NUWC Division, Keyport tests asset tracking system
The new technology uses low-frequency magnetic signals to identify, locate and track ordnance and provides an alternative to standard radio frequency identification. According to NUWC Division, Keyport Industrial Engineer John Hunter, who serves as project lead for the initiative, last month’s tests evaluated the technology’s ability to automate inventory accounting and monitor environmental conditions during transit.
“This gives us better oversight of what we actually have,” said Hunter. “It gets us out of the ’80s and ’90s method of going through and hand-scanning everything. It’s an automated system where we can click a button and see exactly what’s in a storage location.”
Hunter added that because the new system relies on magnetic signals rather than radio waves, it is HERO (Hazards of Electromagnetic Radiation to Ordnance)-approved for use.
The new system consists of several components, chief among them a network of magnetic sensor tags and handheld scanner wands. The tags attach directly to torpedo shells and other inventory items and transmit location data through antenna loops into centralized tracking software. The tags also continuously log temperature, humidity and other environmental conditions within storage areas and in vehicles moving inventory between facilities.
The wands use magnetic signals to ping tags and pinpoint individual assets. Technicians sweep the wands across storage racks to verify whether specific items are present, eliminating the need to visually locate and scan every barcode.
Hunter said this scanning ability could also allow technicians to scan sealed containers to verify whether an asset is ready, without the need to re-service it unnecessarily.
The system’s software compiles data into real-time inventory records and environmental trend charts.
The demonstration involved three real-world handling scenarios. In one, the team mounted loop antennas on a flatbed truck carrying tagged items. The system automatically logged the assets as they were loaded, transported and delivered.
During transit, sensors recorded departure and arrival times, temperature shifts, and shocks and vibrations caused by driving over potholes along the transit route.
The team also laid antenna loops across a warehouse floor. When tagged items crossed the threshold, the loops automatically pinged each asset’s sensor tag and instantaneously transmitted its arrival data to the system.
The final test consisted of an audit of a mock storage facility grid. Readers scanned each grid section independently and instantly verified that every weapon sat in its assigned slot and tier according to the system of record.
NUWC Division, Keyport Ordnance Inventory Accountability Officer Laura Warden, who was present for the demonstration, said she was impressed by the results.
“It was really interesting to see that real-time accuracy just moving material from one area to another,” she said. “The amount of data it collects and stores in that tiny little tag was pretty impressive, and having that visibility is going to save a lot of rework and manpower.”
Chris Luzik, a logistics manager at NUWC Division, Keyport and head of the command's Magazine Field Office, also praised the new system.
“Affixing location devices to items that move all the time is just the smart thing to do,” he said. “We have a ton of human resources that’s going into tracking these items, and if we could do that with computers and technology, it’s absolutely the right thing to figure out. And it’s money well spent.”
Work on the new system continues to move forward. The team plans to pilot the system on a select group of assets and is currently working to secure final safety approvals to expand its use across the annex's storage areas.
-KPT-
Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport is headquartered in the state of Washington on the Puget Sound, about 10 miles west of Seattle. To provide ready support to Fleet operational forces at all major Navy homeports in the Pacific, NUWC Division, Keyport maintains detachments in San Diego, California and Honolulu, Hawaii, and remote operating sites in Guam; Japan; Hawthorne, Nevada; and Portsmouth, Virginia. At NUWC Division, Keyport, our diverse and highly skilled team of engineers, scientists, technicians, administrative professionals and industrial craftsmen work tirelessly to develop, maintain and sustain undersea warfare superiority for the United States.
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