CE.NET, PDAs, Mobile Pocket PCs for Industrial, Manufacturing, & Laboratory Automation

CE, CE.NET, XP Embedded, NT Embedded, Personal Digital Assistants, Smart Devices, Mobile, Pocket PC, Embedded VB, VB.NET, C#, Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, PDAs, Mobile Information Server, SQL CE.  It sounds like a mess! 

Although Microsoft is still "ironing out" their "mobile computing" terminology and platforms, expect that within a year or so for it to be ready to use in real-world applications.  The day will quickly approach instead of having four things (cell phone, pager, PDA, and calculator) all crammed into your pocket protector -- they will all converge into one device -- and you won't lose any features because of it. 

In the past we have not been big fans of PDAs, Windows CE, Mobile computers and the like.  There were too many major drawbacks like battery life, large size, weight, limited functionality, slow processor speed, limited memory space, different programming environment, etc.  Now with .NET and many advances in hardware -- it finally appears to all be falling into place. 

 We like the Panel PCs that have been available.  They are small, thin, run regular PC software and Windows operating systems, allow you to have one or more PCI cards and have at least one Ethernet port to interface to the rest of the world.  In fact, we consider Panel PCs as our baseline to compare "mobile computing" against. 

Why use CE.NET or Pocket PC?

The most obvious reason is -- being to be able to take all information, data, and communications with you AND being continuously updated where ever there is a wireless network connection.  On bad days you will want to flush the PDA, but most days it is nice to be fully informed no matter where you are.  The second advantage would be for smaller and cheaper displays.  The current cost of a Panel PC is about $2,000 to $3,000 by the time you get everything you need on it and a 15" display.  (This is still better than the $5,000 to $9,000 some manufacturers charge for extremely limited displays.)  Sometimes you want a smaller display for less money.  CE.NET computers are perfect for that application -- and you use the same application development software (Visual Studio .NET) as you do on the PC and server platforms. 

With .NET, the differences between Pocket PCs and regular PCs become less like speed bumps and more like minor differences. 

What are the different flavors of "Mobile Computing"?

Our take is that the hierarchy of Microsoft systems is like this

1. Servers: SQL server, Windows 2003, ASP, etc.  (serving multiple users)
2. Regular computers running Windows 2000, XP, etc.  (serving single users -- unlimited use)
3. Mobile computing: serving single users -- limited use. 

The breakdown of "mobile computing" devices typically are:

1. Tablet PC (at least full VGA display: 640 by 480)
2. Hand Held PC (at least half VGA display up to full VGA)
3. PDA (quarter VGA display: 320 by 240)
4. Smart phone or smart appliance (less than quarter VGA)

To make it more confusing, Pocket PC compatible devices might not fit your in your pocket and "mobile computing compatible devices" may be permanently fixed, as in an operator interface. 

So what does all this mean?

A lot of this is not yet sorted out and debugged yet -- it is still about a year or so away.  But what it means is that by using Visual Studio .NET you will be able to develop applications for cell (smart) phones, PDAs, Hand held PCs, Tablet PCs, regular desktop computers, up to large servers and the internet.  Left-to-right, top-to-bottom -- they will all communicate and work together.  Do more for less.  Very, very powerful stuff.  ASP.NET will be able to serve webpages to computers and PDAs.  SQL Server will be able to share data with all of these platforms. 

Our favorite communications technology, windows sockets, is already present and ready to be put to good use in PDAs.  Now we can easily convert VB.NET or C# programs to run on Pocket PC and CE.NET devices. 

This does not mean that Microsoft technology will take over your real-time applications.  XP embedded is still a different animal and there are still real-world interfaces that have to be implemented.  We still recommend PLCs and drives and traditional automation equipment for that.  But the PLCs and drives and such will be able to tie into the Windows environment and from there the data can literally go anywhere in the world. 

Popular Uses for Mobile Devices

There are many uses for mobile devices in industrial, manufacturing, and laboratory automation.  These include:

1. Real-time process data: levels, temperatures, pressures, counts, etc.
2. Data collection, acquisition and logging
3. Information systems
4. Quality data
5. MRP / ERP/ MES interface
6. Plant alarms
7. Instant communications: phone, e-mail, instant message, text message, sockets
8. Direct connect to PLCs
9. Operator interfaces
10. Line & machine monitoring systems

The idea is to have this information automatically and continuously sent to you so that you instantly have all the information at hand. 

Application Development

As with anything, there are multiple ways to develop wireless applications. The primary methods are:

1. Mobile device connecting to one or more PC based applications using Windows sockets
2. Web services
3. ASP.NET and mobile internet controls

The first method, using sockets, is the method that we prefer.  This is very efficient and you can write very rich applications on both ends that provide the best functionality and appearance. 

ASP.NET, CE.NET, Pocket PC, SQL Server CE are all limited compared to what you can provide with regular VB.NET / C# and a regular Windows operating system like XP.  They can often send and receive data no problem, but formatting the data, especially in a graphical sense, and crunching the data, they are limited. 

Office or Industrial Grade

The infamous question for using computers and PDAs in harsh environments is -- are "industrial" computers / PDAs worth the extra cost?  Top of the line office grade PDAs are around $500.  A rugged case for the PDA runs about another $100.  Whereas a top of the line industrial portable computer can run $2,500 (5 times as much).  Remember that industrial Panel PCs start at around $2,500 but are not mobile.  So the question is -- is spending 5X worth it?  And the answer is -- as usual -- it depends on the application. 

Certainly in some applications an office grade PDA has no chance of lasting a day, week or month.  In cleaner environments, such as clean rooms in pharmaceuticals or semiconductors, etc -- an office grade PDA makes sense.  There are other considerations such as the industrial devices can come with a larger display and keyboard. 

It's all the grey areas in between that keep people up at night.  Our opinion is to go with the office grade PDA and tough case -- if you think it will hold up for a year. 

Internal Links

• CE.NET, Pocket PC, Windows Mobile BOOKS
• Operator Interfaces
• Industrial Computers
• Embedded Controllers
• Example programs
• HTS PDA Tools
• .NET in Manufacturing and Laboratory Automation
• VB.NET & C# for Automation

Microsoft Links

• Comparison of Windows CE .NET 4.2, Pocket PC 2002, and Windows Mobile 2003 Software for Pocket PCs
• .NET Compact Framework
• SQL Server CE
• Tablet PC
• Pocket PC
• Windows CE.NET
• Embedded Operating System Development
• Mobile Web Development with ASP.NET
• Mobility & Embedded Development Center
• Smart Devices Developer Community
• .NET Compact Framework QuickStart Tutorials

Hardware External Links

• Advantech
• Amrel
• Applied Data Systems
• Arcom
• Argecy
• Casio
• Compaq (now HP)
• Compsee
• Computer Dynamics (GE Fanuc)
• Computer Lab
• Contec
• DAP Technologies
• Exor
• Hand Held Products
• Hewlett-Packard (HP)
• ICP America
• Intermec
• Itronix
• LANpoint
• PSC
• RLC Enterprises
• Rockwell (A-B)
• Symbol
• Toshiba
• Tripod Data Systems
• Two Technologies
• Unitech
• Viewsonic
• Xplore Technologies
• Xycom

Software External Links

• Instant HMI
• Narly Software
• VB for Windows CE
• Windows CE Web Ring
• Pocket PC Wire
• Pocket Gear
• Odyssey Software
• Pocket PC Developer Network
• Mooseworks Software
• Pocket PC Magazine
• Franson -- low cost serial port communications and other software for Pocket PC

We try to offer a fair and balanced opinion on every page of our website.  We would appreciate more information from other users to express their opinions which we will then incorporate.  If you have questions or comments please post them on our message board (see button in left hand column) so that others can read and benefit.