A new IoT wearable device designed to improve farm safety is set to be launched this summer. The device, which is the brainchild of AgriGuardian co-founder James Power, is understood to be targeted at the most vulnerable groups aged under 16 and over 65. Power adds that “in an age when the health and wellbeing of animals, and even the soil, are being monitored more closely than the wellbeing of the farmer, I felt there had to be a better solution”.
It’s understood that the device linked to a “guardian” – such as a parent or, for older people, a child or neighbour – and it protects in three ways:
- It can send alerts if the wearer is in the vicinity of a potential danger such as a slurry pit or in an area of the farm that has been pre-defined as unsafe
- It will give the guardian, who may be preoccupied operating a piece of machinery, a loud proximity warning if the wearer is approaching them
- It can virtually tether a vulnerable individual and alert their guardian if they stray beyond a certain point
As the main cause of injury and fatalities on farms are accidents with machinery, drowning and falls, the device alerts the guardian and they are required to acknowledge the alert.
Power got the idea for the device while studying for an advanced certificate in agriculture at Kildalton College in Kilkenny in 2017. AgriGuardian will be launched in Ireland this summer, at which point the company will launch a funding round of €500,000 to scale the business into Britain, Germany and France.
For more, see: https://agriguardian.farm/
LSL News.