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Read our latest blog to understand why rugged tablets are more important to field workers in the era of COVID-19.

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How IoT Makes Smart Building Management Viable

Today’s complex buildings requires countless disparate systems and devices to regulate their functions and environments. Many of these systems operate in silos yet are still interdependent in many ways. With the Internet of Things (IoT) as the heart of smart building management, personnel tasked with monitoring, adjusting, and intervening in those functions when necessary have a holistic view into building operations. Industrial tablets become a vital link to overcoming the greater challenge of interpreting data from many building automation systems in real-time.

With the help of the IoT, buildings have the potential to house truly interoperable systems rather than silos of electrical, mechanical, and electro-mechanical systems and platforms. Sensors gather continuous data feedback on operational parameters across these systems.

Controllers, gateways, sensors, and cloud platforms can then deliver valuable information that enables building management teams to increase energy efficiency, quickly address failures, and preemptively address imminent problems. Together, this increases comfort and reliability and helps cut costs. By communicating with each other, these systems:

Help monitor themselves

Act when necessary through automatic regulation of defined operational parameters

Provide operational performance data to drive analytics

This collectively allows facility managers to intelligently optimize performance and create smarter buildings.

While data centers and central maintenance offices provide networked facilities for efficiently managing an array of facilities remotely, in-building operations demand operator access to information. A tablet provides a platform that can communicate via network to management facilities for historic data, instructions, and spare parts databases, while simultaneously communicating directly with in-building infrastructure.

It is tempting to use a commercial Android tablet for industrial operations, given their widespread availability and use. However, the environments, operational use cases, and connectivity requirements required of industrial use often cause commercial Android tablets to fail in these types of missions.

Source: https://www.inhand.com/how-iot-makes-smart-building-management-viable/

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Features That Make Tablets a Right Choice for Industrial Use

Over the past decade, the use of on-site computers and handheld devices has become widespread in a variety of industries. These devices allow workers to have access to updated information that is vital for their business practices. While many businesses that use these devices rely on them for day-to-day operations, they must be durable and secure. Consumer-grade devices lack the power and dependability that industrial tablets provide.

What Makes Industrials Tablets Different?

When choosing these devices for your company, you can opt for additional features that are useful for industry-specific practices. These add-ons will heighten the efficiency of business operations while maintaining a connection between multiple teams of workers. A rugged industrial tablet has the capability of running off various operating systems, featuring durable housing while boosting readability and offering touchscreen performance.

Dual Operating System Capability

Consumer-grade, Windows devices are usually made to run using only a single operating system. Industrial tablets that are Android can be designed to run using multiple platforms, including Windows Professional, Linux, and Windows Embedded. This adaptability means your company can tailor its practices to fit any industry software updates without having to replace all your devices.

Durable Housing

Many industries have workers completing tasks in harsh environments where it can be challenging to protect consumer-grade electronics. A rugged industrial tablet is designed to withstand fluctuations in temperature, such as extreme cold or heat. Additionally, these devices maintain performance when exposed to snow, rain, dirt, dust, or sand. Some industries, such as the food sector, may require devices to be cleaned with steaming hot water. Industrial tablets can withstand this heat, while consumer-grade devices would easily ruin. You can ensure the durability of a rugged industrial tablet because it has undergone rigorous testing procedures following its manufacturing.

Touchscreen Performance

If you have ever used a consumer-grade smart device, you will have noticed that the touchscreens are only reliable when used with a bare finger. The reason for this is because they are P-Cap or projective capacitive. These types of screens cannot be used with gloves, and are easily interfered with by water and dust. The electrical current required by P-Cap screens is easily disturbed unless conditions are perfect, which is often not the case in workplace environments. Industrial tablets, on the other hand, use resistive touchscreens, which is ideal for workers that wear gloves and have no control over their external conditions.

View Original Source: https://news.macraesbluebook.com/features-that-make-tablets-a-right-choice-for-industrial-use/

Contact Details:

InHand Electronics, Inc. 30 West Gude Drive, Rockville, MD 20850 Phone No: 240-558-2014 Web: www.inhand.com

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SECO and IBD Partner for the Realization of Respira – Non-invasive Pulmonary Ventilators

SECO, a leading company in the hi-tech sector, specializing in computer miniaturization, backed by FII Tech Growth managed by Fondo Italiano d’Investimento SGR, today announced a partnership with IBD, an innovative Italian company operating in the biomedical market, for the development of Respira, a new non-invasive pulmonary ventilator created in response to the current health emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic. Respira was developed by a team of Italian doctors with direct and extensive experience on the front lines of the pandemic.

SECO’s technological capabilities in combination with IBD’s knowledge and competencies in the medical sector, have brought Respira to life. Respira is a compact and portable high-flux, pulmonary ventilator for patients with COVID-19-related pneumonia in both domestic and hospital environments. The new ventilators, which bypass the need for invasive intubation, are equipped with touchscreen displays for easy and intuitive use.

“It gives me great pride that in such difficult times two Italian industry leaders like SECO and IBD have brought together their technological competencies to provide a tangible contribution to the healthcare system and its patients, through an innovative, non-invasive and portable solution for pulmonary ventilation,” said Massimo Mauri, Chief Executive Officer for SECO.

Established in 2014, IBD designs and develops biomedical devices with the goal of innovating on portability, user-friendliness for healthcare personnel and patients, for both domestic and hospital applications. Following the concepts of “Less is More” and Lean Startup, IBD has developed, in a timely fashion and with limited resources, extremely innovative biomedical devices,” said Dr. Corrado Ghidini, Managing Director of IBD. “As Italy has always been a leader in the biomedical field, and the partnership with SECO provides the perfect complement for the realization of an industrial plan that can contribute in relaunching Italy on a global scale.”

In addition to ventilating patients affected by COVID-19 without intubation, Respira can also be used in immunodepression cases as well as those that require oxygenation in both pre-and post-intensive care. Designed in Italy and manufactured in the USA, the new pulmonary ventilators are expected to start deliveries between late May and early June 2020.

Assisted pulmonary ventilation is considered by most to be the only effective therapy for those patients affected by COVID-19-related respiratory deficiency. The innovative ventilators developed by SECO and IBD will contribute in increasing the availability of these fundamental medical devices, currently only available in limited amounts, at very high prices and exclusively used by intubated patients in ICUs.

Contact Details:

InHand Electronics, Inc. 30 West Gude Drive, Rockville, MD 20850 Phone No: 240-558-2014 Web: www.inhand.com

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InHand Electronics Offers Custom Tablet, Built to your Specifications

InHand is an award-winning industry leader of power-optimized handheld and rugged device designs, offering custom tablet solutions. Visit InHand's website for more details.

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SECO, a high-tech manufacturer of computer miniaturization and “ready-to-use” IoT integrated systems, with shareholder FII Tech Growth fund backed by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, is pleased to announce that it has completed the acquisition of 100% of InHand, a Maryland-based leading provider of low-power rugged embedded systems and software to original equipment manufacturers of handheld, portable, Internet of Things (IoT), and wireless devices for the military/defense, industrial, medical, transportation, infotainment and field operations equipment markets.

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Use of Industrial Android Tablet in the Construction Industry

The construction industry is a broad field that encompasses many sectors where the use of an industrial Android tablet will has both overlapping and separate uses.

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Building information technology (BIM) and construction management software (CMS) are just two of the important tools for the construction industry that rely on industrial Android tablet use in the field.

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Inhand Electronics Offers The Best Rugged Android Tablet and Military Rugged Tablet

Inhand Electronics offers the best rugged android tablet and military rugged tablet that meets all specifications for temperature, fluid contaminates, solar radiation, fungus and immersion, while offering the full functionality expected from a compact and mobile android tablet.

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Industrial Android Tablet Uses in the Construction Industry

Building information technology (BIM) and construction management software (CMS) are just two of the important tools for the construction industry that rely on industrial Android tablet use in the field. While these and other applications have a big in-device use potential, it is the device’s ability to provide wireless connectivity in a durable, rugged package that truly expands that potential.

The construction industry is a broad field that encompasses many sectors where the use of an industrial Android tablet will has both overlapping and separate uses. For example, in heavy construction, surveying processes across road and building construction are more efficient with the ability to deliver 4G LTE and WiFi capability that enable inventory and parts management, crew messages and more.

In addition, these devices are compatible with Android-based survey and GIS software for mapping applications. Uses can also include mapping complex networks of fiber optic cables, gas lines, and other equipment affecting underground utilities for road construction or job site preliminary surveys.

To do this, an industrial Android tablet must handle the advanced workflow for data capture, accurate positioning, and data transmission. Since these are field-based environments that are unforgiving, an OEM Android tablet is unlikely to provide the same reliability over a long lifecycle that justifies the investment. Additionally, industrial Android tablets may be designed to accommodate custom interfaces and specialized equipment.

Supply movements to and from heavy construction sites are often critically timed for use due to limited storage space. Industrial tablet GPS and internet connectivity allows real-time supervisor oversight of incoming and outgoing materials via fleet traffic. They can track important deliveries for parts and materials in real time to keep a tight rein on time estimates for both the crew and the company.

Contact Details: InHand Electronics, Inc. Address: 30 West Gude Drive- Rockville, Maryland, 20850, USA Phone No.: 240-558-2014 Email: rfeldman@inhand.com

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All You Need to Know About Custom Made Tablets

Custom made tablets meet the standards of Original Equipment Manufacturers that produce the tablets and the rigorous needs of the user.

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As mobility in harsh and volatile industrial and manufacturing environments has become a necessity for productivity, safety, monitoring, and management, intrinsically safe circuit design has had to meet stringent regulatory device needs.

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InHand Hydra-Q6 - Rugged Android Tablet for Commercial and Industrial Use

InHand Electronics offers commercial android tablet Hydra-Q6™ available as a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) tablet or with InHand’s full range of design services to customize it for application-specific needs.

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Intrinsically Safe Circuit Design Device Needs Across Industries

As mobility in harsh and volatile industrial and manufacturing environments has become a necessity for productivity, safety, monitoring, and management, intrinsically safe circuit design has had to meet stringent regulatory device needs. Making matters more challenging for device manufactures are the varied environments, product features, and complex requirements of meeting regulatory compliance for intrinsic safety. The definition of intrinsically safe lies at the heart of this challenge.Intrinsic safety requirements apply to any device operated in areas where flammable gases, fuels or dust are present. The device must provide preventive protection in its electronic circuit design and physical structure when used in explosive atmospheres. These devices must be designed in such a way that they will not release enough energy to cause ignition of flammable material. Just a few of the more obvious Industries which require Intrinsically Safe devices include:

Oil and gas

Pharmaceutical

Aircraft maintenance

Chemical refining

Power generation

Metal smelting and refining

Plastics manufacturers

The regulations and requirements governing intrinsic safety for any device that must be certified and manufactured for use in volatile environments are varied. There are two main regulatory bodies and certification:

ATEX (Atmosphere Explosive)

IECEx (International Electrotechnical Commission Explosive)

Both have complex zone requirements driving intrinsically safe circuit design standards across the globe.While there are a number of suppliers offering tablet PCs, smart phones, handheld computing devices or cases reported to be intrinsically safe, there are vast needs for mobile handheld intrinsically safe devices for specialized use cases in highly specific environments such as complex measurement and scanning devices.

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Why a Rugged Tablet Must Have An IP67 Rating

For a rugged tablet, it is important for the device to have IP67 rating. For business-critical operations, the best rule of thumb is to always err on the side of caution and choose a rugged tablet with at least an IP67 rating.

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How Custom Tablets Will Drive Industry 4.0 and IIoT

The convergence of automation, big data, data exchange, next generation human machine interfaces (HMI) and a host of other technologies like augmented reality (AR) and digital twins are just a few technology forces propelling Industry 4.0 and the industrial internet of things (IIoT). But companies need a means of putting agile, powerful, and mobile control of those converged forces into the hands of operations managers, which is where custom tablets come in.

In the new IIoT world, networks of sensor-equipped smart devices and machines can collect data for analysis and interpretation to reduce costs and waste while increasing efficiency and quality output. But without analytics, these sensors cannot provide the data to improve uptime and efficiency while lowering scrap and waste.

This is where Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) comes into play as a means of visualizing, sharing, and acting upon sensor data via OEE software. Customized tablets that are purpose-built for these environments are the conduit for visualizing, sharing, and most importantly making OEE data actionable while in the field. While basic internet connectivity to data center servers and desktop visualization are important for overall system performance management, the ability to access and utilize this data on-site in real time is crucial to both diagnosis, repair, and maintenance. Customized tablets capable of direct interface with specialized equipment are most effective. When choosing an industrial custom tablet manufacturer, companies are seeking partners that understand today’s and tomorrow’s industry 4.0 and IIoT needs.

For example, industrial AR platforms designed for manufacturing environments also enable industrial employees to visualize a data set via customized tablets. The combination of AR and custom tablets are increasingly driving machine repairs. AR schematics and graphical user representation of parts and repair process can be overlaid on an existing machine or part to guide the user with process images. This enables service technicians to affect repairs of complex systems.

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Why a Rugged Tablet Must Have An IP67 Rating

Today, the rugged tablet is commonly used across sectors like manufacturing, oil and gas, healthcare, defense, energy/utilities and more. One key performance parameter in these environments is ingress protection (IP) rating – resistance to ingress of dust and water into the device. For business-critical operations, the best rule of thumb is to always err on the side of caution and choose a rugged tablet with at least an IP67 rating. Most companies will ask why this is the case, and the answer lies in an understanding of the IP rating system and what protection an IP67 rated device will bring.

Although we’ve discussed the importance of IP67 or IP68 rating for a rugged tablet, many businesses miss the importance of having a device that is purpose built and tested for this rating. Although many manufacturers of add-on protective outer cases say that their products will protect the average consumer-grade OEM Android tablet in the same way, that is only potentially true under narrowly defined parameters and may require user cooperation.

Revisiting the Practicality of IP Ratings

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is the organization that sets the international standards and assessment for electrotechnology fields. The IEC ingress protection (IP) rating, governed by standard IEC 60529, is made up of the first digit which indicates its resistance to solids like dust, and a second digit that indicates its resistance to water. The higher the ratings numbers earned by a device the greater the ingress protection. A summary of the ingress protection ratings is located here.

In the IP rating, the solid ingress rating indicates the maximum diameter of solid particles that can enter the device. For example, a solid ingress rating of 4 indicates a maximum entry diameter of 1 mm – protection from large objects but no protection from dust and dirt particles that can enter the device at connection and seal points around screens and other areas. A rating of 6, the maximum, indicates complete protection against “harmful” dust or dirt seeping into the unit after being in direct contact with the matter for eight hours or more, under vacuum. Field service, manufacturing, and industrial environments will all naturally have a high degree of dust and dirt, so the high rating of 6 in the IP67 rating is a must have.

The water ingress rating is highly variable. Lower numbers (1 to 3) indicate protection against dripping or spraying from certain directions. Level 4 indicates protection from splashes from any direction. A rating of 4 might seem adequate in many circumstances. However, high powered directional sprays or immersion of the device within a liquid, even if unlikely, will be destructive to electronics. Therefore higher liquid ingress ratings (such as 5, 6, or 7) are critical for reliable tablet operation in deployed or mission critical circumstances. A rating of 7 is earned by a device capable of being submerged under water for 30 minutes at a depth of 1 m without adverse operational effects. It may seem like the higher rating of 7 would be unnecessary for anyone not working around large amounts of water on a regular basis, but that is the wrong way to look at it.