The Changing Mobile Computing Needs of Field Workers During COVID-19

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security in coordination with Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an extensive list of what they considered “essential workers” during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s no surprise many of those workers are field workers where rugged tablets are a necessity for during their job under normal circumstances. From healthcare and public safety to utility, delivery, and service workers, the list of essential workers includes:

• Law enforcement, public safety, and first responders
• Food and agriculture workers (processing, delivery, and transport)
• Energy, petroleum, natural and propane gas workers
• Water and wastewater public works
• Transportation and logistics
• Defense industrial base workers

Frontline workers currently make up most workers in the United States, accounting for 57 percent of the total U.S. worker population. However, in 2020, only 49 percent of frontline workers have mobile devices, compared with 55 percent of information workers. That’s according to a mobile workers forecast from IDC.

Countless organizations with significant field support staff do not provide personal rugged tablets to each worker that are only used by them. That means multiple people over the course of a week or month may handle an issued work-related mobile device. Many organizations use the protocols put in place by healthcare to deal with keeping the workers safe and the devices disinfected daily. This includes protocols such as:

• Disinfecting with specific cleaning agents and processes after each use before storage
  (70 percent isopropyl alcohol wipe made for these devices and their screens)
• Storage in sealable clear plastic bags between uses
• Use of disposable gloves for workers handling the same device.

While this provides a measure of safety in eliminating transmission of surface-borne viruses including coronavirus, the device’s capabilities become equally critical in the COVID-19 era. Besides the health safety aspects, companies issuing mobile devices to their field workers have to deal with the data and device safety through comprehensive mobile device management.

While familiar consumer-grade mobile devices will work for a while, there are definite limitations of placing these devices within rugged cases. In particular, an add-on case may degrade over time and lose its ability to protect its enclosed device. This includes decreased ability to protect against impact and contaminants such as water which can destroy the electronics it penetrates the device case. Connections to external peripherals, typically via a USB port, our largely unconstrained, can vibrate lose over time, and can damage the connector due force applied through the mating cable. Overlayed screen protectors typically provide less impact protection than a rugged display built into a device designed for ruggedness.

View Original Source: https://www.inhand.com/the-changing-mobile-computing-needs-of-field-workers-during-covid-19/

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.

View original source: https://www.inhand.com/use-of-industrial-android-tablet-in-the-construction-industry/

A Commercial Tablet Just Won’t Cut It for Your Medical Application

It is tempting to want to purchase inexpensive, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) tablets for use in medical facilities or to interface with medical equipment. Unfortunately, there are several technical, regulatory and security issues that could prevent you from doing that. Technical issues, FDA, and HIPAA security rules are just three potential pot holes for COTS tablets. Custom Android tablets for medical applications can be the answer and Modified-COTS custom tablets can get you to market quickly and with lower costs.

Medical Grade Tablet – Technical Issue

There are many unique devices in hospitals and doctor’s offices that a tablet could communicate with to facilitate the logging, processing, and management of data. Tablets are perfect for visualizing data, processing results and for sharing that data with patients or other medical personnel. Finding an off-the-shelf tablet that can seamlessly interface with various pieces of equipment may be impossible. Off-the-shelf tablets have other potential issues such as being too fragile for this environment, short product life-cycle, limited battery run-time, poor display readability in strong lighting or outdoor applications, as well as many others. Finally, the IT manager will want to control the tablet’s software to prevent unwarranted use or access. Access to the operating system may not be possible without voiding the warranty on a COTS tablet and some of the security requirements imposed on medical grade tablet may require just that.

FDA Certifications

If the tablet is going to be used in an application that requires FDA approval of the device, using a COTS tablet would become prohibitively costly. COTS tablet companies constantly change components, software and model numbers. Each change could require a recertification with FDA – a process that takes quite a long time and money. The FDA’s multi-step process for approval of Class I, II and III medical devices starts at product design and requires documentation throughout the development process. For Class II and III devices, strict manufacturing practices need to be followed and the device must be manufactured under the strict medical ISO 13485 in an approved manufacturing plant. COTS tablets are typically not built under this standard and the manufacturers do not provide the appropriate documentation and tracking necessary to meet FDA approval.

HIPAA Issues

HIPAA Title II establishes the policies and procedures for maintaining privacy and security of individually identifiable health information. Medical personnel can us a tablet to collect and display data, lab and test results, and personal information on an individual patient. In order to conform to HIPAA the tablet would need to be designed to meet the Security Rule to protect such data.

View original-source: https://www.inhand.com/commercial-tablet-just-wont-cut-medical-application/

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.

Source: https://www.inhand.com/industrial-android-tablet-uses-in-the-construction-industry/

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.

The Business Case for an IP67 Rated Rugged Tablet

First it’s important to understand that consumer devices typically have a rating of IP42 or lower. A consumer grade tablet with a case may offer additional protection from dust and resistance to other solids as well as fluids, but the protection is nominal. This is in stark contrast to a rugged tablet that is built from the component level up with protection for internal components such as sealed connectors, membranes protecting speakers and microphones, gaskets for packaging, and more.

View source: https://www.inhand.com/why-a-rugged-tablet-must-have-an-ip67-rating/

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.

View source: https://www.inhand.com/how-custom-tablets-will-drive-industry-4-0-and-iiot/

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. 

To read more, visit original source: https://www.inhand.com/intrinsically-safe-circuit-design-device-needs-across-industries/