|
Monitoring High Value Assets
Many high value assets used by military services remain in a ready preserved state until required by a unit. Some assets, such as aircraft engines, can travel thousands of miles via different modes of transportation to the squadron in need of the asset.
The current containers used for high value aviation assets such as engines or helicopter transmissions have only rudimentary means to verify the condition of the asset.
Integrated Sensing and Communication
Through research sponsored by the U.S. Navy's AIT office as well as the Naval Inventory Control Point (NAVICP), LandMARC has developed an integrated sensor module that can detect changes in conditions and alert supervisors to potential damages.
The system monitors temperature, humidity and pressure inside a container, and automatically conveys the status to a web-based database. The system generates email alerts upon threshold exceedence that provide the container's location and ID using standard RFID protocols.
The spiral development process will eventually incorporate the means for the module to communicate through cellular telephone networks and GPS capability for In-Transit Visibility (ITV).
Technical Approach and Benefits
The RFID tag includes sensors that detect the physical conditions inside the container, including temperature, humidity, and pressure. The tag's integrated microprocessor allows for programming of information, while the tag's transceiver operates at 915mHz.
This approach returns benefits in expandability and power conservation. The 12C bus allows for additional features to be added (such as intrusion detection) without a re-design of the entire device. The Low Power Sensor Network (LPSN) software used by the device results in longer battery life and extended communication range. These features make the system more reliable in service and more economical to implement. |