The Engineering Projects

Key Steps To Improve Health And Safety In Industrial Workplaces

Industrial workplace health and safety are essential for avoiding work-related accidents, injuries, and fatalities. In fact, as many as 13,455,000 workers across manufacturing industries in the US are at risk for fatal and nonfatal injuries, the CDC reveals. Not only does improving workplace health and safety protect workers, but it also prevents lost work days and lost revenue. The National Safety Council found work injuries cost businesses a total of $161.5 billion annually, equating to $1,100 per worker.

Improve employee training

New workers are three times more likely to sustain an injury in their first month than workers with a year's experience on the job. By improving employee training and tailoring programs to the demands of each individual role, you can better minimize the risk of accident and injury (a lab employee, for instance, requires vastly different training to an industrial line worker). In fact, OSHA advises implementing different plans for five key areas in order to form a comprehensive health and safety approach: hazard assessment; hazard mitigation; hazard prevention; electrical safety; and safety training. Additionally, it’s important to provide refresher training sessions on a regular basis. Never make health and safety training a one-time occurrence. By reiterating health and safety information and advice throughout the year, you can ensure workers maintain awareness of best practices.

Implement a health and safety management system

A health and safety management system is essential for identifying and resolving workplace hazards and protecting workers, as well as improving overall operational performance. In fact, it can reduce total costs arising from occupational injuries by at least 20-40%. To devise your system, OSHA recommends first identifying any health and safety issues, including, risks and hazards, management system deficiencies, and opportunities for improvement, and then prioritizing those issues. You can then determine the goals of your health and safety management system in order to maximize workplace safety and minimize risks. If an employee does sustain an injury while on the job, it’s important they inform themselves of their legal rights. Filing a lawsuit for personal injury damages can help injured employees secure financial compensation to cover the cost of medical bills and lose income, Aaron Allison Law explains.

Incentivize compliance

By incentivizing compliance, you have a better chance of ensuring your employees adhere to health and safety standards. Industrial workplaces often involve high-risk activities dealing with heavy machinery, electrical tools, and toxic chemicals on a daily basis. As such, employees can easily become too comfortable and lax, which results in potential injury or death. Incentivizing compliance could, for example, involve rewarding employees or managers when they achieve pre-set health and safety goals. Similarly, examples of non-compliance with rules and guidelines should also be corrected.

Health and safety should be a priority in all industrial workplaces. By improving employee training, implementing a health and safety management system, and incentivizing compliance, you can keep your workplace as safe as possible for employees.

ESP32 HTTP Post with ThingSpeak and IFTTT

ESP32 is a powerful chip for Internet of Things applications. This tutorial is also based on another ESP32 application in the field of IoT.

Hello readers, I hope you all are doing great. In the previous tutorial, we learned how to send sensor readings from ESP32 to the cloud (ThingSpeak webserver).

In this tutorial, we will learn to send HTTP POST requests from the ESP32 board to ThingSpeak and IFTTT APIs.

Where To Buy?
No.	Components	Distributor	Link To Buy
1	ESP32	Amazon	Buy Now

What is HTTP?

Fig. 1 Hypertext Transfer Protocol

HTTP stands for hypertext transfer control and it is a protocol for transferring data between a web client and a web server. Hyper text transfer protocol was invented alongside HTML (Hypertext markup language) to create the first interactive, text-based web browser: the original www or World Wide Web.

Server and client communication process over HTTP:

• The ESP32 (client) sends an HTTP request to a server ( for example ThingSpeak or IFTTT.com)
• The server responds to the ESP32 ( client ).
• Finally, the response contains request status information as well as the requested content.

HTTP POST Request

Fig. 2 HTTP POST Request

Hypertext transfer protocol uses particular request methods to execute various tasks. Two mostly used HTTP request methods are: HTTP GET request and HTTP POST request.

HTTP GET request is generated to request data from a specific resource and the HTTP POST request method is used to send data from the client device to the server to create or update resources.

In this tutorial, we will demonstrate only the HTTP POST method with ThingSpeak and IFTTT web services.

Features of the HTTP POST request:

• Unlimited data length: Data is submitted through the body of HTTP so there is no limit/restriction on data length.
• Secure: Data does not get saved on the web browser hence, this method of data communication is secure.
• Allows different data types.
• Data privacy.

What is IFTTT?

IFTT stands for If This Then That. It is a free web service for making different services like email, weather services, Twitter etc to connect.

IFTTT means if a service is triggered, other IFTTT services will take action.

 

Fig. 3 IFTTT

IFTTT and ESP32

IFTTT acts as a bridge between ESP32 and other web services. Some of the tasks the ESP32 board can perform with the IFTTT API service are:

• Sending Emails and SMSs
• Controlling ESP32 with Google Assistant
• Communicating data or information with smartphones.
• Scheduling events for ESP32.

IFTTT comprises Applets and Applets further contains two IFTTT services namely trigger and action.

You can use the applets created by a company or can also create your own applet. To use the IFTTT applet with ESP32, we need to create an applet by ourselves. Such applet will contain Webhooks service to interact directly with ESP32 and other services that you want to use like email, Twitter service etc.

There are cases while using ESP32 with the IFTTT: either ESP32 will trigger the IFTTT to do some task or the IFTTT triggers ESP32 to do some task.

Steps to trigger IFTTT via ESP32

• Create an IFTTT account
• Create an Applet to connect Webhooks to the desired service.

• Sending HTTP POST request from ESP32 board to IFTTT

1. Creating an IFTTT account:

Enter the following link in the web browser: https://ifttt.com

2. Login with your Gmail or Facebook accounts for free.
3. Click on Create icon (top left menu) to create an Applet.

 

Fig. 4 Creating an Applet

 

4. Click on the ”if This” icon.

Fig. 5 ” If This”

 

• Select a service. Search for the Webhooks service and select the respective icon.

Fig. 6 Search and Select Webhooks

 

• Click on the Receive a web request option to select a trigger option. The trigger will fire every time the maker service receives a web request to notify it to an event.

Fig. 7 Receive a Web Request

 

• Assign a name to the trigger event and click on Create trigger We have assigned ESP32_test.

 

Fig. 8 Create Trigger

• Next, click on the “Then That”

Fig. 9 Then that

• Select a service. We are selecting an Email service.

Fig. 10 Selecting a Service

• Next, define what will happen whenever the event is triggered (the event that we have created earlier) and click on the Finish

Fig. 11

• Testing the Applet

1. Open the following link: https://ifttt.com/maker_webhooks
2. Click on the Documentation A new window will open containing your key (API).
3. Enter the details in To trigger an Event and click on Test it.

 

Fig. 12 To Trigger an Event

Fig. 13 Event Successfully Triggered

 

• Open the email account, you have used while creating an IFTTT account.
• You should receive an email from IFTTT.

Arduino Code

#include <WiFi.h>

#include <HTTPClient.h>

//---------Netwrok Credentials

const char* ssid = "SSID";

const char* password = "Password";

const char* serverName = "http://maker.ifttt.com/trigger/ESP32_test/with/key/Enter you API key";

unsigned long lastTime = 0;

unsigned long timerDelay = 15000;

void setup()

{

Serial.begin(115200);

WiFi.begin(ssid, password);

Serial.println("Connecting");

while(WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED)

{

delay(500);

Serial.print(".");

}

Serial.println("");

Serial.print("Connected to WiFi network with IP Address: ");

Serial.println(WiFi.localIP());

// Random seed is a number used to initialize a pseudorandom number generator

randomSeed(hallRead());

}

Void Loop()

//Send an HTTP POST request after every 15 seconds

if ((millis() - lastTime) > timerDelay)

{

//Check WiFi connection status

if(WiFi.status()== WL_CONNECTED)

{

WiFiClient client;

HTTPClient http;

// Your Domain name with URL path or IP address with path

http.begin(client, serverName);

// Specify content-type header

http.addHeader("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded");

// Data to send with HTTP POST

String httpRequestData = "value1=" + String(random(25)) + "&value2=" + String(random(25))+ "&value3=" + String(random(25));

// Send HTTP POST request

int httpResponseCode = http.POST(httpRequestData);

/*

// If you need an HTTP request with a content type: application/json, use the following:

http.addHeader("Content-Type", "application/json");

// JSON data to send with HTTP POST

String httpRequestData = "{\"value1\":\"" + String(random(40)) + "\",\"value2\":\"" + String(random(40)) + "\",\"value3\":\"" + String(random(40)) + "\"}";

// Send HTTP POST request

int httpResponseCode = http.POST(httpRequestData);

*/

Serial.print("HTTP Response code: ");

Serial.println(httpResponseCode);

Serial.println("successfully conected to host");

// Free resources

http.end();

}

else

{

Serial.println("WiFi Disconnected");

}

lastTime = millis();

}

}

Code Description

• Add the required header files.
• WiFi.h header file is used to enable the Wi-Fi module and its respective functions.
• HTTPClient.h header file is used to let the server and client pass information with HTTP response or request.

Fig. Libraries

• Enter the network credentials, SSID and Password.

Fig. Network Credentials

• Add the IFTT domain name, the event name (you have created) and the API key. The event name we have created is ESP32_test.

Fig.

Setup()

• Initialize the Serial monitor with a 115200 baud rate for debugging purposes.

Fig.

• Enable ESP32’s Wi-Fi module using begin() function which is using SSID and password as arguments.
• Wait until the ESP32 is not connected to the Wi-Fi network.
• Fetch the IP address using WiFi.localIP() function.

Fig.

• randomSeed() function is used to generated a pseudorandom number. We are using Hall sensor to take hall readings and share them to IFTTT server (host).

Fig.

Loop()

• If the ESP32 board is successfully connected to the Wi-Fi network, HTTP POST requests will be generated automatically after every 15 seconds.
• Some random values (hall readings) will be sent through value1, value1, value3

Fig

• Send HTTP POST request.
• Print the HTTP POST response with the response code.
• Response code 200 is for successful communication and 402 code will be printed if some error is detected during HTTP post request.

Fig.

• Following lines are used when you want to make a request with some JSON

Fig.

• End the HTTP request.

Fig.

Testing

• Select the right development board in Tools >> Boards >> DOIT ESP32 DevKit V1 in Arduino IDE.
• Compile and upload the code into ESP32 using Arduino IDE.
• Make sure that you have entered the right Wi-Fi credentials, API key and event name before uploading the code.
• Open the serial monitor with a 115200 baud rate as defined in the Arduino code.
• Press the EN button from the ESP32 development board.
• On the serial monitor, we can check whether ESP32 is successfully connected to the network or not and whether the HTTP POST request is generated successfully or not.

Fig. 14 Serial Monitor

• Open your IFTTT account and click on My
• Next, click on View Activity.

Fig. 15 View Activity

• A screenshot of the latest activity is shown below:

Fig. 16 Received data.

 

• Check your registered email. You should receive an email from IFTTT.

Fig. 17 Email Received from IFTTT Server

 

Making an HTTP POST Request (JSON data) from ESP32 to ThingSpeak with Arduino IDE

We have already posted an article on sending sensor readings from ESP32 to ThingSpeak. In this article, we will learn how to send HTTP POST requests from ESP32 to send JSON data to the ThigSpeak server.

ThingSpeak is a web service operated by MathWorks where we can send sensor readings/data to the cloud. We can also visualize and act on the data (calculate the data) posted by the devices to ThingSpeak. The data can be stored in either private or public channels.

Steps to be followed to access ThingSpeak API:

• First, you need to create a MathWorks Account.
• To create an account or log in to ThingSpeak (operated by MathWorks) server follow the link: https://thingspeak.com/
• Click on Get Started for free.

Fig. 18 Getting Started for Free

• Enter your details to create a MathWorks account as shown below:

Fig. 19 Create New Account

• If you have already created a MathWorks account, then click on Sign in.

Fig. 20 MathWorks Sign in

• Create a channel by clicking on the New Channel

Fig. 21 New Channel

• Enter the respective details in the channel.

Fig. 22 Create a New Channel

 

Arduino Code

//-----------Libraries

#include <WiFi.h>

#include <HTTPClient.h>

//-----------Network Credentials

const char* ssid = "replace with your network SSID";

const char* password = "replace with netwrok password";

// Domain Name with full URL Path for HTTP POST Request

const char* serverName = "http://api.thingspeak.com/update";

// Service API Key

String apiKey = "Write API Key";

unsigned long lastTime = 0;

unsigned long timerDelay = 5000; //to add delay of 5sec

void setup()

{

Serial.begin(115200);

WiFi.begin(ssid, password); //initialize ESP32 wifi module

Serial.println("Connecting");

while(WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED)

{

delay(500);

Serial.print(".");

}

Serial.println("");

Serial.print("Connected to WiFi network with IP Address: ");

Serial.println(WiFi.localIP());

Serial.println("Timer set to 10 seconds (timerDelay variable), it will take 10 seconds before publishing the first reading.");

// Random seed is a number used to initialize a pseudorandom number generator

randomSeed(analogRead(25));

}

void loop()

{

//Send an HTTP POST request after every 5 seconds

if ((millis() - lastTime) > timerDelay)

{

//Check the WiFi connection status

if(WiFi.status()== WL_CONNECTED)

{

WiFiClient client;

HTTPClient http;

http.begin( client, serverName );

http.addHeader("Content-Type", "application/json");

String httpRequestData = "{\"api_key\":\"" + apiKey +

"\",\"field1\":\"" +

String(random(30)) + "\"}";

int httpResponseCode = http.POST(httpRequestData);

Serial.print("HTTP Response code: ");

Serial.println(httpResponseCode);

// Free resources

http.end();

}

else {

Serial.println("WiFi Disconnected");

}

lastTime = millis();

}

}

Code Description

• Add the server address and API (Write) Key.

Fig.

Setup()

• Inside setup() function, initialize the serial monitor with a 115200 baud rate for debugging purposes. Also initialize the Wi-Fi module using WiFi.begin() function.
• randomSeed() function is used to generate pseudorandom numbers.
• Inside the randomSeed() function, the data you want to share will be passed as an argument.
• The data could be a sensor reading or some analog values.

Loop()

• • Inside the loop function, once the ESP32 board is successfully connected with Wi-Fi, ESP32 will make an HTTP POST request for JSON data.
  • The request will be made after every 5 seconds.
  • In this code, we will share JSON data.

Fig.

• Print the HTTP POST response with the response code.
• Response code 200 is for successful communication and 402 code will be printed if some error is detected during HTTP post request.

Fig.

Testing

• Select the right development board in Tools >> Boards >> DOIT ESP32 DevKit V1 in Arduino IDE.
• Compile and upload the code into ESP32 using Arduino IDE.
• Make sure that you have entered the right Wi-Fi credentials, and write the API key before uploading the code.
• Open the serial monitor with a 115200 baud rate to check whether ESP32 is connected to Wi-Fi or not.
• Open the ThingSpeak account and check the Channel Stats.

Fig. : data (JSON) Chart on ThingSpeak

 

This concludes the tutorial. I hope you found this of some help and also to see you soon with the new tutorial on ESP32.

Hyperconverged Infrastructure Market in 2022 and Beyond

Hyperconverged infrastructure becomes the go-to option for enterprise-level companies and startups looking to scale fast. While server virtualization is a mature technology, HCI continues to be one of the hottest trends in the IT industry right now. HCI offers businesses improved reliability, reduced deployment time, lower maintenance costs, and easy scalability. If you are thinking about purchasing a hyperconverged infrastructure solution, take a look at what your competition is doing. If other companies in your market are adopting HCI, maybe it's time you should, too. Let's take a look at the current state of the industry and the global HCI market growth.

The State of the Industry

HCI is a great way to reduce operating costs and simplify IT by using a single virtual environment to combine, compute, storage and networking. This virtual-box solution is flexible and affordable enough, allowing even smaller companies and startups to purchase HCI architecture to connect and interact with their remote workers, branch offices, and IoT applications.

According to researchers, the global HCI market will continue to grow at a steady pace during the next five years. Increasing customer demand and rapid adoption of SaaS and other cloud-based solutions due to the changes in daily operations of most businesses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has brought HCI into the spotlight. More and more vendors are offering hyperconverged solutions, both for cloud and on-premise infrastructures.

More Software Offerings

According to experts, the HCI market was valued at an impressive $7.34 billion in 2020. It's predicted to surpass the $10 billion mark by 2025. Backup and recovery solutions and performance-enhancing environments remain the main drivers of market growth. Other niches where HCI solutions are popular include VM farms, desktop virtualization software, and database management.

• The tech is moving beyond the large data centers which were its early adopters.
• IT vendors have simplified control of HCI solutions, making them available for the general market.
• The ability to scale horizontally by adding new virtual nodes is intuitively easy to understand even for non-tech-savvy entrepreneurs.
• It leads to increased adoption of HCI by companies from different sectors of the economy, including retail and logistics.

Server providers and other IT vendors are divided on the issue of HCI. While some of them seem to have exited the HCI market completely, others, including even a few hardware vendors, have doubled their efforts, focusing on selling software-only products.

HCI and Edge: A Perfect Fit

Hyperconverged infrastructure fits seamlessly with Edge computing. Even smaller companies have to rely on Edge if they have branch offices or operate in remote locations. Industries like retail and banking use Edge as their default option. Since HCI removes the need for separate storage and networking devices, combining Edge with HCI creates natural synergy. Connecting thin clients and VDI workstations to the company's data center running on HCI improves the systems' reliability and makes it harder to breach from the outside. From the business point of view, partnering with a single HCI vendor instead of several hardware providers leads to cost reduction and better control and maintenance. HCI solutions consume less power and take up less space than their standard hardware counterparts.

Adoption of high-speed mobile networks like 5G will lead to further growth of Edge data centers using HCI. Enterprise data centers will either switch to this new business model or will provide HCI solutions alongside their traditional IT silos. In short, the HCI will continue to co-evolve alongside Edge, expanding from the niche of serving remote office environments to other businesses that look to cut costs, reduce storage capacity and benefit from centralized management of resources that HCI offers.

Hybrid Cloud Solutions Running on HCI

When it comes to IT infrastructure, the hybrid cloud has become the default option for most companies. Hyperconverged infrastructure can serve as the backbone of the hybrid- and multi-cloud platforms. Since HCI runs on widely-used x86 infrastructure and doesn't require tweaking and overhauling, cloud service providers switch from traditional storage/compute/network silos to hyperconverged alternatives.

Major players like Dell and Amazon are rapidly moving into the HCI niche. The new Dell Technologies Cloud runs on the VxRail platform, which is one of the HCI market leaders. AWS now offers Nutanix's hyperconverged infrastructure available as a service. Microsoft has come up with Azure Stack HCI, a powerful solution for hybrid clouds.

Hyperconverged infrastructure can become a promising alternative to popular public clouds like AWS or Microsoft Azure. The biggest selling points of HCI are its ability to scale, reduced costs, better performance, and control.

The Fastest-growing HCI Application

As mentioned previously, backup and data recovery remain the main market driver for HCI adoption. Due to the increasing number of cyberattacks, infrastructure security becomes one of the primary concerns for most companies. HCI allows to backup data on the fly, creating healthy redundancy. It's a cheaper solution since it doesn't require third-party solutions for data backup and disaster recovery. It also brings down costs associated with storage requirements, making hyperconverged infrastructure the most affordable and attractive option for backup and disaster recovery on the market right now.

Conclusion

Hyperconverged infrastructure will see increased adoption both by enterprise-level companies and data centers. It has found its natural synergy with Edge computing. The need for increased security will accelerate HCI adoption in the niche of backup and disaster recovery. The popularity of hybrid cloud solutions will also increase the number of companies using HCI for their IT needs.