Whether it’s a well-established staple or a recent inclusion, the industrial computer portfolio comprises only robust and innovative handhelds, panel PCs, rugged laptops, and industrial PCs.
Munich, March 21, 2024 – At the Embedded World trade fair from April 9 to 11 in Nuremberg, value-added distributor Concept International will be offering guidance in the hardware jungle of industrial computers at stand 3-544. The broad portfolio for control, monitoring and maintenance in industry will provide an overview of countless application scenarios. The company will showcase its umbrella brand, the Future product family, featuring handhelds/tablets (FuturePAD), panel PCs (FuturePPC), and dedicated industrial PCs (FutureIPC). Alongside these offerings, visitors can explore ready-to-install mainboards and industrial PCs from Giada. Additionally, rugged handhelds, tablets, and laptops from DT Research will be prominently displayed.
The demand for IP and MIL-certified, robust and, above all, custom-fit computers for control, maintenance and monitoring in industry is increasing. Control cabinet construction, for example, requires more than just supply solutions with 08/15 components; configurations, sizes and form factors that are precisely tailored to the application requirements are needed. “As a value-added distributor, it is our job to supply the technology that exactly meets the high requirements in automation, system control and monitoring,” says Marco Lippert, Business Development Manager of the Industry division at Concept International, “or to make the appropriate adjustments. What doesn’t fit is made to fit.”
The market for robust handhelds and tablets, panel PCs, rugged laptops and IPCs for the sometimes extreme temperature, humidity or technical requirements in industry is large. With its experience and broad selection, Concept International offers a “best-of-breed” approach and promises an overview and orientation – also live at Embedded World.
Industrial PCs: specialists for continuous use
Industrial PCs should above all run, run, run, even in dusty, damp, cold and hot conditions. Simple remote maintenance, a suitable installation form and many well-placed connections for patching and cabling are important. An increased input voltage range and serial ports for sensors are essential for many industrial applications. An existing DC power supply for all control cabinet devices reduces costs, maintenance effort, fire risk and sources of error. Also important: as many form factors as possible, from booksize to top-hat rail PCs. The entire range of possible processors, RAM and fixed memory for a wide variety of requirements and environments are supplied as required.
Giada
Giada is a manufacturer that offers PCs for the most important requirements of industrial control and monitoring in a wide range of equipment variants and form factors. Thanks to the extended voltage range of 12 to 24 V, the IPCs can also be integrated into particularly sensitive environments, for example in logistics or robotics. Without a fan, the computers are particularly robust, low-maintenance and insensitive to dust and moisture. They can cope with temperatures from -20 to +60 degrees. There are also particularly powerful versions with a fan. Giada offers its IPCs as pure, interface-rich mainboards as for example for integration into devices or machines where a housing is unnecessary or there is simply not enough space for it.
FutureIPC
FutureIPC is designed even more for particularly tough industrial use. The input voltage range of 9 to 36 V is significantly more fluctuation-tolerant, as is the temperature range of -30 to +70 degrees. Fanless and with a robust aluminum housing, these IPCs are designed for control cabinets, harsh industrial environments and outdoor use. They also have many interfaces, including up to three Ethernet, eight USB and four COM ports. The heart beats with 12th generation Intel Core i processors (in the i3, i5 and i7 variants) and Windows 10/11 or Linux Ubuntu as standard.
FutureIPC is available as a DIN rail version as well as fully encapsulated and IP69K-certified. This is important for particularly damp and dusty areas of application, such as agricultural irrigation. Installed, mounted on a swivel arm or free-standing, even cleaning with a steam jet is no problem.
FutureRASPI 4
FutureRASPI 4, an in-house development by Concept International, is a simple, credit card-sized Linux or Android computer. It is tuned to industrial standards for simple control tasks based on a Rasperry Pi. Also on show at Embedded World.
Panel PCs: Permanently installed
Panel PCs for industry from FuturePPC are extremely robust PCs with touch displays that can be installed on Android (K series) or Windows (I series). They can be used as an HMI (human-machine interface) or for system control. Around 13 different form factors from 7 to 50 inches ensure maximum compatibility. That is for example for control cabinet construction when existing systems need to be seamlessly updated or failed devices need to be replaced without having to modify the existing environment.
Individualization and modular fulfillment of wishes from a quantity of one for every conceivable requirement from the industry is indispensable and is part of the DNA of every panel PC from Concept. That includes RAM and hard drives as required, LTE, WLAN, Bluetooth, monitor brightness up to 500 candela, screen formats from 4:3, 5:4 and 16:9 to the classic design of user interfaces in 16:10. COM-Port connections for controlling devices are also available, as well as 2x LAN for access to the network and parallel control of another, e.g. sensor network.
The voltage peak-tolerant supply of 9 to 36 volts is important for control cabinet construction or system manufacturers, which saves an additional power supply unit. The fanless Panel PC works in low-maintenance 24/7 operation with any desired Intel CPU up to the 13th generation.
With a capacitive touchscreen, the computers can even be operated with nitrile gloves in damp, dripping or wet conditions, for example in the food industry. With the optional resistive, i.e. pressure-sensitive, display, it is also possible to work in frost and ice in cold storage with thick gloves.
Rugged laptops: more than just a screen and keyboard
When it comes to IP-certified laptops, Concept relies entirely on DT Research. Why? “Best equipment, best accessories, tough – you don’t have to say much more,” says Marco Lippert. The range extends from the 10.1-inch device with IP 65 protection against dust and moisture with optional night vision mode in accordance with military standard 810G /HERO and 3009, to the high-performance workstation with 15.6 inches, 13th generation Intel Core processors with up to 14 cores and AI support for extremely demanding tasks such as fast image analysis.
Mobile: handhelds and tablets
Handhelds and tablets are mainly used in logistics, but also for mobile control and monitoring. A high level of connectivity, the operating system and good equipment are crucial to ensure that numerous, changing tasks can be completed quickly and reliably: Scanners for barcodes or tags, UHF RFID, chip card readers, cameras, also geo-referenced, for authentication or documentation, optional keyboards, hot-swap batteries as well as ergonomic accessories such as holders or pistol grips with triggers and much more.
Concept will be showing android and windows-based rugged handhelds and tablets from 6″ to 14″ for harsh environments, for example from FuturePAD or DT Research. Certified to protection class IP65 or IP67, in some cases also to military standard. The mobile companions are temperature-stable from -10 to 60 degrees, drop-proof and resistant to vibrations, moisture, water and dust. The hardware enables fast, mobile working – even when wearing gloves and in poor lighting conditions.
Service from Concept
There is an optional 5-year warranty on all devices. With the Total Preparation Service, the Munich-based distributor supports the roll-out of projects on request and offers project-specific configurations as well as an endurance test of the PCs. The stock in Germany ensures a quick replacement if required and the customer does not have to worry about anything else. Concept International will soon be introducing a nationwide on-site service. The Concept experts will also be available to answer questions at Embedded World.