The Minnesota Department of Transportation chooses TracerPlus to Build World-Class Roads

CALVERTON, NY--Nov. 27, 2013: Portable Technology Solutions, the developers of TracerPlus and ClearStream RFID software and its partner EMKAT have deployed a mobile solution for the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to help improve the operations at its MnROAD facility.

MnROAD is a pavement test track researching various materials and pavement designs that is owned and operated by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. MnROAD's goal is to research materials to make roads last longer, perform better, cost less to build and maintain, faster construction, and have minimal impact on the environment. One method MnROAD uses to document each road design's performance is to embed sensors in the different test cells in the road. In order to get an accurate reading, the test vehicles must be able to drive directly over these sensors to ensure a correct response. The challenge was that the MnDOT had tried several different unsuccessful methods of keeping track of these sensors' location including GPS survey equipment, visible markers, and even video surveillance.

In June, the MnROAD team decided to take a different, more effective approach. Working with Plymouth, MN based Emkat, they installed RFID tags approximately 6 inches below the concrete within 1 to 2 inches of the sensors. Armed with a Motorola MC9190Z enabled with TracerPlus mobile RFID software, the new mobile solution was able to locate each sensor and successfully mark the path with 90% accuracy. This was able to immediately reduce costs and increase overall efficiency of the testing performed by ensuring that the test vehicles are accurately directed to drive within inches of the sensors to get the best reading possible.

"In order to do our research at MnROAD, we need to embed sensors, sometimes hundreds of sensors, in each pavement test cell. Data is collected from the sensors as a test vehicle is driven over the sensors. The precise location of these sensors is needed to properly analyze the data for both concrete and asphalt surfaced roadways.

This is where the RFID tag and reader comes into the picture. We attached a tag to the mounting brackets for each sensor prior to paving. With TracerPlus developed programs we can give each tag the sensor name and precisely locate the tag after it has been paved over. This saves us time in relocating and marking sensors on the finished pavement surface" – Robert Strommen, MnDOT .

Once Emkat met with MnDOT to understand their existing system, they were able to quickly develop a solution that was immediately well received. By offering the Tracerplus software combined with Motorola's best in class MC9190Z RFID enabled mobile device, they were able to easily deploy a solution that met all of MnDOT's requirements.

About Portable Technology Solutions

Portable Technology Solutions, LLC (PTS) is a leading provider of user configurable, mobile data collection software, barcode systems and RFID software. Through its market leading applications, PTS provides RFID and mobile solutions for any kind of organization, any type of system and any budget.