Rugged Displays in the Wild: 5 Unique Applications for DSE’s MIL-Spec Displays
For nearly 30 years, DSE has designed and built rugged displays meant to withstand the most extreme environments across the globe. While DSE’s rugged displays are known primarily for defense and aerospace applications, the ability to perform under extreme conditions has proven to be useful for a variety of industries and integrations.
In this blog post, we’ll explore some of the lesser-known applications that DSE rugged displays have supported throughout our company’s history.
Law Enforcement
It’s not uncommon for DSE rugged displays to find their home in aerospace applications. In fact, the FHDRM—one of our signature rugged displays—was recently put to the test in a series of third-party laboratory tests before being fielded in an ISR application on a multi-use fixed-wing aircraft.
But many may not know that DSE rugged displays also play a role in federal agencies and law enforcement aircraft. From rescue missions to identifying, tracking and capturing dangerous suspects, DSE rugged displays have aided in critical missions for law enforcement agencies and even the United States Coast Guard.
Fighting Wildfires
In addition to partnering with federal agencies in law enforcement applications, DSE products have been used to fight wildfires. The AWM rugged display has been integrated on several fixed-wing aircraft programs to aid in aerial firefighting. These interactive screens allow the crew members to survey the area with thermal cameras to identify hotspots to extinguish.
Wildlife Conservation
The last thing that comes to mind when considering a MIL-Spec rugged display is wildlife conservation, but the AWM rugged display played its part when wildlife biologists were looking for an effective way to monitor salmon populations via implanted tags.
By monitoring and tracking movement at various watersheds, biologists are able to analyze migration, survival rate and human interruptions in order to encourage healthy, sustainable fish populations.
Open-pit Mining
We’ve all seen the photos of people posing next to giant dump truck tires, being dwarfed by the size of these colossal machines. The world’s largest dump trucks are often deployed in open-pit surface mining applications, meant to haul hundreds of tons worth of materials while often in continuous operation.
DSE’s ALPHA rugged mission computer is often used in these heavy industrial applications, but many may not know that DSE rugged displays have also proven useful in mining applications. Our displays have been integrated on giant mining trucks—661 tons to be exact!
Aerial Mapping
DSE displays are designed with flexible options such as high-definition resolution, multi-panel configurations and large format screens. This proves especially beneficial for applications where optical performance is critical, including aerial mapping.
DSE displays have supported aerial mapping applications in Africa, in a process where visual imagery captured by air is then overlaid with property boundaries, GPS and other inputs. This allows researchers to chart geophysical terrain for mining, exploration, fleet management and other governmental exercises.
A rugged display designed for the battlefield is uniquely positioned to take on the challenges of any extreme environment. DSE’s long history of engineering solutions to meet the needs of aerospace and defense applications has resulted in a deep product catalog of MIL-Spec and MIL-STD compliant rugged displays that can be found in unique applications across the world. From fighting fires to monitoring fish populations and much more—DSE’s rugged displays help its partners achieve success no matter what the mission has in store.