A MULTIPLE-READ SAW TAG INVENTORY SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

TRACKING OF ON-BOARD SPACE STATION AND SHUTTLE MATERIALS SUCH AS TOOLS, FOOD, CLOTHES, PHARMACEUTICALS AND OTHER EXPENDABLES MUST BE IMPROVED BEYOND BAR CODE IDENTIFICATION METHODS TO BE EFFICIENT AND SUCCESSFUL. THIS PROJECT PROPOSES TO CREATE, USING NEWLY INTRODUCED TECHNOLOGY, A SURFACE ACOUSTIC WAVE (SAW) PASSIVE TRANSPONDER INVENTORY TRACKING SYSTEM WITH THE UNIQUE CAPABILITY OF SIMULTANEOUS, MULTIPLE-TAG READ CAPABILITY FOR READING UP TO 50 TO 100 CO-LOCATED TAGS. THE SMALL, LIGHTWEIGHT AND BATTERYLESS SAWTRANSPONDER TAGS ARE IDEALLY SUITED FOR AUTOMATED INVENTORY AND TRACKING SYSTEMS, BUT UNTIL NOW THEY HAVE BEEN LIMITED TO SINGLE TAG-AT-A-TIME READ CONSTRAINTS. PHASE I WILL RESEARCH THE FEASIBILITY AND DIFFICULTY OF CREATING MULTIPLEREAD TAG SYSTEMS SO THAT ITEMS SUCH AS FOOD CONTAINERS CAN BE ACCURATELY TRACKED IN PARALLEL OR SIMULTANEOUS FASHION. THE RESULT OF THE PROJECT WILL BE A FEASIBILITY, OR PROOF-OF-CONCEPT, WORKING MODEL OF A MULTIPLE-READ SAW TAG AUTOMATED INVENTORY AND TRACKING SYSTEM.