[Embedded System Application] Flight Information Display System

Project

As growing Asian airports of increasing importance, both Shanghai’s Pudong Airport in China and Seoul’s Inchon Airport in Korea recently required reliable, low-maintenance FIDSs. To manage heavy and ever-increasing passenger traffic, the two airports each needed a comprehensive system to assist its passengers by broadcasting information from a constantly updated database to multiple LCDs placed strategically throughout passenger facilities. These systems supply timely information regarding flight arrivals/departures, gate assignments, waiting halls, baggage area assignments, and even destination weather forecasts. Considering Pudong averages almost 29 million passengers per year, and Inchon 31 million, top-notch solutions were deemed mission-critical. Any potential onsite technical problems could cause a series of consequences that might influence the operation of many other airports. Advantech’s ARK-3400/ARK-3420 were selected to meet the challenges in the two airports, respectively.

System

To provide passengers and visitors with instant information, the ARK-3400 & ARK-3420 receive data from the airport’s central FIDS server regarding flight schedules, luggage claim locations, weather reports, and other public-related information. Depending upon location, embedded computers display information on 16:9 or 4:3 LCDs placed in vertical or horizontal orientations. Because of their compact and integrated designs, both the ARK-3400/3420 are easily installed behind each LCD display, thereby concealing and protecting cables and wires. In the Pudong Airport application, the ARK- 3400 was selectively expanded with a PCI graphic card to support up to 1920 x 1080, high definition resolution -- for larger displays, such as in the airport lobby. For smaller displays, such as at the boarding gates, the ARK-3400 built-in VGA interface was more than adequate. Each Compact Embedded IPC supports simultaneous dual displays, which helps to reduce total system cost. Featuring real time display, the FIDS database, input terminals, and display monitors are all connected via a TCP/IP compliant LAN. The ARK-3400/3420 fanless and energy efficient designs ensure utmost reliability, keeping passengers constantly updated with flight information and announcements at a glance.

Conclusion

High performance, fanless, compact embedded IPC, the ARK-3400/3420 proved to be ideal solutions for the FIDS at the airports. The dual independent VGA/SVGA/ DVI displays and anti-vibration features (cushioned HDD bay, rubber expansion card holder), plus a rich selection of I/Os, and support for up to 1 or 2 GB RAM, all made these models the answers to the airports’ current and future requirements. The ARK-3400 demonstrated its flexibility with the addition of the PCI expansion board. Capable of operating over a wide power range, and equipped with mounting brackets to complement their compact designs, the ARK-3400/3420 adapted well to the two airport environments.

[Embedded System Application] Control System for Solar Energy Equipment

Fanless Embedded System as the Control System for Solar Energy Equipments

Project

Demand for alternative energy sources is growing amid concerns over global warming, especially in China, where the government has vowed to invest heavily in renewable energies, which has resulted in a surging demand for solar energy equipment.  Our customer is one of the biggest suppliers of solar energy equipment in China, whose products include single crystal pullers, poly-crystal growers, cutting machines and solar cell makers.

Advantech has been cooperating with this company by providing rugged, compact, low-power, fanless, embedded ARK-3360 IPCs, which the customer mainly uses as control units in the single crystal growing apparatuses which compose a large portion of their product line. The monocrystalline silicon ingots these machines produce are ultimately sliced into wafers and made into high efficiency solar cells.

System

The single crystal growers manufactured by our customer use the Czochralski, or CZ, method of pulling single-crystal silicon cylinders.  A load of 95kg, 120kg or 135 kg of granular silicon powder (the material loads vary with different machine types) is placed into a crucible and heated until molten. When the temperature is just right, a seed crystal is dipped into the molten mass and withdrawn slowly, spinning all the while. Lift rate is on the order 10 mm per hour; and spin, 15 rpm. The mass of silicon crystallizes around the seed and may be pulled into a large, single-crystal cylinder, a maximum of 200 cm in length and 6 or 8 inches in diameter. The operating temperature in the furnace can be as high as 1600 degrees Celsius. Temperature, spin, and pull rate are all precisely controlled (by complex, secret formulas) in order to produce a homogenous crystal of the desired diameter. Needless to say, this is a process where dependability and accuracy are crucial. Each single crystal growth apparatus has two ARK-3360 units inside, and they are connected to various components, including the furnace, the mechanical pump, the water cooling unit, the control panel, and the display.

Conclusion

The development of clean and renewable energy sources helps protect our planet and preserve it for coming generations. The practical application of green energies depends not only on the availability of the technology, but also on whether the price of that technology is affordable. While the solar industry shares similar wafer production processes with those of the semiconductor industry, the latter often has more stringent requirements for cleanliness and quality control.  But for the solar industry, the goal is to generate maximum quantities in the shortest amount of time to realize cost-effective mass production. The ARK-3360 is able to edge out its competitors in this field with its compact size, reliable operation, power efficiency, and attractive price.

What is Industrial PC?

Types of Industrial PCs (Industrial Computers)



According to IMS Research, the world market for IPCs (industrial PCs) in 2010 was estimated at $1.73 billion in 2010, with this set to increase to $2.1 billion by 2013.

With over 1 million units shipped every year, it is interesting to know who are buying industrial PC and for what applications?

Generally speaking, industrial PCs are computing platforms for non-personal use.  Although there're many different sizes and form factors, the typical product categories include Rackmount IPCs, Desktop/Wallmount IPCs, and Embedded IPCs or Embedded Systems.

Industrial PCs are widely used in process control and automation in following industries:

Ÿ  Manufacturing

Ÿ  Oil & Gas

Ÿ  Power & Energy

Ÿ  Water & Waste Water

Ÿ  Transportation

Ÿ  Telecommunication

Ÿ  Pharmaceutical

As it is still a PC, there’s still motherboard inside.  To sustain harsh environments and fulfill 24/7 reliability, Industrial PCs don’t use commercial motherboards as the computing core.  Inside of industrial PCs, we often see PICMG Single Board Computers, Industrial Motherboards, or Embedded Single Board Computers that are specially designed for flexible I/O capabilities, expendabilities, 5-7 years long term support and strict revision control.