Distributed Information & Automation Laboratory

Working with Industry

DIAL works with leading international companies in areas ranging from RFID technology development to through-life product information management. Interaction with industry takes a variety of forms including long-term research collaborations, commissioned research, consultancy and executive education.

Aerospace ID Technologies programme (Aero-ID)

The Aerospace ID Technologies Programme was an industry led independent research initiative that provided answers to key deployment challenges to automated ID in the Aerospace sector. It was made up of a number of discrete, finite research projects each centred on a particular aspect of the technology and its application. The content and priority of each project was determined by the participating companies, and initial industrial consultation identified six key themes. These were:

• Life Cycle ID & Data Management - managing the evolution of equipment data and history through its life cycle
• ID Application Matching - guiding the selection of the best ID delivery solution
• Sensor Integration - evaluating how to integrate ID data with other sensor information
• Data Synchronisation - evaluating how to integrate ID data on parts and networked resources
• Track and Trace - designing and evaluating methods to integrate ID data into existing and new track and trace strategies
• Security - solving the problems of authentication and access control coupled with the longevity of the data

Participating companies benefited from an independent research view of the sector with detailed reports, meetings and sector wide discussions. Early entrants were able to steer the research focus on particular issues of their own interest.

The programme was aimed at aircraft manufacturers, their first and second tier suppliers, operators, owners, Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) organisations, and government procurement agencies. It was also of immediate interest to any organisation for which the configuration control of life-limited and rotable components in aircraft, the problem of counterfeit part substitution and the potential for more automated production and distribution are major issues.

The Aerospace ID Technologies Programme brought together the collective expertise of the Auto ID Labs around the world. It ran for a fixed period and incorporated key aerospace industry members.

Industrial partners

Airbus, BAE Systems, Boeing, Embraer, Air Transport Association, IATA, SITA, BT, Afilias, T-Systems, Aviall, Messier-Dowty, SPC, IFS, AEROid, VI Agents

Researchers involved

Alan Thorne, Victor Prodonoff, Duncan McFarlane, Andy Shaw, Mark Harrison, Lila Theodorou, Bela Patkai, Thomas Kelepouris, Shigeya Suzuki (Auto-ID Lab Japan)

Project website

www.aero-id.org