TAGSYS Partners with RYB to Improve Visibility of Underground Pipes

TAGSYS RFID announced it has signed an agreement with RYB, a leader in products for the transport of gas, water, electricity, telecommunications, irrigation and geothermal, to supply industrialized RFID technology to support RYB’s ELIOT (Equipment for Localization and Identification by Object Technology) program, a unique approach to detecting underground infrastructure at depths up to 1.5 meters with extreme accuracy through any kind of surface. The agreement includes ruggedized custom-made RFID tags to be placed on underground assets providing new levels of visibility for pipes and conduit location and monitoring to avoid accidental damage and allow rapid detection of problems throughout infrastructure networks.

The project involves RFID technology developed and prototyped at CEA-LETI (Grenoble) and industrialized by TAGSYS for RYB.

The RFID tags and systems for the program must meet stringent requirements, including the ability to operate in extreme environmental conditions; provide accurate transmissions through earth, concrete and other materials; operate with efficient power consumption and on specific frequency ranges utilized by ELIOT; and connect to an integrated monitoring system for each utility network.

In addition, the RFID tags must operate effectively while contained in a protective and hermetically sealed housing while mounted on 20 to 1000mm pipe. The tags must be compatible with all types of conduit materials, including polyethylene, cast iron, PVC, concrete, and steel.

“Our ELIOT solution is a highly specialized and complex combination of technologies and materials. Accurate wireless sensing, within a few centimeters, through RFID technology is the critical element in the solution. We are happy to be working with TAGSYS to provide us with the devices that meet the needs of this innovative approach, both on the individual tags level and their ability to work within the complete system, at low cost,” said Marc-Antoine BLIN, president of RYB.

The aim of ELIOT (www.eliot-technology.com), which has already won numerous awards for industrial innovation, is to improve the safety, security and accessibility of underground infrastructure. Disruption of underground pipes due to unreliable detection methods and incomplete or inaccurate location information results in huge losses both in economic terms and human and material resources. The RYB solution provides new levels of visibility and accuracy for locating, monitoring and communicating information about critical utility networks. Such detection capabilities should become mandatory in France with new laws requiring greater visibility and accessibility by utility providers and construction contactors.

“This is a challenging application for RFID technology that is being solved for the first time by TAGSYS. We are applying our 15 years of experience with RFID and expertise in the physics of wireless sensing to address the unique requirements of visibility of underground pipes. The result will be significant saving in money and resources, as well as prevention of life-threatening accidents due to a lack of accurate information,” said Alain Fanet, CEO of TAGSYS.