Handheld Algiz RT7

Designed for Work in a Tough Environment

Handheld is a manufacturer of rugged mobile computers, including rugged tablets and PDAs. Handheld is one of the fastest growing companies in the sector. Headquartered in Sweden, they have a global presence through subsidiaries and resellers. Since September 2022, they have been a part of the MilDef Group.

The global market for rugged computing is currently valued at US $5 billion (about $15 per person in the US) (about $15 per person in the US) and expected to double over the coming decade.

People in the past have adopted consumer grade computing devices to work in tough environments by cladding them with cases and other paraphernalia. The main challenge businesses face with this workaround is the short product lifecycle and the fact that they’re not truly rugged. The shorter lifecycle leaves businesses without support and needing to upgrade often. And the problem is worsened by these devices giving up the ghost quickly owing to the harsh environment for which they were never designed.

Handheld approached us to design a 7” Android tablet to address just this market. Partnering with Innominds, we were to deliver a tablet compliant with Mil-Std-810F for structural and environmental conditions.

Project Insights

Handheld had their own design language and wanted us to create a product that would look part of their family. Given that they’re a lean enterprise, we had to:

1. Find the materials required to be compliant with Mil-Std-810F

2. Design and engineer the tablet

3. Build a prototype

4. Find Moulding partners

5. Find EMS partners

Look the Part

Handheld being a Swedish company have traditionally paid great attention to design. They came to us with an established design language and challenged us to deliver a tablet that would fit in perfectly with their product family. At the same time the tablet had to be a platform for accessories that would allow it to perform multiple roles as per the industry supplied.

Select the Materials

We worked with vendors such as Covestro to identify polymers that were easily available, cost effective and capable of withstanding temperatures from +80C to –40C in storage and a thermal shock of 50C. Moreover, these had to be UV resistant as their intended use could vary from the desert suns to the bright blue yet frigid wastelands of the Tundra.

Flush and dry

The Algiz RT7 is IP67 compliant allowing it to survive the heaviest rains or even a brief time submerged, no easy task when you must use consumer grade i/o ports owing to their compact form factor. We designed and engineered a sealing system that separated the ports zone from the main body. This way should anyone ever use the ports in rain or if the tablet falls into water while the ports cap was open, everything else would remain unaffected. The ports zone itself was designed to be flush and dry i.e., one just had to shake the water out and leave it to dry and it would be ready to use.

Take the Rough with the Smooth

The tablet must pass through shock, vibrations and drop tests to be certified Mil-Std-810F compliant. For this we shock mounted the electronics and enclosed them in a double shot molded housing that took care of the dreaded drop test.

Tool Up

We found tooling and molding vendors in China to commercialize the product. This is a tricky situation as most vendors look for large volumes and rugged products are anything but that. With our established network of vendors, we found the right partner in capability and cost effectiveness.

In for the long run

We supported Innominds through the certification process with design and practical inputs including on the spot changes to the prototypes.

Moulding isn’t an exact science, and we worked with our Chinese partner post tooling till the products were ready for customer shipment.

Key Tasks Accomplished

1. Concept Development

2. Enclosure Design

3. Prototype Design

4. Materials Selection

5. Design for Manufacturing

6. Tolerance Analysis

7. Vendor Management

8. Prototype Liaison

9. Postproduction support

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