U.S. Military Unit Reports Passive Tags Viable for Containers

As part of the trial, the SDDC compared manual and automated inventorying of 48 containers. Using a pen and paper, testers took approximately 12 minutes to review each container, plus another 10 minutes to enter the data into the spreadsheet. Two errors resulting from this process were identified.

Using a handheld reader and passive tags installed on the sides or doors of the containers—which measure approximately 19 feet long, 8 feet wide and 8 feet high—it took less than three minutes to inventory each container, with read rates reported as 100 percent successful at distances between 3 and 12 feet at ground level. About five out of 417 tags were inoperable and, therefore, could not be read at all, the command says.

When one container was stacked on top of another, the tag on the upper container was not readable from a distance of 12 or 9 feet at ground level, but was readable at 6 feet. With containers stacked three high, the reader was unable to interrogate the tags on the uppermost containers, regardless of how close personnel were to the containers. "There have been a variety of ideas for solving this problem. One of the better solutions is to have an extension pole for the reader," says Mihalek. Another suggested method involves conducting the reading from the back of a tall truck.

Though some light wind and rain were in effect during the tests, the tags' heavy plastic casings prevented them from being damaged by the weather, Mihalek says, and no negative impact was observed.

Companies involved in the trial included Wireless Facilities, which conducted the tests, and Frontweb, which manufactured the tags.

Separately, in early October, USTRANSCOM announced its appointment as the main organization in charge of implementing automated identification (auto-ID) technology, including RFID, for the DOD. The command organization is also in charge of developing a centralized approach for the military's use of asset visibility technologies.