The Electronic Controls Division of Parker Hannifin, working globally in motion and control technologies, has announced the introduction of a free Apple device (iOS) compatible App for its IQAN hardware platform. The established platform provides advanced ways to provide electronic control in a wide range of mobile applications such as materials handling, forestry, construction and agriculture.
The new IQANrun free App has functionality based on many years in-the-field experience gained with the PC version. It allows users to utilise their iOS tablet to wirelessly communicate via Wi-Fi with Parker’s rugged programmable touchscreen master display unit – the IQAN-MD4. The intuitive easy-to-use App is designed to enable operators to quickly and conveniently gain system overviews, view and manage logs, take measurements in real-time and make adjustments to parameters. An added benefit is that this can be done some distance from the machine while it is operating – this is especially useful for dealing with complex errors that only occur during specific operations. The ability to use iOS-based tablets as opposed to regular, less portable PCs represents a significant advancement in the convenience and usability of the company’s IQAN product family and recognises an industry trend towards tablet use.
The system overview features give visibility to module or I/O related alarms and errors; high level settings such as date & time and language are also accessible. The logs feature includes a filter function to simplify and speed the isolation of specific events. The measurement tool meanwhile, allows more detailed troubleshooting to be undertaken. All measured values are presented clearly via the tablet display and include units of measure and status information.
In the future, Parker Hannifin will offer an Android version of the IQANrun App, plus a paid for ‘Pro’ version that will include features from the PC version such as the ability to view graphical representations of measurements, a software download feature, file sharing, and the ability to log in to access protected logs and adjust parameters.
