American Thermal Instruments (ATI), a manufacturer of temperature sensing RFID tags and forehead thermometers based in Ohio, has licensed an innovative technology developed by Bob Kauffman, who is a researcher at the University of Dayton Research Institute.
They would use this technology for developing new passive high frequency (HF) as well as ultrahigh frequency RFID sensors that have a new trigger mechanism. The tag would be prevented from giving out a signal, unless the ambient temperature surpassed a predetermined threshold. ATI intends to convert Kauffman’s design into a finished product in less than 18 months.
Currently, the company is offering active HF 13.56 MHz RFID tags, which are being marketed as LOG-IC tags that come incorporated with a temperature sensor. However, the tags if built on the SMART design would be passive and thus be less expensive. The company would continue to manufacture and sell the LOG-IC tags, while at the same time provide passive tags to those customers who do not need the level of data logging and detail given by the LOG-IC tags.
Randal Lane, President of ATI, revealed that the company had made a deal, whereby ATI would use the licensed technology for applications in the areas where it serves and will use it mainly for monitoring temperature sensitive chemicals or drugs or perishable foods with a provision for other companies in other industries to sublicense the technology from ATI.
The tag design was prototyped and developed by Kauffman on the basis of a grant given by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), who had assigned a group of researchers for investigating the cause of accidents, such as the 1996 crash of Trans World Airlines Flight 800. The research team, which included Kauffman, proved that exposed fuel sensor wires had become unmoored and insulation was lost and this sparked an explosion.
Using an additional grant of $200,000 from FAA, Kauffman began to develop technologies for preventing such kind of accidents. He designed a clamp with an integrated passive RFID inlay, which would alert plane operators by the tag’s transmission to an RFID reader when the clamp fails.
Source: http://www.americanthermal.com/