In the industrial sector, much of the equipment used is exposed to adverse conditions. Much of them are also moving to a touchscreen interface, but they need to be durable and resistant to harsh conditions. This is the reason why most choose resistive touchscreens over other options.
Here are few reasons that specifically or together make resistive sensors widely used in industrial applications.
Touchscreens in industrial applications must be sealed
Among the basic requirements, industrial applications and their touch sensor interface have to be waterproof. Resistive touchscreens are perfectly sealable and meet NEMA 12/4/4X and IP65/66 standards for environmental exposure. Comparatively, optical technologies, like infrared are not sealed, making them vulnerable to breakdown in contaminated environments. The same applies to acoustic-based technologies. Capacitive touchscreens can be sealed but don’t work reliably or at all in wet conditions.
Pressure sensitive screens are operational with gloves and styluses
The best thing about resistive touchscreens is that they are pressure sensitive, which means anything pressing against the sensor’s surface will register a touch. It has the added advantage of being able to use any kind of stylus implement which is useful for applications that need high a precision touch, for which a fingertip would be too big. This is especially true for small size touchscreens.
Also, workers in industrial settings typically work with hands covered in safety gloves. Resistive sensors have the ability to operate the screen with a heavily gloved hand. This is not the case with the capacitive touchscreens, as they will not work with heavy gloves.
No glass exposed in resistive sensors
Food and beverage industry facilities are stringent against the use of glass materials. They have a policy of “no exposed glass” in order to prevent any glass accidently breaking and spilling shards and into the food being processed. Many touchscreen types are not suitable because their exposed surface is glass. Resistive sensors are designed with a strong surface layer of polyethylene film that can’t tear or break making it safe for use in food processing.
For all the above reasons, industrial applications have heavily relied on resistive touchscreens for their applications. For the best quality of the resistive sensors, A D Metro is the leading name in touchscreen supply. A D Metro also offers armored resistive touchscreen sensors designed using advanced materials to produce the most durable and advanced resistive touchscreen sensors. These highly resistant to abrasions and contamination and are completely waterproof, making them ideal to use in industrial applications. They also feature a very high life span when compared to standard resistive sensors.
