Holland-based Fleetwood Group recently received its 11th patent for its innovations in radio frequency (RF) wireless technology, and that technology is the catalyst to launch the company into the healthcare, homeland security and wind energy fields.
The technology allows a handheld device to communicate with a base station via radio frequency, for example, when electronic voting takes place at a conference or seminar. Fleetwood's patented RF technology avoids interference caused by cell phones, pagers, wireless Internet access and other devices by automatically hopping from frequency to frequency for clearer reception.
"We design, develop, manufacture, package and ship a little over one million RF devices a year," says Don Beery, director of new business development. "We work with some OEM customers in the educational/interactive learning industry and we private label."
Fleetwood aims to enter the healthcare, homeland security and wind energy fields, in that order, with advanced products geared to solve problems within the industries.
Each RF keypad has a unique serial number assigned to, say, a college student. It detects when the student enters and leaves a classroom.
Beery says the company is close to signing a contract with an OEM to produce a similar tracking device for patients, staff and equipment in healthcare settings.
"For homeland security," he adds, "we have a mobile handheld device for checking I.D. – security guards can use it to tap into computer system to check authorizations, etcetera."
The product launches this fall in the interactive learning/corporate meetings industry.
Beery proposes that adding the technology to the converter boxes of wind turbines equips them for remote monitoring through a worker's cell phone or computer.
Source: Don Beery, Fleetwood Group
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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