Smart chips are no longer science fiction. These small pieces of semiconductor material with multiple integrated circuits that perform many functions in computers and electronic devices are the key element of the European project "Bionic. Body Information ON an Intelligent Chip".

This initiative, which is part of the European Union's Horizon 2020 programme, is led by the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) and involves Fundación Laboral de la Construcción, together with the company Acciona and the Valencia Biomechanics Institute (IBV) -as Spanish representatives- plus seven entities from Germany, Greece and the Netherlands, including Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG.

Integration of the chips in the clothing

At the last meeting held by the partners on February 26th and 27th in Enschede (Netherlands), the advances for the Bionic pilot were shown. These are being developed by DFKI and Technische Universität Kaiserslautern (TUK), for the technical part; IBV, for the part of analysis of human biomechanics and morphology; Interactive Wear, for the choice and integration into clothing; and the Fundación Laboral, which provides the knowledge on prevention of occupational hazards.

Bionic's objective is to promote active aging of the workforce, through the development of personalized body sensors placed on the worker’s clothing. These diagnostic chips collect real time information about workers' health and make an assessment of the risks or possible injuries resulting from their professional activity. This invention will become 'the voice' of the bodies of construction workers.

This 'voice' is what will make it possible for each user to have a preventive medical strategy, through a learning platform[CFP1] , which will allow them to receive education and training according to their workplace, needs and physical abilities.

Data: from the source to the analysis

Since the beginning of this project, the consortium has been particularly concerned about user data protection (collection of user data on chips that is then forwarded to IT, risk prevention and medical teams that will analyse it), a sensitive issue that they are also addressing in the final application.

At the Enschede meeting, the sensors integrated into the workwear were shown and the partners discussed the relationship between the ergonomic assessment methodology and the information provided by the smart chips, among other issues.