ISA Expo 2003: RAE shows connectivity for wireless monitoring

Houston, TX— A new total connectivity solution for wireless industrial monitoring from RAE Systems Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA) includes AreaPort and AreaConnect, which provide seamless, wireless online monitoring of 4-20 mA sensors and industrial Ethernet data management for manufacturing environments.

AreaPort is a wireless, remote online monitoring product designed to provide better visibility into multiple data streams generated by a variety of 4-20 mA sensors and monitors in manufacturing environments. AreaConnect is an industrial Ethernet-enabled data management platform. Both are extensions of RAE Systems AreaRAE family of wireless network and gas detection systems.

AreaConnect gives industrial hygienists and plant managers the ability to aggregate data generated from wireless, AreaPort-enabled, 4-20 mA sensors, and then integrate that data, regardless of different network IDs. AreaConnect is based on industrial Ethernet, which has built-in redundancy and durability, so that all devices remain connected despite harsh factory conditions. While there are many industrial bus networks available, industrial Ethernet represents a higher-level architecture that alleviates cumbersome bus-to-bus interfaces often found in industrial sensor/actuator implementations.

AreaPort accepts data from up to four channels from standard monitoring devices with 4-20 mA analog inputs. It delivers the sensor information via wireless communications to a central host controller, up to two miles away, running the ProRAE Remote Host Controller software package, providing real-time sensor data and alarm states in a comprehensive dashboard format. AreaPort is small and portable; measures 12 x 12 x 8 in.; weighs less than 17 lbs; and has a rugged NEMA 4-rated cover, making it ideal for integrating sensor and alarm data from pressure transducers, smokestack sensors, and velocity, viscosity and density sensors in pipes.

‘This solution expands RAE Systems’ hazardous gas monitoring, radiation detection and sensing capabilities, and extends our leadership in industrial automation, and process control management,’ says Robert Chen, RAE’s CEO. ‘This next-generation wireless sensing solution provides plant managers the ability to sense, collect and interpret data, which makes processes run better and ultimately improves manufacturing efficiency.’

Control Engineering Daily News Desk
Jim Montague, news editor
jmontague@reedbusiness.com

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