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Elbit Systems' chunky, ruggedized military handheld computers

By Rain Noe - October 12, 2010

in Object Culture

That's probably the only PDA you can order with a night-vision-goggles filter. A company called Elbit Systems manufactures ruggedized PDAs and handheld computers for the U.S. Army like the aluminum and waterproof RPDA-57, above. Check out the super-chunky battery pack that holds ten AA batteries, which are presumably easier to come by in the field than the D-batteries you'd expect such an enclosure to hold.

Admittedly I don't know much about military field-usage of computers, but I find it astonishing that they'd design anything to use a stylus--I'd lose one of those in my office, never mind in a field laced with gunfire. Elbit's ETC MK IV handheld computer (below) at least has some keys attached as well, while the Tacter (bottom) seems to make the most sense as it's got a flip-down keyboard.

Those curious about military-inspired form factors can peruse Elbit's full line of products here, but be warned, they definitely don't make it easy to navigate their site.

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Resto

14 years ago

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The Developer has a responsibility to his customer to provide a holistic approach is design and functionality.
Specialization of the manufacturing is key to working on a this type of project.

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Sean Hagen

14 years ago

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The developer (contractor) is typically not involved in defining the requirements and specifications and therefore does not get user inputs until the product is already engineered to the level of a functional prototype when it is usually too late to make significant changes. The industry also falls victim to the same traps the medical industry did in the not so distant past (and in some cases still does) it relies on key opinion leaders, often in-house, to evaluate design decisions and trade-offs.
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Sean Hagen

14 years ago

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Having worked for Elbit and its competitor, DRS Tactical, it is painfully obvious why the products are so cumbersome and have little to no design sophistication. The development model starts with requirements and specifications, typically from the DoD or DARPA, which are inflexible.
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Rob Colburn

14 years ago

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Genuinely Rugged-ized Tech tends to lag heavily behind the mainstream industry. Mainstream will developed rugged versions - rugged enough to handle toddlers, not military conditions. Hopefully, the open-source nature of Android will speed up the industry.

Check out this article on one company's military vision:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/military_grade_augmented_reality_could_redefine_modern_warfare.php
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Josh

14 years ago

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Pretty cumbersome and bland. Check out the units from Black Diamond Advanced Technologies.
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