Technical Articles & Industry Trends

The Best Industrial PC Setup, according to your Industry Type 

When it comes to jobs in industrial settings, the last thing you want to worry about is equipment failure. In harsh and dynamic environments, you and your team have enough hard work to handle without adding gear repair to the list. But how can your tech withstand the beatings they’ll take in your industry? There may be more than one answer. 

To ensure maximum longevity and ROI on your industrial PC solutions, it’s critical to assess the demands of your specific environment, and shop accordingly. Will the computer be exposed to moisture? Will it be in a dusty environment, or in an extreme temperature? What about transportation — will it be moved around or fixed in place? 

In this article, we’ll highlight a few common applications where our satisfied customers put Teguar’s industrial computers to the test. We’ll explain what setup is ideal for that application and some key factors as to why it works. Your industry may not be specifically mentioned below, but we hope the explanations will provide some insights you can apply to your own needs. 

Marine Environments 

To start with an obvious one: any computer operating on or near a body of water is going to need to handle getting wet. An IP rating of at least 66 is essential, and a full IP69K is recommended for full waterproofing. This rating ensures the device — usually made with a stainless steel enclosure — is tightly sealed for immunity against temporary submersion and even high pressure water jets.  If you’re dealing with salt water or other corrosive liquid, you will need to upgrade to 316L stainless steel. 

Consider your setting and budget when choosing between protected cable glands or the ultra-secure M12 connectors. To minimize external connections (potential points of moisture ingress), you may want an all-in-one unit, which combines PC and display. 

Vehicle Computing 

For tracking routes and deliveries in a truck, organization management on a forklift, and more, smart computing in vehicles has become the standard for consumer and commercial use alike. To hold up to the vibrations of a moving vehicle, you need a computer solution with a strong shock resistance. The best rugged tablet PCs are MIL-STD-810H rated, which is military-grade resilience to these kinds of vibrations. 

A Hint from Teguar Experts: When shopping for the perfect rugged tablet, consider whether you need a battery and how you will provide power.  Often, the vehicle has built-in DC voltage, so ensuring it is in the acceptable range and can physically connect to your computer is a key detail to consider early on. 

With screen sizes from 6 to 13 inches and custom-fitted vehicle docks, a rugged tablet provides a diverse solution and is our recommendation for vehicles of any kind. 

Building Automation 

Smart building management puts temperature control, automated time-based locks and facility lighting, security systems, and more at the user’s fingertips in one terminal. A panel PC mounted in a wall cutout makes for a clean and inobtrusive solution in office buildings, apartment lobbies, and other shared facilities. 

The embedded panel keeps I/Os safe from interference from the bustle of visitors coming in and out, and a precise touch screen allows the user to operate without any external keyboard, mouse, etc. Lastly, panel PC lines that maintain their enclosure shape over time allow for easy long-term CPU upgrades without needing to alter the wall cutout. 

Consider the depth of your installation location and be sure your panel PC can fit with room for cables. If space is a constraint, consider our TP-4845 Series, with screen sizes as compact as 7 inches; or, look forward to our brand-new Pinnacle Series, which has the highest display-to-cutout ratio in the industry.  

Machine Vision 

For tasks requiring real-time analysis, you need a high-performance CPU. A rugged embedded PC is a perfect solution to fit efficient computing into a tough enclosure. We know space is at a premium in many workspaces, so be sure to understand your size and mounting requirements before you shop for a product. Teguar offers both ultra-compact and larger, expandable embedded PCs that can be mounted in a variety of ways, such as rack, DIN rail, wall mount, and more. Look for the Intel® Core i or Core Ultra line of processors for the highest performance, and Celeron or Atom for a low power draw in simpler use cases. 

An industrial PC with PCIe slots will allow for maximum customizability, or the addition of a strong graphics card. For the most critical operations, consider a PC with dual LAN ports for that added security in network redundancy. 

Oil and Gas 

When shopping an industrial PC for any application in the oil and gas industry, you will need to consider two primary environmental factors: 

1. The temperature range your PC will be exposed to, and 
2. the sunlight the screen will have to overcome. 

Units with wide operating temperature ranges and high brightness options are available from Teguar and are usually essential for this industry.

Once that’s squared away, what type of computer is best? For these oil and drilling applications, consider a Class 1 Division 2 explosion-proof unit that’s certified for safe use in hazardous locations. These are typically all-in-one — PC plus display — to minimize points of failure.

These hazardous location all-in-ones are also a suitable choice for military and aerospace applications — just remember that government purchased units will require TAA compliance. 

Industrial PCs of All Shapes and Sizes 

We hope this has given you some helpful insight into what type of configuration could best suit your needs. You can further explore other industrial applications here. 

Whatever your application is, if you need a computing solution that’s designed to perform and built to last, Teguar has got you covered. We stand out from the competition with our United States-based team, long-term support, and lifecycle guarantees. 

Need a bit more personalized advice on what products could work for you? We want to talk about it. Fill out the form below to get in touch with a specialist right away — you can browse our industrial computers while you wait to hear back. 

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About the Authors:

Madelyn Brannan serves as the Digital Marketing Coordinator at Teguar, which presents an engaging opportunity to learn new things. She strives to help current and future customers by making them aware of the solutions that Teguar can provide. When Madelyn isn't researching things like you've just read about, they like to draw and play tabletop games.