Stainless steel industrial PC with touch panel
(by Kirk Linsky)

noax Technologies is a Germany-based developer and manufacturer of industrial touch panel PCs with offices in Europe and the United States. The company, which makes its own proprietary all-in-one motherboards, has many years of experience in the development and production of completely sealed industrial touch panel PCs without external fans. The panels are designed to be resistant to heat, cold, moisture, dust, vibration, shock, acids and detergents.

The noax "Steel Series" Industrial PCs use polished V2A stainless steel enclosures with absolutely smooth surfaces. They are primarily designed as space-saving stand-alone solutions in environments where hygiene is important, such as food processing, clinical areas, and the chemical and pharmaceutical industry.

The S12 Industrial PC model measures 14.3 x 10.0 x 3.1 inches and weighs a bit over 13 pounds. It is a completely sealed system with a wide range of mounting possibilities including wall brackets. The S12 has a smooth and fully sealed stainless steel enclosure and either a SVGA (800 x 600) or XGA (1024 x 768) 12.1" TFT display with integrated resistive analog touch panel and automatic brightness control. The touch screen allows for simple operation via custom software applications and virtual keyboards. DC/DC converters or standard grid power are used to allow for diverse power supply conditions.

The S12 industrial computer is built to withstand mechanical stresses and environmental factors and it can easily be cleaned and disinfected even with harsh cleaning agents or corrosive solutions. A special heating option expands the operating environment range to -4 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Sealing is either IP54 or IP65, depending on the connection cover used.

The S12 can be ordered with one of two noax-designed motherboards using either a 1GHz Intel Celeron M or a 1.4GHz Pentium M processor, has a wealth of on-board interfaces including four USB 2.0 ports, two Firewire ports, digital video, optional WiFi, and easy expandability through free standard Mini PCI and PCI slots that permit integration of various peripheral devices.

A special Micro-Controller is standard in all noax industrial PCs. It performs a variety of monitoring, controlling, and statistical tasks such as temperature control, backlight control, or counting operating hours, and it can be adapted to customer requirements. noax also uses a proprietary touch controller for automatic panel control and readjustment.