Ultra-rugged Intel Skylake-powered 12.1-inch Windows vehicle mount computer
(by Conrad H. Blickenstorfer)

Taiwan-based RuggON Corporation is a global provider of ruggedized computing products. The company's lineup consists of RuggTAB tablets and RuggVMC vehicle mount computers. RuggedPCReview reported on the 10.4-inch VM-521 in detail in March 2016 (see here). On April 25, 2017, RuggON announced the VX-601 rugged in-vehicle terminal for customers who need a larger display and higher performance.

Designed from the ground up as a tough vehicle mount system, RuggON's VX-601 brings tablet computer functionality into any cockpit. It does so with a compact 12.8 x 10.3 x 2.7 inch enclosure that weighs about ten pounds and can be mounted in numerous ways.

The RuggON VX-601 has a 12.1-inch display with conventional XGA 1024 x 768 pixel resolution, making for the 4:3 aspect ratio that was the standard on almost all computer displays until wide formats became prevalent (though the Apple iPad continues to use 4:3). The anti-reflective display is sunlight readable with its very strong 1,200 nits backlight that auto-dims to avoid eyestrain. A button-operated defroster is optionally available.

The VX-601 uses traditional 5-wire resistive touch, still a good choice for tablets primarily running vehicle-optimized custom software (glove-capable capacitive touch is optionally available). The screen size and aspect ratio make the VX-601 capable of running virtually all Windows-based legacy vertical and industrial market software without alteration. Dedicated user-programmable function keys around the touchscreen provide instant access to important operations, including brightness and volume. In addition, RuggON has developed their own DashON interface/utility for easy monitoring and/or adjusting of various settings and features.

The RuggON VX-601 is powered by an Intel "Skylake" 6th generation i5-6300U Core processor. This chip provides significantly more performance than is commonly available in vehicle-mount computers. Targeted by RuggON at diverse applications such as intralogistics, cold chain logistics, waste management, mining, harbor freight handling, agriculture and construction, the VX-601 should be plenty powerful enough to handle even complex high-end applications. For deployments with lesser performance requirements, the company offers the VX-601 also with an Intel Celeron 3955U. Also a Skylake chip, the 3955U lacks high-end features such as turbo boost, multi-threading, and a variety of integrated Intel technologies, but uses the same processor architecture lithography as the 6300U.

As expected from a vehicle-mount, the VX-601 excels in connectivity. There's USB 2.0 and USB 3.0, two legacy serial ports (one RS232 and one RS232/422/485), RJ45 Ethernet, CAN bus with J1939 and OBDII support, GPIO, audio, and both internal and external antennae. For video surveillance and similar applications, there's optional 4-port video-in, and RuggON includes an SDK for it as well.

For wireless communication, the VX-601 includes Bluetooth 4.0 Class II, speedy 802.11ac WiFi, and GNSS (GPS/QZSS or GLONASS). Optionally available is 4G LTE mobile broadband capability.

The VX-601 is an ultra-rugged unit, designed to handle whatever abuse or extreme environmental conditions it may encounter while on vehicle duty. That includes a very wide operating temperature range of -22° to 131°F (-30° to 55°C) as well as IP66 sealing, which means the unit is totally protected against dust and also against strong jets of water (meaning it can even be hosed down). RuggON claims MIL-STD-810G testing for shock and vibration. For a vehicle-mount this is an exceptionally powerful battery that allows a good hour and a half of independent operation.

For power, there's very wide range 9~60VDC with ignition sense and time delay shutdown. Remote power-on and wake-up are available via SMS or RTC. An internal 48.6 watt-hour battery acts as an uninterruptible power supply and also guards against unstable power during vehicle operation.

In summary, the RuggON VX-601 is a very rugged vehicle mount computer using the latest WiFi and PAN communication standards, high-end Intel 6th generation Core processing, and a large and very bright resistive touch display, while also offering CAN (Controller Area Network) and legacy serial interface support.