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I'm looking for a way to wirelessly transfer files a short distance without putting the computer 'on a network.' We have industrial computers (Windows) inside air-purged boxes for operation in a potentially explosive environment. We have found 'intrinsically safe' keyboards to mount outside the box to allow the computer to be controlled, with monitor visible through a window. The only piece missing now is a way to copy files to and from the system. I see two possibilities: 1) Some kind of intrinsically safe USB connection on the outside of the box. I haven't found this and don't think it could exist simply because when you're plugging in your flash drive, there is an exposed electrical connection which could cause a spark. 2) Some kind of wireless solution. Ideally we just run a network cable out of the box, but a further restriction is that these computers can not be on a network for security reasons. Is there a bluetooth or irDA flash drive of some sort? Ideally I'd like to walk up to the box with a flash drive in my pocket, or held up to the window. Have it automatically or manually mount as a drive, then drag files to/from the computer. |
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Seagate had a Bluetooth and WiFi drive. Not sure if it still is available or... Looks close to what you need. Toshiba had the Bluetooth Pocket Server but it may be discontinued For 802.11b or g D-Link makes an enclosure. More range and installing a card should not be a big deal. These items themselves would have to be rated intrinsically safe to enter the specified area.
(Dec 10 '09 at 19:53)
Scott Whitlock ♦♦
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The simplest thing to do might be to get an intrinsically-safe cell phone with blue tooth and use that for the file-transfer. Here are some possibilities. I was thinking about that last night. Have never tried but would make sense.
(Dec 10 '09 at 20:19)
DaveM
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Along the same line as the intrinsically-safe cell phone that Eric suggested. Intermec makes intrinsically-safe versions of most of their mobile units. Depending on the Class and Div you require, this could be an effective way to “walk” the files to the computer. Bluetooth would probably be your best option to communicate with the computer. It has a shorter range than Wi-Fi and you could setup a secured pairing between the mobile device and the computer. |
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Amphenol Aerospace produces a line of intrinsically safe connectors, USB included. The pdf marketing said connector can be found here and the USB connector can be found on page 10. |
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Could you set up a communication link with (a) the hardware on one end connected to the industrial computers inside air-purged boxes, and (b) the hardware at the other end of the link in a safe zone well outside the hazardous area? Or does that break the "can not be on a network" rule? (Even if the link is a point-to-point optical link such as RONJA or IrDA, and neither the "inside" nor the "outside" computer are connected to any other computer?) Then you could easily plug "unsafe" USB or eSATA drives into the "outside" computer.
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Along the same line as the intrinsically-safe cell phone that Eric suggested: Have you looked at PDAs? When I google [intrinsically safe "IrDA"], I get a bunch of intrinsically safe PDAs that have IrDA. The intrinsically safe PDAs that have Bluetooth or WiFi would work just as well for you. Or does that break the "can not be on a network" rule?
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I've heard that some intrinsically safe printers that have a sort of "airlock" on one end to feed in the blank paper/labels, and a similar "airlock" at the other end to get the printed paper/labels out. You copy files from the industrial computer by printing them out on paper (either plain text or some high-density matrix code), pulling them out the airlock, and then later digitizing them. You copy files to the industrial computer by holding the paper in front of the window and using a camera or bar-code scanner inside the box to digitize them. Could you adapt such an airlock to feed CD-RW disks into and out of a compact disk drive in the industrial computer inside the air-purged box? Could you adapt such an airlock to feed small USB flash drives or SD flash cards into the industrial computer inside the air-purged box?
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+1 Looking forward to an answer to this