Kontron Further Expands Hazardous-Classified Product Line with Versatile Class 1 Zone 2 Certified HMI Products
HOUSTON, April 30 / - Today during the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Texas, Kontron announced that it is further expanding its family of hazardous-classified displays and Human Machine Interface products with the industry's lightest, most powerful and versatile line of products that meet the operational needs and strict safety standards of harsh environments in the oil and gas industry. Named the "Kontron Barracuda," the fully-rugged product family is Class 1 Zone 2 certified and designed for maximum protection in hazardous-classified location environments from drilling and pipeline monitoring to chemical processing.
The Kontron Barracuda family, which include workstation and display configurations, were designed to meet the tough safety and environmental standards needed by the world's leading oil and gas service companies. The new product line continues the company's leadership legacy for offshore and land-based oil and gas operations.
Offering a truly mobile and cost-effective HMI solution, the Kontron Barracuda family was designed using Kontron's proven embedded computing and mobile rugged technology. It features a corrosion-proof NEMA4 and IP65 high-strength, aluminum enclosure to provide the highest system reliability. By incorporating Kontron's exclusive high-bright touch-screen technology, the Kontron Barracuda's touch-screen display is suitable for outdoor use under direct sunlight. The high-bright technology also results in improved image quality by means of optimized transmission of display graphics. The addition of front panel on/off switch allows the back-light to be turned off and the touch-screen disabled while cleaning the unit without turning off the complete system.
"Kontron is committed to taking a leadership position by exceeding the extreme environmental computing needs of the oil and gas service industry, including streamlining operational needs while maintaining the highest safety standards," said Dale Szymborski, general manager of Kontron's Mobile Rugged Computing Division. "Our customers have lauded the Kontron Barracuda for its ability to replace a number of pre-existing products from different suppliers with a single Barracuda unit."
The Kontron Barracuda was designed to safely perform in both rig floor and doghouse applications. Able to withstand operational temperatures of 0 to 50 degree Celsius and offering a -40C option for use low temperature extremes, the fully-sealed unit is withstands corrosive liquids, high shock and vibration. The Kontron Barracuda offers unsurpassed durability, reliability and safety, providing oil and gas industry companies with maximum uptime and is rugged enough to withstand long-term use.
The Kontron Barracuda solves the industry's need for displays that are both rugged and mobile enough to operate in extreme conditions. Workstations and displays used in oil and gas industry applications need to be small, light weight and flexible enough to mount in a variety of ways. Customers have the versatility to configure and mount an array of displays close together providing access to multiple sources of information at one time. The solution's small footprint and VESA hole pattern allows for easy mounting in space-constrained work areas, making it equally suitable for use in automation environments where a standalone system must be mountable to various surfaces, from a standard pedestal to a boom, pole or custom panel mounting.
The Kontron Barracuda offers a full military-hardened, Mil-Std 810F and Protection Classification IP65-compliant, daylight-readable, touch-screen display, with standard water- and dust-tight circular military-rated connectors - allowing for harsh environment connectivity. The Kontron Barracuda WS' removable storage media supports standard 2.5-inch EIDE HDD and various Compact Flash cards. The optional high power wireless LAN with detachable antenna makes the network connection reliable and easy. The Kontron Barracuda also supports optional UPS feature which allows the product to continue operational without the main power for at least 30 minutes.
Kontron Barracuda demonstrations will be featured in booth 5205 at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Texas from April 30 through May 3, 2007. The Kontron Barracuda is offered in two configurations, depending on industry and specific application requirements. The workstation model (Kontron Barracuda WS) is available now with a touch-screen stand-alone display model (Kontron Barracuda DS) available in the third quarter of 2007.
About Kontron
Kontron designs and manufactures standard-based and custom embedded and mobile rugged solutions for OEMs, systems integrators, and application providers in a variety of markets. Kontron engineering and manufacturing facilities, located throughout Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific, work together with streamlined global sales and support services to help customers reduce their time-to-market and gain a competitive advantage. Kontron's diverse product portfolio includes: Computer-on-Modules, SBCs/blades, open-modular platforms and systems, HMIs, mobile rugged workstations, and custom capabilities. Kontron is a Premier member of the Intel(R) Communications Alliance and was awarded 2006 Intel Member of the Year. The company is a recent three-time VDC Platinum vendor for Embedded Computer Boards. Kontron is listed on the German TecDAX stock exchange under the symbol "KBC". For more information, please visit: http://www.kontron.com/.
Digital Text and Images: http://kontron.com/news
Source: Kontron
CONTACT:Richard Pugnier, Manager of Marketing Communications,
+1-858-623-3006, richard.pugnier@us.kontron.com; or Product and
+Technical,
Dale Szymborski, General Manager of Kontron Mobile Rugged Division,
+1-510-661-2220, dale.szymborski@us.kontron.com, both of Kontron America
Web site: http://www.kontron.com/
