Ruggedised projected capacitive (p-cap) touch sensor leader and screen manufacturer, Zytronic has been chosen to supply customised touch sensors to Canadian customer Quester Tangent, for use in its sophisticated on-board rail management system.
Operating from Victoria, British Columbia, Quester Tangent is the leading supplier of advanced electronics hardware and software solutions targeted specifically at use in passenger rail. Providing products and services to more than 40 countries world-wide, Quester Tangent prides itself on the safety and high standards of its products. The customised Zytronic touch sensors have been integrated into a sophisticated fault identification monitoring system (FIMS). The FIMS modules have been designed into the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transport Authority (MARTA) and Rapid Rail (KL) fleet. The touchscreen controlled units allow for data to be collected in real time and detailed fault information on a single or multiple cars to be compiled. This information is then utilised by the engineering staff to diagnose problems, manage preventative maintenance and schedule repairs, thereby combatting costly unscheduled downtime incidents. To ensure operational efficiency it was imperative that the units and their interactive displays were capable of withstanding constant use in a tough working environment without compromising on performance and reliability.
Zytronic’s award winning touch technology proved to be the best option to meet Quester Tangents high standards. The sensors, based on a 10 micron copper matrix is effectively impervious to scratches, impacts, vibrations, exposure to harsh chemicals and extreme temperatures as the conductive sensing elements are safely protected behind rugged, thermally toughened glass. This means that Zytronic’s p-cap sensors are far better suited to implementation in demanding application settings than alternative touch technologies. Furthermore, they do not require the use of bezels, and as a result practical, all-glass, gloved-on operations, and smooth-fronted designs are made possible.
The FIMS modules feature a durable yet attractive 12.5-inch customised ZYBRID touch sensor, with a 4.0mm thick, thermally tempered protective front layer, made from tough anti-glare etched glass. Six units have already been retrofitted into MARTA’s railcars and approximately seventy 10” displays have been delivered to Rapid KL over the last few months, with further deployments expected elsewhere.
Following the successful completion of the initial project, Quester Tangent awarded Zytronic with its 2014 Supplier Excellence Award, “Eligibility of these awards was based on suppliers’ ability to deliver superior products, as well as the quality of customer service they provided and how punctually they met deadlines that were set,” states Asmâa Methqal, Quester Tangent’s Senior Marketing Communications Manager. “Zytronic have managed to satisfy all of the criteria comfortably.” “Zytronic provided us with test results proving the robustness of its solution and we in turn thoroughly tested that the touchscreen performance was adequate for our requirements. The other touchscreen technologies that we evaluated, alongside Zytronic’s, were simply not resilient enough,” She concludes.
“Being the recipient of this award is a great honour for us. It reflects the efforts of the entire Zytronic team in working closely with our customer throughout the project – from consulting during the product design phase, to rapid prototyping and shipping quality product on time,” states Ian Crosby, the company’s Sales & Marketing Director. “It was essential that the touch sensors incorporated into the system were highly durable, supported gloved hand operation could be totally customised to meet Quester Tangent’s brief. Our projected capacitive touch technology met all of those demanding requirements.”