Learn about connected industrial devices
Why connected devices are key enablers for Industry 4.0?
To efficiently transfer data, share images and videos and speak clearly and wirelessly people and machines must connect over a device equipped with one or several SIM cards. These devices, or customer premise equipment (CPE), enable data transfer to and from the private network without costly and inflexible cabling.
Through data traffic and person-to-person connectivity you can increase worker safety and achieve your sustainability, digitalization, automatization, and customer satisfaction goals.
Working in an industrial environment such as manufacturing plants, ports and mines, or in the field as part of a public safety team, conditions, including the weather, can be harsh and even hazardous. The devices you use must be designed and purpose-built to withstand these conditions. They cannot be sensitive to vibrations, moisture, heat, cold, dust or other extremes.
Therefore, it is essential to select ruggedized devices with high IP ratings, and if the environment is hazardous with a potentially flammable atmosphere that could be at risk of explosions, the device must have undergone stringent tests and achieved certification, such as IECEx, ATEX or other, to show that it is safe to use in such environments.
What are the benefits of connected industrial devices?
Large machines can accommodate a bigger device, like a fieldrouter, to enable connectivity. By connecting equipment such as straddle carriers at ports, haulers and diggers at mines or other giant vehicles and machines, you can leverage advanced features such as edge computing and the capability to handle industrial protocols. You can also benefit from both private wireless connectivity as well as Wi-Fi.
For smaller machines, like automated guided vehicles (AGVs), autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and other robots you often need a smaller form factor. Despite its compact size, a dongle offers reliable connectivity, albeit without the full set of features enabled by a fieldrouter.
Your human workforce can benefit from leveraging different sizes of screens to access data, using handheld mobile/smartphone devices, tablets and personal computers. You can connect your handheld devices and most tablets using physical SIM-cards or eSIMS.
Using a SIM dedicated to the private wireless network you can connect your ruggedized devices to transfer data images, video and voice between machines and people.
