There’s no denying it, the third rock from the sun where we call home is a diverse place, and humans have evolved expertly to survive the harshest environments that our planet can throw at us!
From freezing cold arctic landscapes, to hot and barren deserts, through sheer determination humans have thrived, but unlike humans, electronics do not have the ability to evolve to meet the demands of their environments. Designers and systems integrators must plan to ensure the survival and functionality of electronic systems, this includes touchscreen enabled human-machine interfaces, in all their forms.
With the proliferation of touch enabled devices in our lives, such as smart phones and tablets, all of us now expect, and demand touch technology to be available to us, regardless of our geographical location.
The technologies behind Zytronic’s single touch and multi-touch sensors are ideally suited to withstand harsh clim
ates and over the last two decades have been proven all over the world in the most demanding environments, excelling where other types of touchscreen would falter and fail.
For example, temperatures in Saudi Arabia can reach an eye-watering 53°C (128°F), and when system integrator Lastinski, were looking for a reliable touch technology to integrate into outdoor mobile phone charging stations on the pilgrim route, they turned to Zytronic’s durable Zybrid® touch sensor for the solution.
Mitja Veber, Managing Director of Lastinski, said, “these are the first outdoor charging stations to be built alongside this busy pilgrimage route. A reliable touch screen is central to delivering a good experience to the users of the stations. Zytronic touch sensors are very rugged, and have proved fully able to withstand the tough conditions”
At the opposite end of the thermometer, the frigid, conditions of a Moscow winter also prove a challenge for electronics deployed outside, such as transp
ortation ticketing kiosks deployed on the streets.
Zytronic’s touch sensors were chosen by Russian systems integrator Progressive Self-Service Systems, to create the customer interface for a system which was designed to work reliably all year round, and capable of detect the touch of a passenger even wearing heavy winter gloves. Requiring 24-7 operation in indoor and unattended outdoor locations, in temperatures ranging from -30 to +40°C, many other touch technologies just wouldn’t be up to the challenge.
Touch sensors can even be found in the middle of oceans! Zytronic’s massively durable PCT® technology was chosen by mission critical control specialist SmartEx, for their rugged control panels, used on offshore oil and gas rigs.
At well over 20mm thick, the Zytronic Zytouch® sensors provide the intrinsically safe touchscreen interface between an engineer and computer, and are unaffected by exposure to corrosive salt water and oil, as well as being able to recognise touches of users wearing heavy work gloves.
From London to Lisbon, Tokyo to Taipei, and almost everywhere in-between, Zytronic sensors have travelled from their manufacture near Newcastle Upon Tyne, to some of the busiest, and most demanding locations on the planet. Durable and reliable, the touch technology can stand (almost) anything the world can throw at it.
For more information about where in the world our touch technology has been utilised, please see our range of case studies.
