SBIR Phase II: Solving the 4,023-Year-Old Logistics Control Problem Using Modern IoT Standards and a Novel Combination of Passive RFID, UWB, and Cellular Technology

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to make real-time item-level tracking economically viable across global supply chains. This project enables a technology breakthrough by combining passive RFID tags with a low-power cellular device that reads thousands of items simultaneously and transmits real-time location and critical data for each. This advancement addresses major logistics challenges affecting major industries. Democratizing access to real-time visibility and enabling item-level traceability without infrastructure or manual scanning, this innovation promotes safer, more efficient, reliable logistics practices. In parallel, it enhances scientific and technological understanding in low-power embedded systems, edge-triggered sensing, adaptive wireless communication and artificial intelligence detection of anomaly-based alerts using the new training provided by real-time item level location data. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project seeks to develop and commercialize a reusable, battery-powered device that integrates passive radio frequency identification reading, cellular internet-of-things connectivity, and sensing into a compact platform suitable for pallets, containers, or vehicle deployment. The technical challenge lies in reliably detecting thousands of radio frequency identification-tagged items under real-world occlusion/interference conditions before transmitting high-resolution data efficiently, all while using minimal power to enable a 10-year battery life. The project builds on a successful Phase I effort that demonstrated a working prototype, validated detection across dense pallet loads, and confirmed cellular backhaul feasibility even within shielded trailers. Phase II refines hardware design, optimizes antenna layout and tag placement, and implements firmware supporting adaptive “blinks” triggered by motion, temperature excursions, time of arrival need, or other sensor-detected triggers. The research also includes developing energy-harvesting mechanisms to extend battery life to 10 years, despite needs to increase blink rates during movement. Expected outcomes include a fully miniaturized, production-ready design, proven performance in customer pilots, and a platform architecture that can evolve to include alternate low-power wide-area network radios or on-premises ultrawide band anchors. The project will yield a scalable, cost-effective solution for real-time inventory tracking, bringing unprecedented granularity and automation to supply chain monitoring. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.