The invention relates to an evaluation tool and method for inspecting the integrity of any physical industry connections (hereinafter fittings). The tool comprises a first component (21) provided with a recess (23) to facilitate its engagement with a fitting to be evaluated (see FIG. 10); and a second component (20) connected to, and moveable relative to, the first component (21). Movement of the second component (20) relative to the first component (21) establishes a measurement between two surfaces (32, 33 in FIG. 10) of a fitting (34) to be evaluated, e.g. between an adjustable ferrule or nut (32) and a fixed part (33) of a fitting (34). The measurement is directly (27, 28), or indirectly, indicative of one or more predetermined connection conditions (e.g. over or under tightening of the adjustable component). The predetermined connection conditions may be read directly from the tool, remotely via an electronic device, or by late cross-referencing against entries in a database.

An agent activated non-metal antenna for an ultra-high frequency (UHF) wireless sensor having a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag in electronic communication with the non-metal antenna, and a wireless data communication integrated circuit (IC), includes a conductive stimuli-responsive hydrogel material configured to be inactive prior to an interaction with an activating agent and active upon the interaction with the activating agent. The antenna is further configured to transmit power to turn on the wireless data communication IC only when the non-metal antenna is active upon interaction with the activating agent.

\A method of unlocking an operation of a Class III medical device suitable for use in treating, for example, COVID 19 in humans is presented. An integrated circuit is inserted or integrated into a medical device having an RFID reader, the medical device having a capability that is in a locked state. The integrated circuit has a first tiny RFID tag embedded therein. The RFID tag has an area of about 0.1 mm.sup.2 or less. The RFID tag is a largely digital tag that is implemented using portable digital IP blocks, the RFID tag utilizing dual-phase RF-only logic.

A material tracking and management system is disclosed, which comprises multi electronic tags respectively connected to containers, a first electronic device, and a second electronic device. After the containers are placed in a storage environment, the first electronic device accesses each electronic tag to acquire a cold storage condition for the material accommodated in the container, and detects an ambient temperature of the storage environment through a temperature sensor. As a result, the first electronic device calculates an adjustment parameter for adjusting the expiration date based on the ambient temperature and the cold storage condition. After the container is transported to a user environment, the second electronic device accesses the electronic tag to acquire the adjustment parameter and a regular expiration date, thereby adjusting the regular expiration date to an instant expiration date.

Industrial production facilities (such as can making factories) may tag with radio frequency near proximity devices their tooling (knockouts, dies, punches, etc) so that the tooling may be instantly located on any particular machine or location in the facility, by known critical characteristics of the tooling, particularly diameter. This is possible because each machine will also have a reader for the tags, and other areas such as inventory shelves, inspection stations, doors, loading docks, shipping departments and even vendors may also have the reading devices. Passive RFID tags and readers may be used for this purpose. The invention may be open to other businesses so inventory may be located across manufacturing systems and/or businesses.

A system and method for employee retention includes determining an employee's happiness level by analysis of their attire from a captured image. Image capture and employee identification is commenced when an employee uses their employer ID to enter a work premises. Captured images are analyzed for attire content. Attire content is categorized and analyzed relative to other fashion images to gage an employee's likes or dislikes, along with their happiness level. Remedial suggestions are generated when a happiness level falls below a set threshold level. Remedial suggestions may include gifts personal to an employee as determined from their attire. Captured images and web data are subject to artificial intelligence and machine learning to continuously improve analysis and recommendations.

A system and method are disclosed for tracking animals, which may include production animals as well as pets. The system and method may comprise a tag system that is attached to an animal that generally has at least a near-field-communication (NFC) tag. The tag system comprises at least an NFC tag and a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag. For NFC tags, such tags may be read with a portable computing device, such as a mobile telephone running NFC reader application software. The phone may communicate with a communications network and ultimately a computer server in order to relay information received from a respective electronic tag. The electronic tags may be fastened, embedded, or ingested by an animal. The electronic tags may be part of a mechanical coupling. Each mechanical coupling may comprise a different structure depending on the whether the tags are fastened to, embedded in, or ingested by the animal.

A contactless transponder includes an autonomous power supply and a non-volatile memory device. In a first mode of operation, an apparatus external to the transponder transmits to the transponder, according to a contactless communication protocol, module command information associated with a module external to the transponder and module data information relating to data to be written to or to be read from the module. The transponder stores the module command information and module data information in a first area of the non-volatile memory device. In response to an activation signal, the transponder autonomously communicates, according to a first communication protocol, with the module by using the module command information and module data information.

Provided is a dynamic label for a product. Data that is generated at different nodes in the supply chain can be linked to a unique identifier associated with the product. At a particular node, the dynamic label may be added to the product, container, or package. The dynamic label may include a Near Field Communication (“NFC”) tag with a value that can be read using a user device. The dynamic label may be connected to the unique identifier. When the product reaches a consumer, the consumer may use a device to read the dynamic label, and pass the value from the dynamic label to a host. The host may identify the connection between the dynamic label and the unique identifier, and may provide the data, that is generated by different nodes in the supply chain and that is associated with the unique identifier, to the user device.

According to various aspects and techniques to enable methods and systems for a first communication device to determine an approximate number of other communication devices that have lost contact with a host communication device. This includes determining a common future time window using a last known global time stamp and determining a transmit time within the common future time window. This also includes receiving samples that are captured during the common future time window on a predefined communication channel, as well as analyzing the received samples to estimate the total number of other communication devices.