• Rain, snow and sleet: The casing is sealed at various level of protection depending on its IP rating.  That would include the display, keyboard and ports.
• Temperatures: Operating in the cold winters of Alaska, or a local freezer to the tropic outdoors of Puerto Rico, industrial computers can hold up to temperatures of -30 to +60 degrees centigrade.
• Thunder, hail, wind and other natural or man made noises can interfere in the operation of an vehicle mount computer. To compensate, ruggedized computer manufactures install high volume speakers.
• Sunlight is good for the garden but very difficult for outdoor PC operations.  Fortunately, industrial hardware have display with anti-glare to enhance visibility.

Whatever the weather, rugged industrial computers meet the challenges of their environment.

photo credit: mehul.antani

Rugged Industrial Computers For All Seasons is a post from: Rugged Vehicle Computer

No related posts.

Wireless Vehicle Computer in Warehouse

A summary on using  a wireless vehicle computer with barcoding.  Data collection is performed in many environments.  Some of these environments require that information be collected while in a mobile location such as car, forklift, truck or just a cart.  Of course some or most of these locations are not so PC friendly and would require a rugged industrial computer.  Since the data is collected in a mobile fashion, the vehicle mount computer needs to be connected to a network for real time data collection.  A wireless vehicle computer can have multiple real-time connections such as cellular (GSM and GPS) and WiFi.

WiFi connection enables the rugged mobile PC to act as a workstation on wheels.  A prime example would be using  the wireless vehicle computer in a warehouse operation.  The interactive information exchange can be used for many WMS software functions:

• Receiving
• Putwaway
• Cross-docking
• Inventory maintenance
• Picking
• Shipping
• Inventory Count

As each functions is used, an operator can update the host main inventory data base with the latest product movements.  With inventory being continually up-to-date, web purchasing can reflect the most current available products for sale.

Wireless Vehicle Computer is a post from: Rugged Vehicle Computer

No related posts.

In summary, barcoding is a solid and established means of data collection.  It makes our lives much easier by providing the right information instantly and accurately.

Bar Code or Barcode or Barcoding Data Collection is a post from: Rugged Vehicle Computer

No related posts.

1. a capturing and storing device such as a mobile data terminal, or vehicle mount computer(VMT), or a handheld computer such as a portable data terminal (PDT)
2. Data scanning ability such as a barcode scanner
3. Optionally, a RFID reader that would collect from RFID tags
4. A means to move collected data from the mobile data terminal to the database.  This can be as simple as a USB wired download, or a WiFi connection to the rugged  industrial computer and a GSM connection to move data through a cellular network.

Wireless connectivity can also be interactive via an application that would add, update and interpret information from the mobile computer hardware.  These real time mobile computer solutions would include warehouse management, material locator,  item tracking, and many more.  The true benefit of wireless data collection is the real time results being collected with the information at the point of origin.  This makes the data most accurate and ultimately provides any user and their community with excellent services.

photo credit: myuibe

Wireless Data Collection is a post from: Rugged Vehicle Computer

No related posts.

Over the years, many technologies have been invented for the capture, processing and dissemination of information.  Our most dominant tool today is the Internet.  But how did all that data get into a data base, how and where was it collected, what are the computations and formatting performed ?  In these series of posts, I will address the various technologies used to capture information in a fixed and mobile environments.  My discussions on data collection will focus on industries such manufacturing, health care, oil exploration, transportation, mobile services, logistics and supply chain.

Topics of discussion will be:

• Barcode, barcoding, or bar code (many ways of saying the same thing)
• RFID (radio frequency identification) and RFID applications
• Wireless mobile computing
• Portable data collection (batch mode)
• Shop floor data collection
• Various industrial devices for data capture such as mobile data terminals, forklift computers, small industrial PCs, and vehicle computers

Read more about each data collection method and its associated industries in my posts.

photo credit: Unhindered by Talent

Data Collection 101 is a post from: Rugged Vehicle Computer

No related posts.

Longer term plans include a portable rugged tablet… essentially a mobile data computer that is not limited to a vehicle mount computer application.  That will open opportunities in more industries.

Mobile Datata Computer and Bar coding

Just one Mobile Data Terminal product Now! is a post from: Rugged Vehicle Computer

No related posts.

It may seem inappropriate for a computer to reside and operate in industrial conditions but data capture for automation requires information for be collected at the point of its origin.  That would be applications such as receipt of goods, movement of goods to a locations, picking items for shipment or for manufacturing staging.  Each of these operations may require scanning of a barcode or reading an RFID tag to record movement of material to the company’s MRP or SCM systems.

photo credit: Matija Grguric

What’s a Forklift Computer Do? is a post from: Rugged Vehicle Computer

No related posts.

Which industries does Percon plan to concentrate in? Where does our vehicle mount computer product(s) fit?

Our initial target and plan is ‘stick” with what we know best; supply chain logistics in manufacturing and wholesale trade. We are also planning on penetrating transportation, oil production,  and public safety. In reality, the need of our partners and the clients’  demand will dictate the direction of our product. But our marketing focus will be within the industries mentioned.

photo credit: Pimento Of Doom

Which Industries do Percon Products Fit? is a post from: Rugged Vehicle Computer

No related posts.

Why build another vehicle mount computer (VMT)? Motorola, LXE, Psion, AML are already a big player. You’ll have too much competition!

That’s a good question that most of our prospects, integrators and resellers are asking us. The answer is two-fold:

1. Today’s big players do provide vehicle mounted computers but they are a “step-child” to their product line. The vehicle computer projects do not get the get the funding and resources that the PDTs projects do. The result is that the industrial vehicle computers (VMTs) are generally behind in technology (few and slow upgrades) or the VMT offering is an OEM. There is just a three US manufacturers that produce VMTs as their primary product and the majority of their sale is direct.
2. We did our homework when we did the marketing research in the viability of starting a Vehicle Mounted Computer manufacturing company. Venture Development Corporation (VDC) also supplied us with solid industry financial and competitive data. The Reader’s Digest version is: VMTs’ are a $250 Million market with a CAGR of 7%. That offers Percon a great opportunity. We are not looking to be a multi billion dollars conglomerate. We’ll be VERY happy with 5% of the market and we plan to get there one rugged computer at a time!

Our vehicle mount computer products can be reviewed on our website.

photo credit: Metro Centric

Why build another Vehicle Mount Computer? is a post from: Rugged Vehicle Computer

Related posts:

1. Phoenix Vehicle Mount Computer Presentation There are few vehicle mount computers manufactured in this AIDC...

Percon is a separate manufacturing/engineering company and we are not related to Datalogic.

PSC purchased Percon in 2000? And the Percon products and employees were merged into PSC. Percon ceased to exist. Datalogic purchased PSC couple years ago and now operate as Datalogic Scanning and Datalogic Mobile.

However, Percon has a great history in AIDC. It is a name associated with quality products and excellent service. We are committed to continuing that tradition.

Another thing we all have in common is that we’re from Eugene Oregon!

photo credit: jontunn

Percon is part of Datalogic? Isn’t? is a post from: Rugged Vehicle Computer

No related posts.

Tip #1 – Look for a Field Trained Faculty
The best IT training contains a balance of theory and practice. The training company’s faculty have balance of experienced industry professionals and academicians.

Tip #2 – Look for Accreditation
A successful it training institute should offer courses that prepare students to take exams that lead to certification by Microsoft and Cisco

Tip #3 – Look for Flexibility
In today’s competitive world, a successful it training center needs to be flexible in order to attract the best students. There should be both full-time and part-time programs that offer both certificates and transferable credits.

In this competitive world, technology has grown at a fast pace. The advent of newer, smarter technology has formed the need for people capable of applying this technology to everyday life. In many ways those people connected with the field of information technology are pioneers of a new wave of communications. It’s key that there are professionals who can help design and supervise information systems which will allow businesses to further succeed in today’s marketplace. Computer IT training can provide tremendous benefits to employees seeking a productive career field.

Another way that this training can be beneficial is to includes industrial computer usage. Quite often, people in professions such as warehouse, military, public safety, electrical engineering, steel work, or the oil industry may require the use of fixed or vehicle computers to control certain operations within their field. There are certain kinds of hardware along with specialized software that come into play in such fields.

The benefits can be numerous for anyone who wants to work in this industry, as the need is always there for IT professionals. As computer technology gets to being an even more vital part of modern life, there is more to achieve from taking PC training courses, and eventually getting computer certification training, which is a major step towards gaining a job in any field.

Computer training to include exposure to industrial vehicle mount computer is a post from: Rugged Vehicle Computer

No related posts.

Microsoft lists 6 reasons why WinCE 6.0 is superior to 5.0

1. Process address space is increased from 32MB to 1 GB.
2. Number of processes has been increased to 32K from 32.
3. User mode and kernel mode device drivers are possible.
4. Device.exe, filesys.exe, GWES.exe has been moved to Kernel mode.
5. SetKMode and set process permissions not possible.
6. System call performance will improve

These highly technical reasons focus exclusively on the internals of the operating system and are mostly invisible to the developer or end user, with one exception.

The kernel is the core of the operating system. When Microsoft originally developed WinCE it was believed that many of the systems using it would be “headless appliances”, that is devices without displays or mass file storage. So the designers placed everything related to user interface and file systems outside of the kernel. This allowed the 32MB kernel memory space to contain more real core os features including monitoring and communications drivers, but keyboards, graphics, touch screens and file storage drivers all resided in the “Files” portion of memory and require a task switch to access the rest of the OS. Moving everything into the kernel means less task switching for the OS, resulting in faster execution of applications. Some estimates go as high as 20% faster execution for applications with high levels of graphics interface, such as on screen mapping.

But there are additional reasons why WinCE 6.0 is superior to 5.0.

1. WinCE 6.0 is fully integrated with Visual Studio 2005. This allows application developers to use the same tools for Windows development as was used for the WinCE development. Visual Studio 2005 also contains an emulation feature which allows application development to begin before hardware has been purchased.
2. .NET 3.5 in natively supported in the OS and doesn’t have to be added by your application, keeping your applications smaller.
3. WinCE 6.0 R3 includes Internet Explorer Embedded and Silverlight which allows more robust browser applications to be written.
4. WinCE 6.0 includes AYGShell API, which ensures compatibility with Windows Mobile applications. This can be important for applications intended to be used by both Vehicle computers and Windows Mobile based handhelds.
5. Bluetooth is an integrated driver in WinCE 6.0 and works more seamlessly in the OS and faster as its part of the kernel as described above.
6. WinCE 6.0 R3 includes Touch Gestures, similar to what is used in iPhones, opening up the possibly of a whole new generation of exciting applications.

So while many hardware vendors are still selling forklift computers and mobile data terminals  based on Windows CE 5.0 or even 4.2, it’s important to look for devices that use WinCE 6.0 to get the most out of your application!

If you want to learn more visit http://www.e-consystems.com/WindowsCE5vs6.asp or http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee504812.aspx.

Advantages of Windows Embedded CE 6.0 is a post from: Rugged Vehicle Computer

No related posts.

An industrial PC is always preferable for a variety of industrial applications, based on the search for an X86 computer.  An X86 is actually one of the most successful architectures in personal computing and started by the processor than Intel’s 8086th. In order to develop it into a useful product for various industries, IBM decided to go with their product designated as a 5531 model in 1984. One year later – published in May 1985 – the second industrial PC was from> IBM in the market. This is the so-called IBM 7531st

IBM was just one of many companies that designed an industrial PC for the consumption of several industries. What followed soon after IBM’s initial design, was multiple other computer brands and names on the market. This marked the beginning of the use of industrial products for various applications.

Industrial PC features

The real purpose of the use of industrial PC’s is offering to ease in process control and data acquisitionTransactions for various industries. However, used in a larger environment in which other computers for distributed processing is the industrial product used primarily as a support for the system.

Characteristics of industrial computer

Industrial computers are more reliable and expandable than the area used for residential purposes. They are also capable of working on a long-term end to the industry where they are applied. Since only a few industries use these products, theyare usually in smaller quantities than other consumer PCs produced. Due to the fact that industrial computers serve multiple purposes and occupy more space than computers for home offices, they are by sheer design more expensive.

Types of industrial PCs

There are many types of PCs in the Industrial PC category. One type is a panel PC, that is connected to the display or monitor in the same housing as the motherboard and other parts of the gadget. Although heavy Modelsare being offered on the market, this type of PC is often less costly than the other categories.

To update a simple computer model into a better model, some manufacturers use different operating systems and advanced processors which tends to increase the total cost of the product. Entry-level PCs to work with Linux systems and AMD processors. High-end processes on Microsoft Windows on an Intel processor, longer updated. In addition to the panel PC, other types of industrial PCs include notebooks, desktop and rackmount computers.

IBM and Its Industrial Computer is a post from: Rugged Vehicle Computer

No related posts.

Electricity and water do not go together well, as I am sure that most people are aware. But dust is just as bad for electrical components as is water. Dust hangs in the size of tiny dust particles to larger particles that fall and nothing to hold. Dust can also consist of any materials from the benign skin cells in household dust, conductive metals and liquid particles, harmful for the electrical equipment. Dust also has the nasty habit of blocking filters.

Dust and water are often combined in an industrial environment, which is why electrical equipment, which is produced is operating in circumstances is a rating by both the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The European IP rating is a numerical standard, a piece of electrical equipment to the level of protection given the ERGO.

The IP–Rating is a two-digit number each digit a separate number code to indicate the protection, the lower the number, the lower the protection and the higher the number the harsher environment it can withstand. The first digit stands for the dust-protection that is granted, the second digit stands for waterproof protection. For example, is an IP65-computer with the highest possible protection (dust IP rating of 0 to 6), with a moderate level of waterproof protection enabling the unit to be protected from water jets, but not enough by immersion in water (water protection of 0 to 8).

The NEMA is very similar to the European system except that in most cases a single ascending number higher (13 is the highest), the number of higher degree of protection is granted. Although some ratings such as Nema 4 which to similar protection that does not offer protection IP65 Nema 4xoffer additional anti-corrosion protection (in most cases, the housing units would be made of stainless steel rather than mild steel therefore able, in the catering and manufacturing) are used.

Check the ratings on the Percon fixed and vehicle mount computer products.

Understanding the Nema and IP Rating Systems is a post from: Rugged Vehicle Computer

No related posts.

RAM (our vendor partner) Vehicle Computer Mounts are designed for the most popular cars (police, fire, EMS), forklifts, trucks and fleet vehicles on the road. These heavy-duty steel laptop bases are custom formed to fit specific vehicle models, providing a mounting platform for any RAM Laptop Mounting System. Using the front bench or passenger side seat rail bolts as attachment points, existing hardware in the vehicle is all that is required to secure these bases. If needed, however, additional hardware is supplied. Because of their unique ability to absorb damaging shock and vibration, RAM Mounting desks are the perfect choice for securing industrial vehicle mount computers and electronics of any type.

Responder Public Safety Equipment is a post from: Rugged Vehicle Computer

No related posts.