Augusta Systems Inc.,
RFID & Sensor Systems Combine to Automate Round Counting and Monitoring on Military Vehicles
MORGANTOWN: Soldiers will no longer need to manually track the rounds fired from their tanks or mortar equipment as a result of an integrated RFID and sensor system under development from Augusta Systems Inc. Augusta Systems, provider of intelligent enterprise network technologies, is powering the system through a $1.18 million task order awarded by the U.S. Army's Benet Laboratories.
“With this system, soldiers on the frontline will no longer need to record, by hand, the number and types of rounds fired during a combat situation,” said Kevin Miner, program manager at the U.S. Army's Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, which oversees Benet Laboratories. “Thanks to this prototype system, built with Augusta Systems technologies, the soldiers can do their job without the added stress of record keeping.”
The sensor systems will also assist with operations and maintenance by enabling the Army to monitor and manage wear-and-tear on vehicle gun barrels, mortar systems and other weapons more efficiently and effectively. The first vehicle to demonstrate the system may be the M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank.
“The automated system will record the actual physical effects of the rounds fired on the gun barrels, resulting in an accurate account of the stress placed upon the weapons and their overall health,” Miner added. “This solution helps to take the guesswork out of operations and maintenance.”
The system consists of an advanced piezoelectric sensor; an RFID data recording, storage and communications package; and an electronic weapon record data management application. The electronic weapon record data management application has been developed utilizing Augusta Systems® SensorBridge(TM). SensorBridge is an award-winning suite of Microsoft Visual Studio software components for building and managing intelligent networks, systems and applications — featuring data from edge assets — within an integrated development environment. SensorBridge enables the integration, correlation, processing and communication of data from the sensor and RFID system for use by military personnel.
“The U.S. military requires the most efficient and effective convergence and integration of data from sensors and other edge assets,” said Patrick Esposito, president and chief operating officer of Augusta Systems. “SensorBridge bridges the technology and efficiency gap that has existed, traditionally, between edge assets and military networks and systems. With SensorBridge, users can build and manage intelligent enterprise networks, as well as the intelligent systems and applications that drive solutions like electronic round counting and weapon record data management. In some cases, SensorBridge cuts down on the time required to build these solutions. In this case, it provided a platform to create an entirely new solution.”
Augusta Systems was awarded an initial $1.8 million contract for the effort last year. The new task order will enable the continued development of the prototype system. Subcontractors to the effort include American Science & Technology Corporation and South Dakota State University.
