Enhancing Cold Chain Tracking with Advanced Hardware Solutions

The COVID‑19 pandemic underscored the critical need for precise cold chain management. Some vaccines demand storage below –70 °C, with tolerances so tight that any deviation can compromise efficacy.

In the pharmaceutical, chemical, and food industries, the term cold chain refers to the end‑to‑end logistics that must keep products within stringent temperature ranges. Maintaining this chain without interruption requires an automated, error‑free tracking system.

Asset tracking with a barcode scanner

Asset tracking

Asset tracking traces a product from its point of origin to the end‑user, enabling real‑time location visibility. The most common method assigns a unique barcode to each asset, which is scanned whenever the item moves. All events are logged in a centralized database for audit and analysis.

Advances in electronics now allow low‑power sensors—measuring temperature, humidity, vibration, and contaminants—paired with GPS for real‑time geolocation. Central to this system are data loggers, which capture sensor data, process it, and store it on non‑volatile memory. These devices run on batteries and communicate intermittently, reducing network dependency.

Typical asset tracking architecture using data loggers

Data loggers are indispensable in cold chain systems because they record temperature at regular intervals, a requirement mandated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for food, drugs, and cosmetics.

These loggers rely on a low‑power microcontroller that drives sensor acquisition, data logging, and communication. A prime example is the ML630Q466/Q464 from Lapis Technology (Rohm Group). This 32‑bit ARM Cortex‑M0+ MCU offers 64 KB or 128 KB flash, built‑in LCD drivers, an RC‑ADC for accurate temperature readings, USB 2.0 full‑speed, and multiple serial ports for sensor interfacing—all while consuming minimal power.

A 32‑bit low‑power MCU suited for cold‑chain tracking

Compatible sensors span a wide range: accelerometers (e.g., KXTJ3‑1057 for motion wake‑up and impact detection), ambient light and RGB sensors for environment monitoring, barometric pressure sensors for altitude and indoor navigation, Hall ICs for door status, and magnetometers for e‑compass functionality.

Beyond USB, integrating wireless modules—Bluetooth Low Energy, Wi‑Fi, or specialized IoT protocols—enables real‑time data sharing and remote monitoring. In an IoT ecosystem, asset trackers can broadcast their data to nearby nodes, providing a richer context of the environment the asset experiences.

» This article was originally published on our sister site, EE Times.

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