cameras.

The scan wasn’t required to provide high-quality results, but a pretty generic render of low quality. This initial rendering then was fed as input to the machine learning algorithm that used from many high- resolution facial scans by a vast variety of expressions.

The Masquerade software opts for those low resolution renders and automatically figures out the high-resolution face shape to be the perfect solution for the screen. If the answer did not seem accurate enough, the team would then tweak things a bit to arrive at a better solution.

These tweaks involved instances like raising the brows higher or a little bit of lip compression, which went back into the system and were then learned by the machine learning algorithm.

Subsequently, further results through the low mesh came out better, but all of this was just a single step. The next step in the process is known as direct drive, which plucked the high- res face mask function to place it on the villain’s character model.

If there were no machine learning system like Masquerade in place, the Visual Effects team would require to change the expressions manually through animation, where the results were surely not to be as impressive like the ones coming with the help of Masquerade. It would have been a time- consuming process too.

However, there are also other advanced techniques like FACETS, used for facial tracking in Avatar and even the Planet of the Apes trilogy.

It is quite clear that if you are not using machine learning in your software to enable better CGI and VFX, you are never going to get the final outputs as you expect them to be. In the times ahead, technology will be used more for things more than faces.

To cut a long story short, expect machine learning to have an integral role just about anywhere when it comes to special effects and design.

To get the best machine learning systems/solutions for your own business or company, let us help you with the best in class recommendations & solutions.