Re: Industrial PC (Sealed) -- Linux

[Tim McDonough <tim@mcdonough.net>]

There are lots of companies like Winsystems 
<http://www.winsystems.com/index.html> that offer flash drive based 
single board computers in a variety of industrial form factors like 
PC-104, STD bus, etc.

For a factory situation you would probably want to mount them in a 
minimum of a NEMA 12 (dust and spray proof) enclosure or a NEMA 4X 
(pressure washable) enclosure. Make sure you use good spray proof, 
dust tight fittings for every single cable that goes in and out of the 
box and you buy boards rated for your temperature range.

Industrial grade computers are expensive because a) they make far less 
of them than consumer type PCs, and b) the electronics, enclosures, 
and mounting designed to survive in the factory environment are just 
more costly to produce, especially in smaller numbers.

I would NOT put a WRT54G in an industrial setting. Any vibration would 
kill one quickly. I doubt they respond well to electrical transients 
from large motors, contactors, or solenoids switching nearby. I know 
for a fact that they aren't too reliable in an uncooled attic during a 
typical Midwest summer.

Tim


ricky@learnautomation.com wrote:

> I'm looking at this little box as a possible solution for DNS, but the
> price is simply forbidding:
> 
> http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS3447460380.html
> 
> At $1700 a whack that's a little high...  Then you must times that by two
> because if one goes down, a secondary better be waiting!  The multiply
> that times the number of machines on the plant floor, and you will end up
> with an astronomical price.
> 
> Does anyone know of an industrial solution similar to this that can simply
> serve as a DNS and email server?  (When something goes wrong, ethernet/ip
> devices can send an email to a cell phone -- This means maintenance can be
> at the machine before the operator even knows there is a problem in some
> cases)


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