More about rugged unit...

Last post I talked about an HMI built for rugged environments.
I have posted the datasheet on my website. Download me.
Yes this is the same popular 7" wide screen HMI.
But No, it is not the same. Check this out...
Aluminum Housing, not just an aluminum bezel, the whole case is aluminum front and back!
Increased temperature range. I know the datasheet says -10 to 55 DegC but the skinny is that it will run from -20 to 70 Deg C. How cool (hot) is that!
Plus all of the great features that made the 8070H such a hot product.

I received one of these units and it looks spectacular. My HMI mouth was drooling over this one.
Check out the new overlay. Yup, it has the manufacturer's name on it. A known maker of high quality interfaces.

Gotta get it!

Rugged Unit Requirements

I don't know how everyone feels about the plastic cases on the HMI products. Admittedly, the plastic is a heavy enough gauge that it holds up well. Distortion during mounting can be a problem when the mounting clips are really torqued down. But this only an issue when the mounting surface is not flat. The greater problem can be found when the cutout is too small and the HMI is "jammed" into the opening. Clearly the aforementioned scenarios are abusive. But, they often occur when mounting devices into panels, dashboards and the like.

How about plastics ability to withstand shock (read something hard hits the bezel or face)? Plastic's ability to withstand "hammering" without cracking is not one of its strong features.

This brings us to the question about a "ruggedized" unit for applications where abuse can be expected. Well, this is under development. As I get more details I will let you know. So far I know it has an aluminum case.

NOTICE! The MMI8056 will be discontinued 01JAN2012. This should give you plenty of time to change projects to one of the other models. More info on this as I get it.