TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors, Electronics, Battlespace

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: Navy Automatic Identification Technology Program - not designated ACAT

OBJECTIVE: To develop an Automated Identification Technology (AIT) reader (interrogator), capable of reading passive Radio Frequency Identification Devices (pRFID), that is certified to be Hazards of Electromagnetic Radiation to Ordnance (HERO) safe for zero stand-off (separation). Readers will be integrated into the automated cargo loading process on board U.S. Navy ships.

DESCRIPTION: Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) seeks innovative approaches to provide zero stand-off AIT capability for reading passive Radio Frequency Identification Devices (pRFID) and can be certified as HERO safe. This capability will be integrated into the automated cargo loading process with a goal of operating at a rate of over 400 pallets per hour on board U.S. Navy ships.

During pre-deployment loadouts and underway replenishments, materiel is manually loaded aboard Navy ships and processed into storerooms. This materiel includes Ordnance which is susceptible to HERO. The Office for the Secretary of Defense (OSD) has had issued an interim change to the DFAR clause Section 211.275-2 and is advising vendors to apply pRFID tags to cases and pallets to assist with automating shipboard receipt, stowage, segregation and issue (RSSI) operations. This capability is absolutely critical to facilitating the transfer of workload ashore, a mandatory evolution in light of new ship designs which call for optimized (reduced) shipboard manning.

HERO safe, Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR)-free readers (interrogators) do not exist for zero stand-off (separation). Therefore, pRFID tags applied to Ordnance devices should require zero stand-off. HERO-safety should be "read" automatically and not have to be processed manually. Initial testing of pRFID readers and tags onboard USS NASSAU (LHA-4) and at engineering test facilities determined that a separation distance of 11� is required for the safe use of pRFID in the receipt, stow processing of Ordnance which is subject to HERO constraints in and around other materiel that may be present. This restriction is very limiting for automated materiel receipt processing. In fact, lessons learned from the USS NASSAU AIT Value Chain Demonstration during the summer of 2005 concluded that currently available pRFID readers would have to be turned off at the materiel receiving station to maintain a safe separation distance from ordnance being received aboard ship, since they do not operate at an acceptable level of power and frequency.

An unrestrictive AIT stand-off distance is desired to enable the safe use of handheld readers throughout the ship and in ordnance spaces. In total, the zero stand-off technological development has the potential to yield significant efficiencies for the integrated processing and tracking/visibility of materiel directly supporting ship operations and mission readiness ... an integrated process ranging from the inventory pipeline, to initial materiel staging areas, and ultimately, onboard the ship.

The desired technology solution demands revolutionary/alternative AIT development, testing, evaluation and certification to provide a zero separation, safe operating reader capability, including EMR-free, non-line-of-sight, materiel tracking and inventory management functionality. The designed solution must be flexible enough to process data captured from multiple technologies and frequencies, while being capable of being employed for all classes of supply (including ordnance) located throughout the ship, from topside receiving stations to below decks storerooms and magazines. Radio frequency (RF) technology should not be dismissed for experimentation purposes under this SBIR, and should be considered a candidate R&D technology to possibly provide a shipboard safe solution.

The Naval Surface Warfare Center activities, in Dahlgren VA and Philadelphia PA, would ultimately manage the HERO-certification process for the Navy implementation of the developed alternative AIT solution, which should also be compliant/compatible with the use of Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) sanctioned pRFID tags and infrastructure.

PHASE I: Investigate alternative technologies/approaches to develop an EMR-free, AIT material tracking/reader capability, certifiable for HERO-safe, zero stand-off (separation) operations. Evaluate and document alternatives and a development approach for one or more candidate devices. Devices will be expected to successfully meet the stated SBIR objectives, while accurately reading pRFID tags affixed by vendors in accordance with prevailing DFARS contract clauses.

PHASE II: Develop a prototype and demonstrate performance in either a controlled U.S. Navy shipboard environment, or in an environment simulating shipboard power sources and battlespace constraints.

PHASE III: Develop units scaleable for use on Navy ships both in the central receiving areas and portable (mobile/handheld) use mitigating the hazards and interference caused by radiated energies.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: The susceptibility of electronic devices to interference from electromagnetic fields is of general concern in hospitals, clinics, and industry. Development of an alternative, EMR-free, line-of-sight, signal carrying, material tracking technology would be very marketable. However, the best potential of the targeted technology development is to help eliminate HERO, or Radiation Hazard (RadHaz), emissions pertinent to military and industrial applications.

REFERENCES:
1. Department of Defense Instruction (DoDI) 6055.11, (Subj: Protection of DoD Personnel from Exposure to Radiofrequency Radiation and Military Exempt Lasers).

2. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), Publication OP 3565, Vol. 1 -Technical Manual, Electromagnetic Radiation Hazards (Hazards to Personnel, Fuel and other Flammable Material) and Vol. 2 � Technical Manual, Electromagnetic Radiation Hazards (Hazards to Ordnance).

3. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) C95.1 (Subj: IEEE Standard for Safety Levels with Respect to Human Exposure to Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Fields, 3kHz to 300GHz.

4. DoD Handbook (MIL-HDBK-464) Electromagnetic Environmental Effects, Requirements for Systems.

5. DoD Handbook (MIL-HDBK-240) HERO Test Guide.

6. NAVSEA Publication OD 30393, Design Principles and Practices for Controlling Hazards of Electromagnetic Radiation to Ordnance (HERO Design Guide)

7. Navy AIT Value Chain Demonstration, (report) dtd 27 January 2006

8. U.S. Navy RFID Implementation Plan, (report) dtd 26 January 2005

KEYWORDS: Automated Materiel Handling; Optimized Shipboard Manning; Ship�s Force Workload Reduction; Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR); Hazards Of Electromagnetic Radiation to Ordnance (HERO), Personnel (HERP), and Fuel (HERF); Stand-Off Distance; HERO Safe Separation Distance.

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

DoD Notice:   Between November 6, 2006 and December 5, 2006, you may talk directly with the Topic Author(s) to ask technical questions about the topics. Their contact information is listed above. For reasons of competitive fairness, direct communication between proposers and topic authors is not allowed starting December 6, 2006, when DoD begins accepting proposals for this solicitation.

However, proposers may still submit written questions about solicitation topics through the SBIR/STTR Interactive Topic Information System (SITIS), in which the questioner and respondent remain anonymous and all questions and answers are posted electronically for general viewing until the solicitation closes. All proposers are advised to monitor SITIS (07.1 Q&A) during the solicitation period for questions and answers, and other significant information, relevant to the SBIR 07.1 topic under which they are proposing.

If you have general questions about DoD SBIR program, please contact the DoD SBIR Help Desk at (866) 724-7457 or email weblink.