How Drones & Exoskeletons Are Innovating Safety At Exelon

Buzzwords! Buzzwords! Everyone Loves Buzzwords! Aren’t they amazing? They dazzle and delight! Just mention them at any cocktail party and you’re instantly the coolest kid in the crowd! Omichannel! Digital Disruption! Digital transformation! Multi-Platform Personalization! Break The Internet! Woo Hoo! Keep ‘Em Coming!

As an emcee of our B2B summits, it’s easy to get caught up in a language that is both exciting and devoid of real value. Creating a buzz around new trends and galvanizing people to promote change in any industry is a worthy cause, but when the excitement that’s drummed up is no longer commensurate with the actual reason behind the cause, we need to take a step back and re-evealuate what’s important.

I found myself doing just that after meeting one woman who seems to be wonderfully grounded in the real change that can come from the beaming fluorescent banners of digital disruption. When I asked Vicky Will, VP of Operation Support for Exelon Generation, whether or not innovative technologies are making a difference in her field, she not only had specific examples of digital pilot programs changing the way health and safety culture is disseminated, but she had a philosophy of innovation that she says protects her from some of the ineffectual language that buzz words can create.

“To me innovation means being open to accept that the tried and true status quo methods might not be working anymore because digital is exploding and the expectations of our stakeholders are changing, especially those of our employees,” explained Vicky Will, VP of Operation Support for Exelon Generation.

Listening to Will speak in a clear-as-can-be buzz free language as the keynote of our GDS HSE Insight Summit is refreshing and perhaps it was no surprise when I soon after learned Exelon has won multiple innovation awards by fostering the digital worker through various employee based programs.

“Exelon has made such progress in the last 5 years as we try to utilize the culture of innovation to drive significant safety improvements and reduce worker risks,” said Will.

Will described the use of advanced sensors, virtual reality, and wearables at Exelon as part of what they call their “Ideation” programs that promote employee driven improvements. Exelon actually has won many awards such as the 2015 Citrix Innovation Awards, The Nuclear Energy Institute’s Top Industry Practice Awards, and was called a digital pioneer by Crain’s Chicago Business.

So what are the latest disruptive technologies she anticipates will transform the health and safety business in 2017? Something that’s even more exciting than buzz words: Robotics!

“I think one thing that provides great hope for workers and the aging population are exoskeletons,” said Will. “We are currently doing research into exoskeletons because we see such great potential there. They’re robotic devices people wear to assist them in day to day activities. if you’re a worker and you need to lift something heavy, the exoskeleton can mitigate the strain to your own body. The suit senses you’re engaging your muscles to do a task and will aid you in that task.”

And that’s not all! Will says one of their most exciting pilot programs involves drones.

“They’re booming in our company and that’s what has our employees really engaged because you need a pilot license and many of our employees actually have licenses, but it’s not currently part of their day to day job. We are excited to engage them and we see they’re excited to come to work! One employee in my group actually flies a drone and helps inspect our wind tower,” said Will.

In addition to eliminating risks for employees working at heights, drone inspections also reduce inspection costs as it requires 3 workers for 8 hours to manually inspect wind towers as opposed to 2 workers for an horned a half with a drone.

“We also have a 230 megawatt solar farm in California that’s over 2,000 acres and imagine having to drive through all that rather than fly a drone that someone can remotely control to look for damage,” Will explained. “You can have robotics investigating this and looking for defects.”

Now that’s buzz worthy!

GDS Group hosts experts to help experts. We strive to provide an atmosphere for our attendees that enables them to confidently lead their companies through major transformation projects. For information on upcoming events, view our Technology Summits and Executive Events. To remain current on our activities, visit GDS Group on LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter.