UCHardChip Inc. Overview:

Carpenter and entrepreneur Ulysses Dinkins formed UCHardChip in 2016 to develop and sell personal protective equipment (PPE) like hardhats that enable hands-free communication with embedded electronics and supporting software to improve safety and productivity in the construction industry, among the least safe and productive in the US. The products will be sold to general contractors and subcontractors.

After recruiting a team during 2017 and initial angel capital in January 2018, Dinkins and co-founder Toby Klusmeyer developed multiple prototypes, a demonstration model, and attracted the interest of potential customers desiring to reduce injury costs, job delays and rework.

The Company is now developing a lean product version for sales beginning in late 2020, followed by an enterprise version with sales beginning in 2022, achieving a break-even in 2022 and operating profit of $869,000 by 2025.

Product and Service:

UCHardChip products arm construction workers at the work face with smart wearables, that is, “intelligent”, IoT-embedded, personal protective equipment (IPPE). The products enable hands-free operation and accurate interior positioning (location within a site and structure under construction) and employ variety of sensors to acquire data related to the safety and productivity of the wearer.

Uniquely, UCHardChip’s first product, a smart hard hat, mounts the various electronic devices on the interior, standard design harness, which fits nearly all common hard hat shells.

UCHardChip software publishes alerts to wearers of the products and to site supervision and headquarters management, ports relevant data to popular construction management and ERP platforms, enables two-way communication among wearers, between wearers and supervisors, between wearers and safety staff, and manages data useful to contractors, trade unions and insurers.