Portable Calibration Standards for Traceability

The problem: Navy technicians spend hundreds of hours each year calibrating thousands of ship sensors on a fixed schedule. Figuring 15 minutes of labor for manually calibrating a single sensor, a facility with 100 sensors could spend 300 man-hours or more every year for monthly calibrations, easily reaching a $15,000 annual budget. Within Navy ships, this annual estimated budget would nearly triple, as Navy vessels such as the DDG-51 have nearly 2,700 sensors that need calibrating. Our solution: To decrease the time that Navy technicians spend calibrating sensors by over 75%, Williams-Pyro, Inc. proposes to develop the Accurate Sensor Analysis and Calibrating Tool (AccuSACT). AccuSACT will be a portable device approximately the size of a briefcase that will perform two functions: (1) accurately identify drifts in sensor readings from the standard reading and (2) indicate when and how technicians should calibrate the sensors. Once AccuSACT identifies a faulty sensor, the device will show test methods, criteria, and protocols defined by the Standard Reference Material distributed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. In addition, AccuSACT hosts the Navy's Interactive Electronic Technical Manuals to provide technicians with additional instructions concerning sensor troubleshooting, calibration, and configuration management.