Oxley tags military aircraft

Citation

(1999), "Oxley tags military aircraft", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 71 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.1999.12771dad.007

Oxley tags military aircraft

Oxley tags military aircraft

Keywords: Oxley Systems, Military, Aircraft

Oxley Systems has introduced an electronic data tagging system specifically designed for recording logistics data and maintenance information in military aircraft. The Oxley-developed e-tag data tagging system employs miniature contact memory buttons which are fitted with non-volatile EEPROM memory which can be physically attached to almost any item of on-board equipment to provide an easily accessible and reliable means of logging its identity, service history and maintenance records (Plate 6).

The equipment mounted memory buttons or tags are approximately the diameter of a drawing pin and are supplied with data storage capacities of 8, 16, 32 or 64kbyte. Each tag is attached to the host Line Replacement Unit (LRU) or equipment assembly and the required data are written to and read from it through contact with a hand-held reader, the e-tag "contact probe", which is connected to a portable or desktop PC.

Plate 6 Oxley e-tag contact memory buttons

The non-volatile EEPROM memory requires no battery and there is said to be no practical limit to the number of times that it can be written to or read from. A purpose-designed software package running under Windows allows each tag to be initialised with customer defined data fields. These can be tailored to suit whatever information is required for the item of equipment or aircraft sub-system to which the tag is attached.

Stored information may include manufacturer's data, build history, configuration control, equipment calibration records, modification status, maintenance records and historical test data. All the data reside on both the data tag and on the PC. New information can be written to the tag by authorised technicians using the contact probe, and the PC database can be updated automatically by downloading information directly from the tag.

Details from Oxley Systems. Tel: +44 (0)1229 582621; Fax: +44 (0)1229 483263; E-mail: system@oxley.co.uk