Considering the estimate that 60% of laptop repairs and damage comes from liquid spills, a waterproof computer sounds like a good idea for everyone.
Industries with harsh environments, even more so. Between heating, enclosures, connections, and fans, there’s a lot that can go wrong for computers in industrial environments. Edge devices are finding their way into harsh outdoor environments as well.
What can we do about this problem? Waterproof computers with high ingress protection ratings are the answer.
Keep reading to see why you need one and what their features and uses are.
Why Do You Need a Waterproof Computer?
AÂ waterproof computer PCÂ system is essential in today’s industries. If you’re in any industry with splash zones or corrosive chemicals and vapors, you know that the lifespan of an off-the-shelf solution is quite low.
Edge devices are becoming more common and an essential part of almost every process industry. These devices are becoming smaller and more rugged, but they also need hardware nearby to connect to.
Cities, manufacturing plants, medical systems, and more get smarter every day using edge devices and machine learning. These networks need powerful computational devices to track thousands of sensors and send data securely to central servers.
They also need to be rugged enough to take high and low temperatures and even extended immersion in watery depths.
Ruggedized industrial panel displays and ruggedized embedded computers with high ingress protection ratings are the solutions to this problem.
What Are Ingress Protection Ratings?
To understand waterproof computers, we need to understand the rating system their designs rely on. The ingress protection code or international protection code is something that almost every mobile device now shows in manuals or marketing.
A common code for many smartphones that advertize their rating is IP67. IP is a simple designation for what code is being used, but the numbers tell an important story.
The first digit tells us the dust ingress rating, or how easy it is for dust to penetrate into the device. The second digit is the water ingress rating.
For dust, the scale ranges from zero to six, or no protection to being “dust-tight.” This usually means that a vacuum has to be applied to the device to prevent any airflow.
For water, the scale goes from zero to nine and two special ratings, 6K and 9K. The K indicates that not only is water sealed off in normal depth pressure, but also under waterjet or high-temperature, high-pressure washdown applications.
These are common environments for industrial applications.
Features of a Waterproof Computer
Many modern waterproof computers are also ruggedized for use in factory automation, military and defense, digital surveillance, food and beverage applications among others. The overall design may be similar, but customizations may be needed.
Many of these designs feature VGA, USB 3.0, and M12 connections which are common in outdoor and industrial applications. The M12 connector is especially good for bandwidth needs of up to 10 Gbps.
It also helps to extend the equipment’s lifetime in harsh environments. In fact, M8/M12 connectors are designed for this purpose in mind.
Waterproof computers come with at least an IP65 rating, for water jets. IP67 is optional to withstand immersion for at least 30 minutes.
They’re passively cooled by a ventless metal shell, without fans. This makes them durable and able to operate in various extreme climates. It also aids in power protection features like over-voltage and over-current protection.
You Need a Waterproof PC
AÂ fully-featured waterproof computer is the next big thing to launch your company into the future of IoT and edge device networks.
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