Successful at-Sea Testing of Quarter-Scale Cargo
Handling System

PORT HUENEME, CA–July 27, 2005-SEICOR International and Real-Time Innovations, Inc. (RTI), the expert in real-time defense information networking, today announced the successful at-sea testing of the Navy’s quarter-scale Automated Logistics (AutoLog) cargo handling system. A government-contractor team performed testing aboard Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center’s (NFESC) Motor Vessel (M/V) Independence, just offshore Port Hueneme, California.

The AutoLog system is being developed under a Phase III Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) contract awarded to SEICOR, sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. The AutoLog system is designed to move cargo (nominally 20-foot ISO containers, weighing as much as 53,000 pounds) from one ship platform to another in heavy seas. The recent test was to demonstrate the ability of a quarter-scale system to successfully operate in a high-sea-state environment.

NFESC designed and fabricated the major structural components and supported test events on land and aboard the M/V Independence including mobilization, installation of the system, power requirements, cabling, test performance and demobilization. Under subcontract to SEICOR, RTI developed and tested the control software and performed all system integration. D&K Engineering provided the winches and drive systems.

Rick Gardner, the NFESC’s AutoLog program director, commented, “At-sea testing aboard the M/V Independence included the movement of a quarter-scale ISO container from a fixed location on the ship to a target area on a lighter alongside the ship. Numerous tests were performed with most landings within one foot of the target area, despite the amplified heave, yaw and other unconstrained motions in high-sea-state conditions.”

About SEICOR International
Seiler International Corporation (SEICOR) is a veteran-owned small business organized in South Carolina in 1995. The patented AutoLog Automated Container/Cargo Handling concept was launched in 1997 with a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award from NFESC, Port Hueneme, CA. At that time SEICOR engaged Pennsylvania State University to develop a small-scale model using RTI’s predecessor Constellation software. This reliance on RTI software has been in place for over eight years culminating in a successful quarter-scale sea trial in May 2005. This year SEICOR will progress to an ISO container auto-acquire capability relying on RTI software, GUI and advanced sensor suite. SEICOR’s Navy SBIR funding to date is over $5 million.

About RTI
Real-Time Innovations, Inc. (RTI, www.rti.com) the expert in real-time information networking, leads the industry with high performance standards-based software solutions for data-critical applications. Its products and consulting services provide the infrastructure for national railways, air traffic control, traffic monitoring, mission-critical combat systems, financial transaction processing and industrial automation. RTI's flagship product, NDDS, is middleware based on the Object Management Group's (OMG) Data Distribution Service (DDS). NDDS provides the essential foundation for real-time communication in a networked system and enables a new class of embedded to enterprise (e2E) applications. Raytheon, Nikon, Omron, Harmonic, Applied Materials, Schneider Automation, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and the US Military rely on RTI technology for their real-time, data-centric, distributed applications. Headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley since 1991, RTI is a privately held company.

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