Mar 28, 2012Eurocopter has finished testing new RFID tags and a reader module designed for the aeronautical industry that enables the tracking of flight times for individual aircraft parts. The company now plans to use the system to help it manage part maintenance aboard the helicopters it makes, and to also offer the solution as a value-added service to its customers. The IronTag series of EPC Gen 2 ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) tags used during the pilot was developed by French RFID firm STid, as part of an RFID Aero project for the Secured Communicating Solutions (SCS) Cluster, a group comprising microelectronics, software, telecommunications, multimedia and IT companies that aims to promote the development of innovative solutions within France's Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region.
The RFID Aero project focused on developing RFID technology for logistics and maintenance services within the aeronautical industry. Now that STid has developed and tested the passive UHF RFID system for tracking data on tagged chopper parts, says Vincent Dupart, STid's deputy CEO, the company has commercially released the solution, consisting of a series of IronTag high-memory on-metal EPC Gen 2 passive UHF RFID tags for use in rugged conditions on metal, as well as RFID readers.
With the RFID system, Eurocopter intends to address problems faced by personnel responsible for maintaining a helicopter's parts and ensuring the aircraft's overall safety. Typically, each part is printed with a serial number that can be difficult to read once that component is installed. In addition, the number of hours that a part spends in flight affects its remaining lifespan, and eventually requires its replacement, but manually tracing each part's flight hours is difficult to accomplish. Eurocopter, as well as its customers, can now utilize the IronTag solution to track flight hours automatically.
STid began developing the system in 2008, Dupart says. Testing commenced last year and concluded this month, with IronTag tags attached to more than 100 parts installed on one of Eurocopter's Dauphin helicopters, and three RFID readers with a total of 12 antennas installed onboard, to capture read data from each tag as the chopper was started, and again when the craft landed and its engine was turned off.
To prove that the IronTag series was rugged enough to withstand harsh environmental conditions—including fluctuating temperatures and air-pressure levels, in addition to water and ice—STid mounted the tags on multiple parts that would be most challenging, including on the chopper's rotor, thereby exposing the tags to the elements, as well as air-pressure changes as the rotor spun. The tags also needed to be nonflammable, in order to ensure safety and meet regulatory requirements.
Eurocopter developed its own software to manage read data, and to store information regarding each part. When a helicopter pilot first started the ignition, the system transmitted a wake-up trigger to the readers to capture the RFID numbers and data of each tag within its read range. That information was linked to a timestamp in the software, and was stored on the PC. When the helicopter returned from its flight and the ignition was turned off, another read was performed by the three interrogators, with a new timestamp. Eurocopter's software then calculated the time in flight, and the reader wrote that additional time to the tag. Once a tag reached a preset number of approved hours of flight before action needed to be taken, the software could then display an alert.
In addition, Eurocopter's technicians employed Psion Workabout Pro 3 handheld computers integrated with RFID readers to capture data during maintenance. The workers read the tags in order to determine each part's identity, and to ascertain the number of flight hours to which that component had been subjected. Data could also be written to the tag at this time, such as the maintenance or inspection carried out, and when this occurred.
The testing lasted for approximately one year, Dupart says, noting, "We conducted flight tests in the harshest conditions to get accurate results." The tags withstood the fluctuation of temperatures and air pressure, and were readable both pre- and post-flight.
The IronTag series, which comprises multiple form factors and chip-memory options, is now available for use in the aerospace industry, as well as oil and gas, railway and manufacturing, or for applications in remote locations in which robust tags are necessary. The tags, STid reports, comply with the Air Transport Association's ATA Spec 2000 specification, as well as SAE International's SAE AS5678 specification. The largest model measures 50 millimeters by 20 millimeters by 4.8 millimeters (2 inches 0.8 by inch by 0.2 inch), while the smallest tag measures 37 millimeters by 6.5 millimeters by 3.2 millimeters (1.5 inches by 0.3 inch by 0.1 inch). The company will showcase its IronTag series and Flyable reader modules at the RFID Journal LIVE! 2012 conference and exhibition, being held next week in Orlando, Fla.
Earlier this year, STid partnered with RFID supplier HID Global to globally market its IronTag 176 tags (see HID Global Introduces IronTag UHF Transponder for Tracking Metal Assets). Eurocopter intends to roll out the system to more of its Dauphin helicopters, in order to track the flight times of parts, though a timeline for this deployment has yet to be determined.
