Adlink announced a rugged, fanless computer that can operate at up to 167 deg. F and has room for two PC/104-Plus expansion cards. The RuffSystem 735 features four serial ports, four USB ports, two Ethernet ports, plus a CompactFlash slot and room for a SATA hard disk drive, the company says.

Adlink announced a rugged, fanless computer that can operate at up to 167 deg. F and has room for two PC/104-Plus expansion cards. The RuffSystem 735 features four serial ports, four USB ports, two Ethernet ports, plus a CompactFlash slot and room for a SATA hard disk drive, the company says. Marketed under the "Ampro by Adlink" brand, the RuffSystem 735 uses Intel's 1.6GHz Atom N270, with the 945GSE northbridge and ICH7M southbridge. Although one of the newer "Pineview" Atoms would have saved power, Adlink chose to build the system around the proven, EBX-format LittleBoard 735 SBC pictured at right. With ruggedness on its side, the 8 x 5.75-inch LittleBoard already included the desired PC/104-Plus expansion interface.

According to Adlink, the RuffSystem 735 runs fanlessly thanks to generous heat sinks, accepts up to 2GB of RAM in a single SODIMM slot, and includes room for a SATA hard disk drive. By opening up the system, users can access a CompactFlash slot and a PCI Express Mini Card slot, as well as adding up to two PC/104-Plus cards, the company says.

Adlink said the RuffSystem 735 meets MIL-STD-810 standard for resistance to shock, vibration, and high temperatures. Standard operating range is from -4 to 50 deg. F (-20 to 65 deg. C), and extended operating range is from -40 to 167 deg. F (-40 to 85 deg. C), adds the company.

Adlink's RuffSystem 735

As pictured above, the RuffSystem 735 has two Ethernet ports (one gigabit, one 10/100), four serial ports (two RS232, two RS232/422/485), four USB 2.0 ports, a PS/2 port, and a parallel port. A VGA output (resolutions up to 2046 x 1536 pixels) plus a microphone input, line input, and speaker output are also included, Adlink says.

According to Adlink, the RuffSystem 735 may be booted from a USB-based floppy disk drive for those with the need to do so. Presumably, more up-to-date bootable media such as USB sticks are also supported.

Adlink says it will soon offer the device as the MilSystem 735, which will provide the same level of ruggedness and will replace standard PC connectors with their MIL-STD-D38999 equivalents. Both the RuffSystem 735 and MilSystem 735 are or will be offered with preinstalled Ubuntu Linux 8.04 LTS or Windows XP Professional, the company adds.

Features and specifications listed by Adlink for the MilSystem 735 include:

• Processor — 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270
• Chipset — 945GSE
• Memory — Up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM via single SODIMM slot
• Storage — SATA hard disk drive (2.5-inch presumed) or 32GB CompactFlash
• Expansion:
  • 2 x PC/104-Plus
  • PCI Express Mini Card slot
• Networking — 1 x gigabit Ethernet; 1 x 10/100 Ethernet
• Other I/O:
  • 1 x VGA
  • 1 x PS/2
  • 4 x USB 2.0
  • 4 x serial (2 x RS232; 2 x RS232/422/485)
  • 1 x parallel
  • Audio — mic in, line in, speaker out
• Power requirements — 14~32VDC (standard); 12~25VDC (optional)
• Operating temperature:
  • Standard — from -4 to 50 deg. F (-20 to 65 deg. C)
  • Extended — from -40 to 167 deg. F (-40 to 85 deg. C)
• Dimensions — 10 x 8 x 3 inches

Further information

According to Adlink, the RuffSystem 735 is compatible with Windows CE, QNX, and VXWorks, as well as the previously mentioned Ubuntu Linux 8.04 LTS or Windows XP Professional. Pricing was not cited, but further information may be found on the company's website, here.

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