Environmental Sensors for Military
and Consumer Goods
  Freshness
and Supplies Monitoring
Environmental sensors offer a low-cost solution
for monitoring freshness and product exposure. This technology
requires no power and was designed for markets where freshness
is key to suppliers, consumers, and military personnel. By
measuring the temperature range to which a product is exposed,
the sensors allow immediate and accurate feedback for judging
the freshness of the product.
Whether providing supply-chain accountability
between growers, shippers and grocers or offering consumers
confidence in the product they are buying or using, environmental
sensors can track cumulative exposure and provide vital information
as to whether a product is fresh or has crossed into the temperature
range that promotes bacterial growth, degradation or spoilage.
Environmental sensors can be tailored to measure
appropriate exposure levels for  multiple
products and systems:
• Frozen foods
• Meats
• Fruits
• Medicines
• Ammunition
• Ordnance
• Energetic materials
• Electronics
Prolonged exposure to heat accelerates the aging
process and reduces the shelf life of many consumer products
and the service life of many military supplies. Tracking the
temperature exposure over a period of days, weeks or years
provides essential information about the product and peace
of mind in the product’s freshness or the system's reliability.
Applications
Environmental sensors are available in two versions:
visual sensors and radio frequency identification (RFID) sensors.
Visual
sensors:
• Inexpensive
• Easily integrated into packaging
• Appropriate for visual inspection
RFID sensors:
• Useful for scanning large-scale
stores (hundreds or
thousands at a time)
• Can be embedded
• Useful for tracking exposure of
loads during and
after shipping
• Useful for scanning warehouse storage
With the benefit of a 20-year lifespan,
environmental sensors offer long-term exposure tracking.
The technology can be tailored to measure a wide range
of temperatures from -30 °C to 240 °C. Sensors
can be designed to fit the product and the specific
need for monitoring thermal exposure.
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