Two Navy vessels ride the waves of the Mediterranean Sea side-by-side during an underway replenishment. Huge pallets are loaded from one ship to another as a handler impatiently waits for a critical piece of equipment being delivered somewhere among the T-shirts, tools and toiletries coming aboard. How will he find it?
In the not-too-distant future, that handler may hold a small scanner, which will quickly alert the user as the piece is brought aboard, signaling the exact location of the crucial part. "We are working to make life easier for the Sailor as well as the civilian workforce," said Chuck O'Brien, team lead for the Automatic Identification Technology (AIT) group. O'Brien and his team run a laboratory in St. Inigoes, Md., an annex of the Naval Air Systems Command Patuxent River site. "We are unique in DoD (Department of Defense)," said O'Brien. "NAVAIR recognized the potential of this technology and has taken the lead in the evaluation and exploitation of emerging AIT products to benefit the warfighter, both at the front lines and behind the scenes."
The team's capabilities, expertise and experience have been recognized by other government agencies as well. AIT customers include Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP), Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), as well as the U.S. Army. The laboratory is responsible for evaluating potential process improvements to Navy functions by incorporating AIT mediums such as bar codes, contact memory buttons and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. RFID tags come in many sizes and shapes, and are versatile for many uses. They can be used as electronic labels, or tags, which can then be quickly and reliably "read" at a distance. According to O'Brien, RFID provides an accurate, hands-free ability to identify products, track movements and record transactions. "If it moves, the system knows it," he said.
As part of NAVSUP's Afloat Supply Department of the Future (ASDOF) initiative, the Lab was tasked to conduct an evaluation of commercial RFID products for use in a shipboard environment. A prototype was installed onboard the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) for three weeks to demonstrate positive inventory control of aviation repairables without paper documentation. In addition, extensive testing was conducted to determine that emissions from the tags will not interfere with ships systems nor will ships systems affect the function of the RFID system. A similar effort on the USS Normandy (CG 60) was undertaken to show the receipt, stowage and issuance of repair parts. The tests successfully used RFID tags to automatically track material movement around the ship.
The lab is also conducting product tests for NAVSEA, outfitting a test sample of spare parts for Virginia-class submarines with RFID tags. The tests are being run with the shipbuilder to assess the performance and savings of using RFID. According to O'Brien, the team is also working on a research and development project for the Office of Naval Research, building an RFID tag that uses ultra wide-band frequency. "We're on the leading edge of this technology," said O'Brien. "Ultra-wide band was just approved for limited use four months ago." The test will be used to show the viability of RFID tags with sensors attached to monitor ozone-depleting substances (halon and freon) at the storage depository in Yorktown, Va. "If a leak occurs at the facility," said O'Brien, "an alert will automatically be triggered through the tag to the database."
The Army has also leveraged the Navy's abilities in evaluating RFID technologies and has used the lab for environmental tests of "smart labels" to determine the durability of the commercial products being considered for package labeling.
As the leader in naval aviation technologies, NAVAIR is committed to providing the warfighter with the necessary tools to enable absolute combat power. O'Brien and his team are fulfilling that commitment by working to make life easier for the sailor. To this end, NAVAIR recently awarded a five-year contract for AIT engineering and technical services to promote further expansion and adoption of AIT in its business processes. The future of RFID is being evaluated right now, but according to O'Brien, it has a lot of promise. "This product has the potential to improve reliability while reducing the cost of operation, and that can only benefit the warfighter."