Automation World survey respondents indicate that nearly 80% of them will own a tablet PC by mid 2012. Source: Summit Media Grou
If you do any traveling at all, the sight of iPads and other tablet PCs in airports and at conferences is fast becoming commonplace. A trend that many thought would take years to develop in terms adoption seems to be taking place much faster than anticipated.
Automation Worldconducted research earlier this year to find out what its subscribers thought about the application of tablet PCs in industry. The results shed a great deal of light on how fast the tablet PC adoption trend is accelerating.
According to respondents, 49% of them already own an iPad, Blackberry, Android or other kind of tablet PC. When asked about plans to purchase a tablet PC, the number rose to 78%. Only 22% said they did not plan to purchase a tablet PC within the next 12 months.
Of course, you may be thinking that tablets are mostly used for visiting Web sites and playing Angry Birds. But what about using them for work? Do they have any applicability for business beyond presentations?
Respondents to theAutomation Worldsurvey who currently own a tablet PC confirmed that tablet PCs do play a role in their work-related interests. Seventy-two percent said that they read work-related digital publications on their tablet PCs. In addition, more than 50% said they read work-related newsletters and Web sites on their tablets several times each week.
我们有兴趣更多地了解受众对平板电脑及其在自动化中的应用的看法。您可以在我们开始的讨论中考虑自己的想法Automation WorldLinkedIn group at http://linkd.in/q63A3m。
Automation Tablet Applications
在查看平板电脑上与工作相关的信息时，有证据可以清楚地表明工程师将平板电脑视为潜在有用的工具。但是实际使用它来工作呢？
Several applications I have heard about or seen demonstrated include:
•Data monitoring on a tablet PC to view SCADA system info for monitoring equipment and system performance as well as decision-making.
•访问automated work order systems on a tablet PC so that operators can scan a machine to access bills of material for an order in process or access maintenance procedures for a particular piece of equipment.
•Have the tablet PC function as a portable human machine interface to operate terminal services applications at multiple machines throughout a facility.
Another example I saw recently involved the use of a tablet PC for test and measurement applications. At NI Week (National Instruments’ annual event), I had a chance to speak with Chris Delvizis, product marketing manager for data acquisition at NI. He demonstrated how to develop portable measurement applications using LabVIEW on an HP Slate Windows 7 tablet PC.
