Indestructible keyboard keeps passengers online at Heathrow
Online merchandising at airports is catching on fast and the public
access terminals that provide a gateway to these new services are in use
24 hours per day, seven days per week. Les Hunt went to Heathrow to
discover how the leading player in this market has managed to combine
high consumer style with military robustness on a new range of kiosks
Next time you are passing through Heathrow airport, look out for some
rather smart public access terminals, which can be used to buy anything
from travel insurance to flowers, or to obtain the latest world or sports
news. Developed and operated by World Airports Marketing (WAM), there are
some 50 kiosks housing these terminals scattered throughout the airport.
The key components are a touch screen colour display and keyboard,
providing access to a mix of around 40 interactive e-commerce and
information sites.
While most of the navigation around these sites is via the touch screen,
when it comes to entering details for a transaction, the user has to
resort to the keyboard. From past experience with less robust keyboards
on earlier kiosk models, WAM knew that a user could very quickly be
switched off by a faulty unit, having already spent time setting up a
transaction via the touch screen. In designing the new kiosk, one of the
main criteria was to incorporate a very robust keyboard that was unlikely
to fail no matter what treatment was meted out to it.
It was around the time of this design exercise that specialist
distributor, Diamond Electronics was independently promoting a range of
MIL standard keypad switch modules to OEMs, and these caught the
attention of WAM's kiosk builder. The switches are manufactured in Israel
by Baran and comprise a piezo-ceramic force detection element and
microcircuit combined within a single IP68 sealed unit, supplied in a
number of variants under the 'Everswitch' brand.
The keyboard itself is an aesthetically pleasing, uncluttered panel,
formed from hard anodised, thick aluminium sheet; the key locations -
which are very easily customised, thanks to the separate switch elements
- are over-printed on this panel prior to anodising. An amount of metal
is milled out from the back of each key location to receive the switch
modules and allow finger pressure to be transferred through the thinner
metal section at these locations to the piezo element. The keyboard is
thus proof against the ingress of moisture, chemicals and dust, and
resists vandal attack.
Around 70% of Diamond Electronics' business is pure distribution, but the
remaining 30% involves customisation projects of all kinds. The company
has a specialist HMI division, and can advise on the best approach to a
specific keyboard application, from a small hand held remote control
keypad to the most demanding military product. The division is equipped
to take on new designs for any style of keypad or switch, as well as
being able to offer an extensive range of LCDs (from four manufacturers).
Factory trained product specialists offer design support, whether
starting from initial design stages, where new ideas and innovative
solutions are required, or advice on cost reductions from existing
designs. In addition to the piezo devices already described, Diamond can
also offer rubber and membrane keypads in many styles and variants, plus
mechanical switches.