STEWARD: Sensor Technologies for Enhancing Workplace Awareness through Remote Discernment

Warehouse injuries and accidents are occurring much too frequently and resulting in devastating consequences and implications for the involved facility. Although the recent emergence of low-cost and unobtrusive sensor technologies have flooded nearly every market to improve health and safety, the warehousing and manufacturing markets have remained largely unpenetrated. Aptima plans to fill this gap through Sensor Technologies for Enhancing Warehouse Awareness through Remote Discernment (STEWARD), an intelligent and transferrable system focused on maintaining a safe and productive warehouse environment. STEWARD will identify risky or dangerous situations/practices, assist in mitigating warehouse accidents and injuries, and inform improvements to the ergonomics associated with typical DLA warehouse operations. To accomplish these objectives, STEWARD will leverage robust sensor technologies to optimize warehouse performance and safety through both pragmatic and innovative solutions. Specific technology areas include location tracking and mapping, impact and pressure sensors, radio-frequency identification/tagging (RFID), semi-autonomous robots, and sensors to augment and quantitatively analyze the ergonomics associated with typical job functions. When completed, STEWARD will transition into DLA warehouse environments to optimize worker health, safety, and performance while facilitating seamless transition to other applicable environments.