APPLICATIONS OF AN AUTOMATIC INVENTORY AND PERSONNEL TRACKING SYSTEM.

MANY HOUSE CHORES FACE AN ASTRONAUT WHEN IN SPACE. ONE IMPORTANT TASK IS TRACKING AND CONTROL OF INVENTORY ITEMS SUCH AS EQUIPMENT AND FOOD. ITEMS MISPLACED COULD PROVE FATAL WHEN IN A CRISIS SITUATION. A RADIO FREQUENCY SYSTEM HAS BEEN DEVELOPED WITH THE CAPABILITIES TO IDENTIFY RF TAGS WITHIN A SPECIFIED AREA. MANY TAGS EXISTING WITHIN THE SAME AREA CAN BE INDIVIDUALLY READ AND IDENTIFIED. THIS TECHNOLOGY EXISTS IN THE FORM OF A 'PROOF OF CONCEPT' BREADBOARD. THIS PROGRAM WILL INVESTIGATE THE APPLICATIONS OF THE TECHNOLOGY TOWARDS A FULLY AUTOMATED INVENTORY TRACKING SYSTEM, TO BE USED ABOARD THE SPACE STATION. THE APPLICATIONS NOT ONLY INCLUDE INVENTORY BUT PERSONNEL. ASTRONAUTS CAN BE MONITORED AND LOCATED WITHIN THE SPACE STATION. THE DESIGN OF THIS TECHNOLOGY IS APPLICATIONS SPECIFIC. THE MOST EFFECTIVE METHOD FOR THIS STUDY IS TO DESIGN AND CONSTRUCT A WORKING BREADBOARD TO BE TESTED UNDERSIMULATED CONDITIONS. INTERFERENCE FROM EQUIPMENT AND SPACECRAFT MATERIALS WILL BE INVESTIGATED. BENEFITS INCLUDING EASE OF USE OF THE SYSTEM WILL BE DETERMINED. PHASE I RESEARCH WILL PROVIDE THE INFORMATION TO DESIGN A FULLY FUNCTIONAL SYSTEM IN PHASE II. APPLICATIONS OF THIS SYSTEM EXTEND TO ANY SITUATION WHERE CRITICAL ITEMS MUST BE TRACKEDAND LOCATED.