FoxGuard Solutions
Case Study: Tilt-Swivel Kiosk for Rail Maintenance
Situation
Buckeye Mountain Wireless Solutions provides complete mobile and wireless systems to the transportation industry. While working with a railroad customer, Buckeye Mountain was presented the task of developing and delivering a kiosk solution for rail maintenance shops. The kiosks would have to be rugged and cost-effective and meet several safety and compatibility requirements. Upon recommendation by the customer, Buckeye Mountain contacted FoxGuard Solutions to explore the options available.
Solution
Buckeye Mountain selected an Envirosealed TS2111 with a tilt-swivel pedestal as the basis for its railroad kiosk. By working closely with the engineering team at FoxGuard, Buckeye Mountain was able to specify exactly what it needed to satisfy the customer.
“Off-the-shelf does not exist in the railroad industry. At other kiosk providers, the mentality was: ‘You get what you get.’ Foxguard was flexible and willing to work with us to design an optimal solution.”
The finished product is a NEMA 4 rated kiosk that operates in the dirty, greasy environment of railroad maintenance shops. It tilts to accommodate technicians of different heights and swivels so that only one kiosk is needed between each pair of lines. FoxGuard powder coated the unit a distinctive yellow specified by Buckeye Mountain to meet railroad safety codes. As part of the services offered to OEM customers, FoxGuard also applied Buckeye Mountain logos to each kiosk.
Maintenance workers enter information via the touchscreen display connected to a custom, open frame computer inside the kiosk. By designing a streamlined computer solution instead of using a commercial desktop, FoxGuard was able to cut out cost and make the unit more easily serviceable. Legacy ports (unavailable in most standard PCs) were specked into the open frame solution to allow integration with existing equipment. Systems were tested to ensure compatibility with the end user’s imaging process and software applications. The custom computer also provided the framework for Buckeye to implement its total wireless solution.
