RFID Technology for Automation of Transport and Storage Operations in Space

Abstract

The development of rocket and space technology [1], space research, and the exploration of outer space is one of the main stages in the development of science in general. Space exploration is not only a stage in the development of space science, but a whole era of scientific progress in various fields. Astronautics in this case is an object of synthesis of scientific achievements in various fields of science and technology. It demonstrates all-time high demands on the reliability of systems and equipment, prompting the industry in turn to reach a level that it was not characteristic of yesterday. Thus, the development of the space component of individual states determines their development in the world from the point of view of scientific and technological progress. The International Space Station (ISS) [1]–[3] is one of the most complex projects realized by large teams of leading engineers and scientists from different countries. One of the most important tasks of life support of the ISS work is the management of the cargo flow of delivery of various cargoes required for conducting space experiments. In turn, in order to achieve high efficiency of material and technical supply, rational management of material resources is necessary, as well as the formation of information flows at a high level. In spite of the fact that the task of accounting for commodity circulation and the tasks of managing supply chains has been resolved, the use of ground technologies in outer space is directly impossible. To plan the flow of goods, it is necessary to take into account a variety of factors, criteria, rules, preferences and limitations different by the nature thereof. Any important event leads to a chain of rescheduling many other related actions, which for the space industry leads to a complication of the process structures. This task is especially important in the study of traffic flows and the development of new models and methods of supply chain management for the ISS. The purpose of the work is to conduct research and analysis of the existing systems of accounting for transport and storage operations and study the applicability of RFID technology, the presentation of the draft flowchart of the commodity circulation systems for the ISS. The article presents a system analysis of various types of tags, and a summary table of their characteristics is given.