RuggON's elegant, modern, competent all-in-one in-vehicle computer gets Android 9.0 and a major tech and performance update
(by Conrad H. Blickenstorfer)

RuggON announced the RuggVMC VIKING MT7030 in late March 2020 as a durable, powerful all-in-one vehicle terminal for fleet management, asset management, and Electronic Logging (ELD) applications. The MT7000 Series was initially created as a modern, fanless vehicle PC implementation designed to leverage emerging IoT applications. The VIKING MT7030 is a technology update and refresh to the original MT7000 and the second generation MT7010.

Measuring a compact 8.7 x 6.0 x 1.57 inches, the MT7030 all-in-one in-vehicle terminal provides a comprehensive, easy-to-use interface to all sorts of dispatch systems, asset and fleet management applications, diagnostic monitoring systems, as well as vehicle navigation and tracking metrics.

Equipped with WiFi, mobile broadband, and dedicated GNSS plus antennae, the MT7030 is completely connected both in-vehicle and as part of IoT/cloud wide area applications. This enables a vast range of productivity enhancement and value-added functionality.

In terms of specifications, the MT7030 is a well-connected, well-equipped device. Wired onboard connectivity includes two full-size USB 2.0 ports, RJ45 gigabit LAN, legacy serial RS232 as well as RS232/422/485, digital I/O, CANBus or SAE J1939, as well as a standard headset jack. New in the MT7030 is a convenient reversible USB 3.1 Type-C port. There's a micro-SD card slot to augment the 32GB or internal eMMC memory. There's embedded GNSS with support of all the major satellite systems, 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth v5.0, as well as 4G LTE mobile broadband.

On the processor side, there's a big performance and functionality improvement over prior MT70x0 Series models in the form of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor. The SD660 is an octa-core design originally created to pack the performance and functionality smartphone customers demanded from a state-of-the-art phone into a highly integrated module.

The SD660 is the same processor that RuggON uses in its powerful ultra-rugged SOL PA501 10-inch tablet. Technological advances are even faster on the ARM/Android side than they are on the Windows side, and so the Snapdragon 660 is no longer totally new, but as of Spring 2020 it is at the forefront of what's available in rugged Android devices.

Designed from the ground up for vehicle operation, the device can handle a wide 9~36 Volt range of vehicle input power, has smart power management with ignition sense, ans also has an internal backup battery that allows brief independent operation.

On the operating systems side of things, unlike the original MT7000 that could be configured with various embedded versions of Windows or with Android, the new VIKING MT7030 is a pure Android device, optimized and configured for use with Android 9.0 "Pie," and certified for Google Mobile Services (i.e. access to all Google apps, services, and the Google app store).

The MT7030 is a pure rugged mobile data terminal without integrated keyboard, but it does have five programmable function keys for easy one-click access to often used apps and utilities.

On the ruggedness and durability side, the MT7030 offers IP65 sealing, which means the device (except for the downward-facing I/O block) is totally dustproof, and can also handle low-pressure water jets from all directions. It has a very wide operating temperature range of -4 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and has been tested according to MIL-SDT-810H procedures for resistance to vibration, mechanical shock and several other criteria.

Overall, the RuggON VIKING MT7030 is another example of how Android is coming into its own as a strong operating platform for rugged vehicle-mount devices. Gone are the times where Android versions were sort of a junior option for those who wanted to experiment.

All this makes the VIKING MT7030 a compelling example of a flexible, multi-purpose fleet management solution that merges sensor, communications, processing and advanced human interface technologies into a tough and rugged state-of-the-art Android device optimized for the needs of the transportation industry.