Rajant and Extronics partner to bring safe Wi-Fi tags to industrial IoT
Chris Sadler of Extronics
Rajant Corporation, provider of Kinetic Meshâ wireless networks, has entered into a strategic partnership with Extronics, a UK-based company dedicated to making hazardous areas safer.
Extronics offers a wide range of Wi-Fi tags for personnel and assets tracking. Combined with Rajant’s latest firmware, 11.19.1, Extronics’ AeroScout tags are now intrinsically safe and certified for use in hazardous work areas. The two companies will be showcasing the AeroScout iTAG100 at their co-exhibition inside Tessco’s booth (#324) at ENTELEC in Houston, Texas on April 23rd– 25th, 2019.
The AeroScout Wi-Fi-based active RFID tags reportedly enable the wireless network infrastructure to accurately track the location and condition of valuable assets or people. The small battery-powered, rugged, programmable tags send short 802.11 messages at a predefined interval. The main features include long battery life, flexible mounting options, call button and tamper-proof options, onboard sensor capabilities, the ability to store and receive data messages, and a clear channel assessment that avoids Wi-Fi data traffic interference.
Geoff Smith
“Rajant’s latest firmware release, 11.19.1, provides Extronics Wi-Fi tags with intrinsically safe support when using Rajant’s LX5, ME4 or KM3 network,” says Geoff Smith, Rajant’s EVP of Sales & Marketing.
“This is especially relevant to personnel tracking, which is a requirement for underground mines, and other industries, such as oil and gas, petrochemical and ports. Given Rajant’s fully mobile private wireless network never breaks for handoff and always seeks the most efficient data path, customers using Rajant’s technology will not only be able to track personnel, but also identify productivity bottlenecks to improve operational efficiency.”
According to Chris Sadler, Extronics business development manager for the Americas, “Extronics is focused on helping industrial customers improve safety and efficiency through communication and situational awareness, so it’s great to partner with Rajant. With their Kinetic Mesh wireless network now certified as compatible with AeroScout technology, we’re looking forward to providing robust solutions that suit our customers’ requirements.”
James Crowder, director of Networking Infrastructure and Architecture of Mark III Systems, is a certified Extronics value-added reseller and Wi-Fi services provider for the Americans region states, “With the combination of Rajant’s BreadCrumb and Extronics’ Industrial AeroScout technologies, Mark III Systems is delivering wireless backhaul, 802.11 Wi-Fi, GPS location and message data enriched applications to the forefront of our customers’ digital transformation efforts within their extreme environmental and challenging hazardous work areas.”
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