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Durable, Shockproof Computing?
trefoil asks: "My friend's father is a farmer who has to tend to his huge wheat fields for most of the day. He is looking for an option to have a full computer system on his tractor, however it bumps and jostles around a lot. He was curious as to what type of options besides pda's does he have, for something that can 'take a beating and keep on ticking'. Specifically what we're looking for is something shockproof, hopefully not to expensive, the less "moving parts" the better. Any ideas out there?" If such a solution does not exist that's exact to the one described here, how close can today's market get to a sturdy computing solution that could handle life on the road...or farm?
I spoke to a long haul truker about a week ago, who in additions to some of his friends, take their computers along with them in their semis. Suprizingly enough they leave them on all the time too(!) A few useful tips I picked up were:
-Use the older NEC monitors over other brands, supposedly they are a little more forviging and wont degaus every few seconds like others
-Quantium drives are better about seeking and reading when the drive is moving about, normaly I dont recommend quantium, but from this guys personal experinces with drives going out once a month I would
On a side note, I might also recommend laptop harddrives in your PC, over in our electronics department we have some laptop->IDE converters, if anyone is interested I can track down where they came from.
-mikey
symetrix. We are building a religion, a limited edition.
The police use mounting brackets to protect their laptops against jostling about.
In my city, they use NEC Versa notebooks with the state wireless network to exchange information with HQ. They don't get damaged too much, although I would definately pick up the extended warranty program from the vendor (NOT a computer store)
The trick is to protect that screen. If the laptop doesn't physically fall, everything should be ok, at least for a year or two.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
Maybe a CE-based PDA mounted to the dashboard.
The small touchscreen would be handy and the device is solid-state so shouldn't be affected too badly by all the wobblin' around.
Definitely, he has to get a Panasonic Toughbook.
It's the most rugged laptop I've ever heard of (forget those titanium cased G4s, or anything else). When they came out with it, the demo unit was running under a constant stream of water pouring on the keyboard and the display. And by running I mean turned on, booted into Windows and running some demo software.
It's rated to widthstand a drop of about 3 ft on a hard floor. I don't know if it's operating drop or turned off, but it's still pretty impressive. It has a magnezium case, and the nice touch is the built-in handle. Also, all the components are encased into a special gel, that allows it to be dropped from the aforementioned height.
I don't know in the US, but here in Toronto (Canada) the Police cruisers are all equipped with Toughbooks.
So those are the advantages. The drawback is that because their construction they can't really be upgraded. Then again, I'm not sure what kind of performance one needs while driving farm equipment. But I'm guessing Quake3 or RTCF are not among the requirements.
Citadel Computers or
Glacier Computers
These systems are designed to be used in industrial applications, including fork lift mounted. They can be ordered with a flash disk of up to a gig, waterproof, freezer proof, et al. My company has been using them for years. They will live up to just about anything. They are not, however, cheap.
Liberty is an inherently offensive lifestyle. Living in a free society guarantees that each one of us will see our most
1) Use a LCD screen instead of a CRT ;) ) unless you want to spend a LOT on storage. Laptop drives are generally rated to work in a bumpy car/truck ride, so they may work. Desktop drives just aren't up for it. CompactFlash will work until you drop the thing hard enough to break it.3) Try to get an AGP card that has a retention mechanism.4) Make sure that everything's properly screwed in.
2) Prefer either laptop drives (decent) or CompactFlash. CompactFlash will require you to run Linux (is that a bad thing?
5) Filter your airflow, so you don't need to wory about too much dust clogging your fans.
Gentoo Sucks
In any event, since this is Slashdot, I'd recommend a Linux based beowulf cluster in custom wooden cases with a long T-1 cable trailing behind. Don't forget to weld a nice chair to the tractor too! Maybe a nice desk would be useful too. Heck, I'd just park the tractor and make a fortune by answering Make Money Fast emails!
I don't see why you couldn't just pick up an old laptop.
1. You have 12v/6v, so you can run an inverter. No more battery life prob.
2. If you're wanting a damn PC, it's probably a closed cabin or plastic sleeved or similar. It'll be fine, aside from mebbe squeezing some silicone around the inside of the case where it meets the screen (thin, and let it dry first!) and around the case seams. Or a nice thick bit of poly over the keys.
3. Vibration.. Hmmm.. I've had laptop drives stand months and months in car trunks running. I've seen standard Toshiba laptop makes used for data collection on mining equipment. You'll be fine.
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Are you looking to buy this system or build it from parts? If you're looking to buy, you might want to check out Dolch.
The best bet is something all solid-state, without a fragile hard drive. I don't know much about the different options there, but I can give you a list of some of the popular models that are essentially ruggedized laptops (though some are tablet form, you can attach keyboards). Panasonic Toughbook, Hammerhead, Itron, Psion, Microslate, Itronix.
He's probably got a computer back at the farm house or main building or whatever, so as long as the tractor is going to be used only on that farm wouldn't he be better off with something wireless with a screen and keyboard, but leave the hard drive back home? He certainly doesn't need to have the computer with all the farm's records on it out on a tractor with all the attendant risks, he just needs to be able to connect to that computer from the tractor. Unless the tractor computer is going to be used for the latest FPS's and such also :-)
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
This might be a good place for a thin client (you might even try a defunct web appliance). Get a LCD screen, a fanless thin client and some wireless networking equipment.
You could mount a nice omni antenna on top the tractor and run from the server nice and safe in the office. No dust problems(except wiping the screen). Backup is not an issue.
âoeWho knew something as harmless as willful ignorance could end up having real consequences?â
the first question is always what is the goal?
the next is can the farmer controll the equipment while playing with the compute? this of course depends on the task, Quake is going to be a lot more difficult than if the comtpuer is connected to data collection to get your current yields.
Most farmers work land close to their house and up to several miles away. What is his case? If all the land is around his house than 802.11(x) with good antennas will reach the tractor. If the latter, than get the neightbors involved if you want networking. In these days I don't think it pays to have a computer without networking.
I used to work for a company that sold them, and I must say that they live up to there name. Some of them have built in wireless networking available. Get yourself a nice mount and your in business (or farming as the case may be). If you need a good resource for it drop me a line and I can put you in touch....
Is what will the computer be used for?
Think about it - are you sure it is really necessary to have a computer on the tractor? I am certain it can be done, but is there really anything done while in the tractor that couldn't wait until the end of the day?
What I am thinking about is a hands free system - something like a compact flash based MP3 voice recorder with a directional mike headset. Speak what you see, or what you need to do later, then at the end of the day, transfer the notes to the main computer. Such a system would be cheap, durable, and reliable, and wouldn't take your focus off the task at hand (which should be driving the tractor, unless you have one of those fancy GPS/automated tractors - which if you did, why are you asking about such a thing here?).
Not everything needs to be solved with a computer right in front of you, especially when you consider the needs and issues at hand...
Reason is the Path to God - Anon