DETROIT, Aug. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- General Motors
has developed new technology to aid workplace safety during the
COVID-19 pandemic, and the company is sharing its innovations with
the world for potential use in job sites as diverse as
manufacturing plants, offices or even schools. The new technologies
include an automated kiosk for temperature scanning, software for
contact tracing and a mobile app for touchless printing.
While developed to aid the company's workplace protocols, GM has
made these tools available to the public for potential use in any
workplace, school or facility.
"We developed an extensive playbook for a safe return to work
for our employees, and we're seeing very good success," said Dr.
Jeffery Hess, GM medical director.
"As we implemented the protocols, GM software developers started to
work on how technology could make the process smoother and more
precise."
GM's in-house software developers innovated solutions aimed at
helping employees return to work with more confidence, streamlining
and improving workplace safety protocols.
"We had to respond quickly to the challenges the COVID-19
pandemic created for our workforce," said Randy Mott, GM executive vice president and
chief information officer. "Our teams collaborated online with
experts around the world to quickly innovate and support the safe
return of our employees to the workplace. We know many of these
challenges affect others globally. We felt it important to share
our innovation so other companies, organizations and institutions
could benefit from our experience."
Here's a look at three innovations in use at GM workplaces
today, with the software code and hardware plans available to all
developers.
Thermal Scanning Kiosk
In GM workplaces – and many other kinds of facilities today –
safety protocols call for an entry process that includes a
temperature evaluation, normally administered by another worker. GM
developed new software code that integrates the operation of an
infrared thermal camera with a computer and monitor, automating and
streamlining the entire process.
Leveraging open-source code from the OpenCV project, the system
automatically detects when someone has stepped in front of the
camera and checks for an elevated skin temperature, indicating it
is either safe to proceed or the entrant needs further evaluation.
The process can take as little as 1-2 seconds, relieving
bottlenecks at workplace entry points and reducing physical contact
between workers. The scanning is effective when the worker is
wearing a mask or face covering.
Kiosks are in use at numerous GM offices and plants across
the United States and will expand
to other global locations soon. While the actual kiosk GM built is
for its own facilities, the innovation that makes it work can be
applied in many other kinds of workplaces. The software is
available to help any workplace or facility with similar entry
scanning processes.
Workplace Contact Tracing
Developers worldwide are
designing technology solutions to improve contact tracing. GM made
significant improvements to Covid Watch, an open-source contact
tracing application, by adding real-time social distance alerts,
boosting performance on both iOS and Android devices and adding
support for Bluetooth beacons. GM will release its open-source
software soon, helping developers worldwide who are collaborating
on open-source solutions to aid contact tracing.
"We believe our application advances the state of the art when it
comes to mobile apps for contact tracing, which is the subject of
massive software development efforts across multiple industries
today," said Tony Bolton, GM chief
information officer of Global Telecommunications and End-User
Services.
GM is testing a mobile app that would create a record for the
employee, listing other users with whom he or she has been in
contact. It can help medical staff reach employees that had contact
with a worker testing positive for COVID-19, while maintaining
privacy and security. The app also constantly computes the physical
distance between users and can send an alert to help encourage safe
behavior. GM is planning a pilot to test the application soon.
Touchless Print
The new Touchless Print mobile web
application now enables employees to print documents without
touching the printer's control panel, leveraging instead a QR code
scanned through the employee's mobile phone. The process is not
only safer, but very quick and extremely simple.
"Touchless printing is a first step, as the team is also working
on using technology to make other daily activities more
hands-free," Bolton said.
This app is in use now at GM facilities worldwide, for iOS and
Android devices, and exclusive to HP printers. The open-source
software for the app was released earlier this month.
These innovations are the latest in a series of
pandemic-response actions from the company, including production of
critical care ventilators and personal protective equipment such as
masks, face shields and N95 respirators. To learn more about GM's
efforts to help during the COVID-19 outbreak, please
visit https://www.gm.com/coronavirus.html.
General Motors (NYSE:GM) is a global company
committed to delivering safer, better and more sustainable ways for
people to get around. General Motors, its subsidiaries and its
joint venture entities sell vehicles under
the Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Holden, Baojun
and Wuling brands. More information on the company and
its subsidiaries, including OnStar, a global leader in vehicle
safety and security services, can be found
at http://www.gm.com.
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SOURCE General Motors Co.