Rugged Computing

June 22, 2006

Taking it with you is only good if it survives the trip. This is where rugged computing steps in—but wrapping a laptop in a metal case is only part of the process. Take a look at Rugged Notebook's Rough Rider Max. The water-and shock-resistant,

William G. Wong

Taking it with you is only good if it survives the trip. This is where rugged computing steps in—but wrapping a laptop in a metal case is only part of the process.

Take a look at Rugged Notebook's Rough Rider Max. The water-and shock-resistant, dustproof laptop passed the MIL-STD-810F military environmental tests. Its 14.1-in. screen is readable in sunlight, and it's even available with a touchscreen.

The system includes up to 2 Gbytes of double-data-rate SDRAM coupled with a 1.6-GHz Centrino Mobile processor featuring a 400-MHz front-side bus. Wireless communication is optional. As with most rugged systems, the keyboard is a waterproof membrane.

The system can survive a 3-ft drop onto a steel plate, and it should last at least two days in a rather salty fog. Don't try this with your average laptop.

About the Author

William G. Wong | Senior Content Director - Electronic Design and Microwaves & RF

I am Editor of Electronic Design focusing on embedded, software, and systems. As Senior Content Director, I also manage Microwaves & RF and I work with a great team of editors to provide engineers, programmers, developers and technical managers with interesting and useful articles and videos on a regular basis. Check out our free newsletters to see the latest content.

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I earned a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Masters in Computer Science from Rutgers University. I still do a bit of programming using everything from C and C++ to Rust and Ada/SPARK. I do a bit of PHP programming for Drupal websites. I have posted a few Drupal modules.

I still get a hand on software and electronic hardware. Some of this can be found on our Kit Close-Up video series. You can also see me on many of our TechXchange Talk videos. I am interested in a range of projects from robotics to artificial intelligence.