Industrial IoT Smart Watch
A wearable that gives factory operators two way communication with the machines and robots on the line. Built at STMicroelectronics, from the enclosure and the firmware through to the charging cabinet and the services behind it.
The problem
When a machine or a robot on the production line needs attention, the cost is measured in the minutes before someone notices. Fixed terminals and radios both assume the operator is in the right place at the right time. A wrist device does not.
The device
The watch is an ESP32 with a display, built to survive a factory floor and a full shift:
- ESP32 with a screen for reading alerts and sending responses.
- LiPo battery sized for a working shift.
- Vibration motor so alerts land even in a loud environment.
- ESD safe straps, required for handling electronics.
- Enclosure designed and 3D printed in house, revised as the hardware changed.
The station behind it
A device is only useful if the right person is wearing it. A Raspberry Pi station with an NFC card reader handles assignment: an operator taps their employee ID card, the station verifies it and hands out a watch bound to that person for the shift.
Charging and storage sit in a sheet metal cabinet with two shelves and 16 watch holders, so the whole fleet returns to a known state between shifts.
Software
The Raspberry Pi software is written in Python. Behind it run five background services in C# handling messaging between machines and devices, device allocation, and the surrounding operations.
Result
Operators receive instant alerts from the equipment they are responsible for, which shortens the gap between a fault appearing and someone acting on it, and reduces production downtime.