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Trimble TSC7 Controller
Integrating Windows 10 tablet and flashlight-style keypad into something new and different
(by Conrad H. Blickenstorfer)
Most know Trimble for its GPS products and expertise. The company integrates all sorts of positioning technologies (GPS, laser, optical and inertial) with application software, wireless communications, and services to provide complete commercial and industrial solutions. But Trimble also offers robust rugged mobile computing hardware to go with the company's large variety of positioning technologies and applications. The Trimble TSC7 Controller, introduced April 18, 2018, is a prime (and very interesting) example.
Trimble describes the TSC7 Controller as a new field solution for land and civil construction surveyors, and that the TSC7, combined with specialized software, defines the next generation of data collection and computing for mobile workers.
And the TSC7 is new and different indeed. While a first look at a picture of the device may suggest a standard flashlight-style handheld with a landscape display, the TSC7 is a very unique animal. What Trimble did here is take a 7-inch tablet and merge it with a large handle that includes both a small QWERTY keypad as well as a separate numeric keypad and function keys.
As a result, the TSC7 is much larger than your standard flashlight handheld. It can be used like a handheld, though at 3.1 pounds it's a big, hefty one. It can also be used as a tablet, as its 7-inch screen sports 10-point capacitive multi-touch. That means users can tap, pan, zoom and pinch like on any smartphone or consumer tablet. Or the TSC7 can be placed on a desk and used like a laptop, sort of.
Trimble says the device was designed based on customer feedback. This suggests that customers like the handheld flashlight-style form factor but wanted a much bigger screen and a more powerful computer. Trimble obliged and combined all of this into one device. As a result, the TSC7 measures 11.8 x 8.2 x 2.8 inches and is quite unlike anything else out there.
Great procap display
The Trimble TSC7's tablet size display offers more screen real estate than any traditional handheld. It measures 7 inches diagonally and offers full 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, making for 16:10 aspect ratio and a sharp 216 pixels per inch.
216 ppi is about the same pixel density as a Microsoft Surface Pro 3 or Apple's retina iMacs and MacBooks. Its sharpness makes the TSC7 display pleasant to use and work on. When it comes to mapping, GIS and virtually any positioning technology, sharper is better, and the Trimble TSC7 certainly delivers. Sharpness is complemented by perfect horizontal and vertical viewing angles. Colors, brightness and contrast remain true and unchanged when viewed from above, below, left and right.
The display is scratch-resistant, uses anti-reflective coating, and has a strong backlight that can generate luminance up to more than 650 nits (a standard laptop has around 200 nits, a bright consumer tablet 400 to 500 nits). A stylus (of unspecified technology) stores inside the unit's housing and includes a lanyard that can be attached to either side of the unit.
The illuminated alphanumeric keypad comes with QWERTY or ABCD layout, four-way directional keys, laid out in a QWERTY or ABCD design, numeric keypad and six physical function keys. All keys provide tactile and audio feedback.
Powerful, versatile mobile platform
Unlike the vast majority of flashlight-style handhelds that run either Android or the older Microsoft Embedded Handheld operating system, the TSC7 runs full Windows 10 on an Intel Pentium N4200 processor. The N4200 is a modern quad-core design of Intel's "Apollo Lake" series of notebook and tablet CPUs. Apollo Lake uses an Atom-based x86 microarchitecture named Goldmont, as well as a graphics core using the same Gen9 architecture as is in Intel's powerful 6th generation "Skylake" core processors.
The Pentium N4200 runs at a base frequency of 1.1GHz and can reach burst speeds up to 2.5GHz. Its thermal design power is six watts, significantly lower than the 15 watts of most current ultra-low voltage Intel Core processors. That means no fan is needed.
There is 8GB of modern, efficient LPDDR4 SDRAM, and mass storage comes in the form of 64GB of eMMC Solid State Disk. There are no other capacity options but storage can be augmented with up to 2TB of micro-SDXC card.
Rugged tablets usually don't have a lot of onboard connectors because space and weight are at a premium. The Trimble TSC7 offers a 3.5mm audio jack, a power jack, a DB9 serial port, and a single standard USB 3.1 port to provide office connectivity to monitors, mouse, keypad, LAN, etc.
On the wireless side, there's dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth versions 2.1 + EDR and also 4.1, GNSS, as well as 3G and worldwide LTE in regions where it is available. The TSC7 has an 8MP autofocus rear camera with flash, and a fixed-focus 2MP front camera.
For power, the TSC7 accommodates dual removable and hot-swappable 23 watt-hour Li-Ion batteries in its handle. Trimble quotes roughly 5 hours of average battery life (which seems conservative).
Tough and rugged
Like all Trimble mobile computers, the TSC7 is exceptionally tough and rugged. The Trimble TSC7 tablet has a very wide -4 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit operating temperature range. It can survive the obligatory 26 drops from four feet onto plywood over concrete.
The device sports impressive IP68 ingress protection rating, where the 6 stands for total protection against dust, and the 8 for protection against full immersion of the unit down to one meter for two hours. Note that the rugged mobile computing industry gold standard is IP67 protection; the Trimble TSC7 does better.
Based on our experience with prior Trimble products, we expect the TSC7 to be exceptionally well made and entirely capable of performing duty in tough working environments.
Bottom Line: Trimble TSC7
With the TSC7 Controller, Trimble adds an interesting, unique field computer/solution for land and civil construction surveyors and related applications. By merging a modern Windows 10 tablet with a spacious traditional keypad handle, Trimble seeks to address the needs of professionals who run dedicated software such as Trimble Access 2018 and Trimble Sync Manager, but also like the speedy, effortless data entry afforded by a flashlight-style handle with keypads.
"Today's surveyors are managers of geospatial intelligence," said Ron Bisio, vice president of Trimble Geospatial. "Data has more depth and complexity than ever before, and surveyors' reputations depend on transforming that data into valuable, reliable information for their clients. The TSC7 and Access 2018 form the new backbone of our field solutions ecosystem, and give our users a leading edge to be data experts."
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